Patients want tangible evidence that they can trust your clinic. With the expanding information available on the internet, online reviews have become a critical factor for patients choosing an eye care provider.
In 2019, a survey indicated that 82% of customers read online reviews of local businesses. Not only that, but 94% of online buyers said that a negative review persuaded them to avoid the business. A positive presence on the internet matters and is massively important to stay competitive.
Here are 4 ways to get more reviews for your optometry practice.
Know Where To Be
Your eye care practice needs to be active on the major online platforms, especially where the higher concentration of your patients will be leaving reviews.
The most relevant platform for reviews is Google. About two-thirds of consumers will read Google reviews before visiting the website. So, be sure your practice is properly set up as a business with Google.
Besides Google, some other platforms customers might seek out reviews are Facebook, Yelp and Yahoo! With the number of facets to leave reviews increasing and the easier the process is becoming, getting positive reviews are easier to come by.
Keep It Easy
You want your patients to do the least amount of work possible anytime they have to leave a review; At the end of the day, they are doing you a favour.
Here’s a way you can approach asking for a review and keeping the process easy:
- Within a week of their appointment, call your patient. You can ask them about their appointment, if they had any payment concerns or if their glasses are fitting correctly. What you want to do here is create rapport with your patient, make them feel tended to- without forcing it.
- Kindly ask them for a review. Be specific, ask them if they would be willing to give you a review on Facebook, for example. Let them know if you are looking for a lengthy review, a simple rating or if it’s closer to a survey layout where they will be answering questions. This way they know exactly what feedback you’re looking for as a clinic and what they themselves are committing to.
- Within no more than five minutes of getting their consent of leaving you a review, you should email your patient with a clear link and guide for them to follow.
Make Your Incentives Effective
Businesses are implementing all sorts of incentives to get their customers to leave reviews. While this is a well-intended approach, there are a few things to be careful of when deciding to use this tactic.
As a practice, your priority is to get authentic feedback from your customers. Once your clinics’ strategy begins to seem like you’re paying for reviews, you should reevaluate how your feedback system runs. Incentivized feedback can result in fake reviews– and that hurts your business reputation. Fake reviews are easily detectable and future patients might be able to pick up on that, making your eye care practice seem less credible.
Try these Instead:
- Give points or a credit that counts towards their purchase when the customer provides evidence of completing a review.
- Quarterly draws in which evidence of a review enters them into a chance to win
Respond To Your Reviews- Especially The Bad Ones
The number of positive reviews is slowly increasing, but it would be naive to think that negative reviews no longer have an effect on your business. Online customers are expecting businesses to respond to their reviews, they want a quick turnaround on replies and they want to see businesses handling the negative reviews appropriately.
45% of consumers say that they’re more likely to choose a company that responds to negative reviews.
Responding to your reviews increases the likelihood of customers choosing to book their eye exam with you. 80% of patients feel heard and cared about when management responds to their review. It also helps web visitors who are reading your reviews get a feel for the type of customer service you offer.
To Summarize
Reviews are important in maintaining your digital presence for your eye care practice. With these above-noted tips, you can increase the number of reviews you receive from your happy patients. Of course, getting negative reviews is a consistent challenge, but with the appropriate response to criticism, you can continue to cultivate a brand that makes you stand out from the rest.
