After your last patient leaves, your workday is not over yet; you still have to complete your notes, connect with your team, and enjoy that cup of coffee that’s been sitting on your desk for an hour or more – all of which can make you feel as if your day is winding down.
Someone has opened up Google to leave feedback about their encounter; another person is trying to find out if there are any dental offices near them after they’ve delayed going for weeks; while yet another individual has visited multiple sites to compare your office against theirs to determine who they will trust and feel safe with.
These individuals have no idea what is happening in your office; they only see what is available to them on other websites.
This is precisely why it is so critical for dentists to manage their online reputations; it’s not about striving for a 5-star rating or worrying about every single customer review, but more about ensuring that the type of care they provide is demonstrated and experienced by others through social media.
Your Reputation Is Working, Even When You Aren’t
Consider how people make decisions nowadays. When it comes to making reservations for hotels, trying out new restaurants, or looking for a specialist in the industry, they typically begin with one thing…Google.
Finding a dentist is no different, and some will say it’s actually a more personal decision because patients are purchasing more than just a service.
- Patients will read reviews about your practice before they ever call your office.
- They will review your ratings before they visit your site.
- They will have already developed an impression of you before they are physically in your office.
That is why dentist reputation management is something that should not be completed during your lunch hour or at the end of the month, but is a component of the patient experience throughout the lifecycle of their appointment and the time they are considering where to receive dental care.
Patients Are Looking for Confidence, Not Perfection
Patients don’t generally want to find the best dental practice; they do, however, look for comfort and reassurance. Will your team explain everything to them? Will other nervous patients feel at ease? Other parents’ opinions of a dentist are compared. The experience of having dental implants and how the recovery process was perceived are also very important to someone researching them.
These types of testimonials give patients added peace of mind!
Great Dentistry Deserves to Be Seen
The primary basis for a successful dental practice has been to offer outstanding patient care. The difference is now how the public finds out about great patient care.
People heard about good dentists from family, coworkers, and neighbours. Today, those same conversations occur through online communities where hundreds of potential patients are able to read what others are saying before calling.
Most satisfied patients are busy continuing with their lives after the visit. If you do not make it easy for them to provide you feedback, many of them will never take the time to do so. This creates a disconnect between what happens at your dental office and your online reputation.
Reviews Are Conversations, Not Just Ratings
Dentists’ review management is not just about replying to a “Thank You”.
It is about showing future patients that you are listening to them, responding to them, and truly care about their experience. Reviewing patients’ reviews, both good and bad, tells prospective patients critical information.
When a patient leaves positive feedback about your practice, responding builds rapport with that patient. Responding to concerns with a professional reply creates a sense of accountability and compassion on your part.
Patients will remember these types of interactions, even if they do not leave a review themselves.
Your Best Marketing Team Might Already Be Your Patients
All practices make an investment in their equipment, their continuing education, and their improvements to providing the best care possible to their patients.
None of these investments can match the impact of the most powerful marketing tool you have at your disposal, which is that of happy patients who leave your office with a smile and share their experience online.
Their stories about their experiences come across as so much more human and real than any advertisement you can ever create. For example, a parent sharing how their child had a great first visit to the dentist; a nervous patient expressing how comfortable she felt during her procedure; or an individual celebrating having received the smile they’ve been waiting for for so long.
The purpose of dental reputation management isn’t just to protect your brand, but to ensure that your patient’s voice becomes part of your practice’s overall brand narrative.
A Negative Review Isn’t the End of the Story
At some point, every practice will receive unhappy patients. Even the most seasoned dentist cannot provide complete satisfaction to each patient.
There is sometimes a misalignment of expectations, there is sometimes misunderstanding, and everyone has off days occasionally.
The first thing to consider when responding to patient reviews is that your response is not only directed to the patient who wrote the review, but will also be read by every other patient who may be interested in your office in the future.
