Most modern patients research online before they visit a clinic or hospital. They check the establishment’s reputation, read reviews, look at ratings, and then decide whether they want to visit that clinic.
According to the latest statistics, around 91% of consumers trust online reviews.
Often said; the more positive reviews, the better the business reputation.
Unfortunately, this means bad reviews can take a toll on any establishment and compromise its business.
Fortunately, there are ways to improve your reputation without resorting to deceptive tactics. Just make sure the tools and strategies to repair clinic reviews are legit.
How to Repair Clinic Reviews? [4 Easy Steps]
Many people are intimidated by the prospect of managing their online reputation. They wonder if it is even possible to repair clinic website reviews and feedbacks.
Fortunately, there are simple and effective ways to handle this problem. You can hire an experienced reputation management agency to help with this process or simply follow the below mentioned four easy steps to repair clinic reviews –
- Implementing Reverse SEO
- Setting Up an Online Presence (Google Maps Listing | Social Profiles)
- Encouraging Patients to Review
- Dealing with Negative Reviews
Let’s review each step in detail –
1. Implementing Reverse SEO
Reverse SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is nothing but an online reputation management technique that suppresses negative content against you by bringing other positive results to the brand by improving its search engine rankings.
However, there are different reverse SEO techniques but creating positive content, repairing clinic websites by auditing, and performing social media activities are most common.
2. Setting Up an Online Presence
People can’t leave behind positive or negative reviews if they can’t find your clinic online or on review websites. This might seem like a good thing at first, especially to physicians who are protective of their reputation and don’t want to take risks. However, modern patients rely heavily on online reviews and ratings. They would risk going to a low-rated clinic instead of visiting an establishment that has no online presence at all.
Make sure you have a website, Google Maps listing, and profiles on all popular review platforms like Yelp, Healthgrades, MyLife, RateMDs, Angie’s List, ZocDoc, etc. Find review platforms that are popular in your area and establish a presence on them. It is also a good idea to set up Google Alerts with your clinic name and physician’s name. That way you can keep track of all online mentions and react promptly to any negative comment. Keeping an eye on comments will help you repair clinic reviews promptly.
3. Encouraging Patients to Review
Think about how patients react to your practice. Do they recommend your services to friends and family? Have they stuck around for years and are happy with your service? Do they regularly send new referrals to your clinic? All of these things are an indication that your patients love to recommend your services and trust you to deliver. They are confident you’ll do a good job and won’t hesitate to recommend your services to others.
Why not take advantage of this by encouraging them to review online? According to a few surveys, 7 out of 10 people will provide feedback if you ask them to but few patients will seek out your profile online and provide feedback voluntarily. The best way to gain support is to make reviewing easier. Here are some tips on how to repair clinic reviews by encouraging positive feedback:
- You can install posters and brochures in the waiting room or near the information desk requesting positive feedback.
- Email patients review clinks along with newsletters or follow-up requests.
- Provide QR codes on these posters or information booklets so patients can just scan the code to find the review platform. They won’t have to manually seek out your profile on these platforms and provide reviews.
- Avoid bribing or offering substantial rewards in exchange for reviews. You don’t want to buy positive feedback as that will make your patients skeptical and distrustful.
Encourage patients to provide feedback and make it easier for them to do so. That will help boost your online reputation and suppress poor feedback.
4. Dealing with Negative Reviews
No one wants to face the prospect of poor feedback but it is a part and parcel of maintaining an online presence. But it is possible to turn negative comments into positive experiences as a part of the repair clinic website and reputation process. When prospective patients see you handle these kinds of situations gracefully, they will know you care about their experiences and concerns. That actually improves a clinic’s reputation considerably. It showcases how responsible and honest the clinic is and how serious they are about their patient’s experiences. Here are some things to consider:
- A 2020 survey indicates that more than 60% of patients believe physicians should respond to negative reviews directly.
- Saying ‘thank you’ for the feedback and I’m sorry’ for their negative experience is a good place to start. It sets the right tone and can help the commenter feel validated.
- Don’t disclose any personal or private patient information online. That will be a violation of patient privacy and may invite legal scrutiny.
- If the resolution requires personal information, invite the patient to a more secure platform for the conversation. Provide contact details and relevant information so they can reach you easily.
- Encourage patients to leave another review under their previously negative feedback regarding their experience. Prospects will see this interaction, which will help build a bond of trust.
- Handle the patient’s concerns promptly and efficiently. Good customer service goes a long way to improve a clinic’s reputation. Admitting to a mistake and being open to correction will impress everyone, which will help build a strong long-term relationship.
Even negative repair clinic reviews offer a good opportunity to showcase your care and concern for your patient. A strong, nuanced, and patient-focused approach is easier than dealing with a surge of unattended negative feedback.
These three strategies are highly effective in dealing with a clinic’s online reputation. You can work with a professional to come up with a strong plan and careful approach. Online reviews can be your best asset if you approach the situation calmly and cautiously. Just keep track of all feedback and comments to get the best results.
Why You Need to Repair Clinic Reviews?
Few modern services and businesses can escape online reviews but not all.
Whether you run a small clinic or a big hospital, you will face praise and criticism online. People will share their experiences, discuss the quality of your services, and won’t hesitate to voice their dissatisfaction. The only way to escape negative feedback is to provide exemplary services all the