A polite and professional response to patient complaints shows that you are a professional and that you care enough to listen to what patients are saying, that you care enough to acknowledge patients’ concerns, and that you are willing to resolve any issues whenever possible.
There is no reason for you to explain every clinical detail about your practice or become defensive about the patient review itself in your response.
When providing your response, show appreciation for the patient providing you with feedback, acknowledge that you are sorry they were not satisfied, and invite them to discuss the matter with you in more detail privately.
Most future patients will notice this type of response and probably judge your response more than they will judge the original patient review.
Reputation Management Is Really About Consistency
You build trust with customers by responding to their reviews on an ongoing basis rather than just once every six months for a week. Practices that perform best online usually do not engage in extraordinary practices. They simply have consistency within their regular operations.
- They ask for feedback on a regular basis.
- They monitor their reviews.
- They respond to their reviews in a timely and thoughtful manner.
- They have an updated Google Business Profile.
- They have a consistent presence in the marketplace.
This creates the same steady rhythm of delivering patient experience as demonstrated by how they print copies of their patients’ visits in the clinic or by maintaining a very consistent number of visits to their patients per month.
Small Habits Lead to Big Results
Having a constant flow of fresh reviews indicates that your practice is busy. Responding thoughtfully to reviews indicates that you care. Providing accurate information about your practice helps reassure patients that it is important to you and your practice.
These small things will help build confidence over time.
Why Many Practices Choose Professional Support
As a dental practice owner, many areas require attention: patient care, team management, scheduling, compliance, continuing education, etc. Adding online reputation management to this list can seem overwhelming, which is why many dental practices partner with a digital marketing agency. The purpose of hiring a digital marketing agency isn’t to replace your voice but to ensure that your online presence accurately reflects the same level of patient care that you and your team provide daily.
A digital marketing agency can help you monitor reviews, ethically gather patient feedback, create a better Google Business Profile, and build out an online reputation management strategy that will grow with the practice over time.
Reputation Management Is Part of Digital Marketing
Attracting more visitors to your website via digital marketing isn’t the main objective. The primary focus should be on creating trust.
Trust is gained through the reviews you write; the responses you write; the stories about patients that you tell.
So, as you perform your reviews, manage them for dentists, optimize your websites, and communicate with your patients, all those areas need to work together.
The Way Forward
Tomorrow morning, a person will get online to search for a dentist in your town, and they will read reviews of all available dentists. They then decide whom they will call based on who they feel is trustworthy enough to call. Next, your online reputation has influenced their decision before your receptionist picks up the phone.
Does your practice have a strategy for being part of this conversation?
Investing in dentist reputation management is not just to have more reviews for the sake of having more reviews; it’s about making visible the trust that you have developed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is online reputation management for dentists?
It is important to be proactive in enhancing and sustaining your dental clinic’s total presence on the internet by tracking, replying to patient reviews, updating your business listing with Google, etc. And lastly, having a way to verify that the way you present yourself online is being represented correctly.
Why is review management for dentists important?
Reviews have an impact on how future patients see your clinic before scheduling an appointment with you. Consistent review management allows you to build trusting relationships with current and future patients, help them feel more comfortable about their choice of provider, and establish a stronger online presence within your local area.
How does dentist online reputation management help attract more patients?
A positive reputation will encourage more people to choose you rather than a competitor. Having recent positive reviews, providing good feedback to your patients, and having a well-optimized Google My Business account will create more trust for you in the eyes of potential patients and help improve your search ranking locally.
What’s the difference between dental review management and dental reputation management?
Dental review management concerns itself with just collecting, monitoring, and responding to your patients’ reviews. Dental reputation management has a broader focus that includes reviews, local SEO, social media accounts, business listings, and the overall digital brand image of your business.
Should I manage my reputation myself or hire an agency?
Many dental practices start out managing reviews themselves. As your practice expands, you may wish to partner with a digital marketing agency to create and implement a successful reputation management for dentists strategy while still allowing you to concentrate on providing excellent patient service.
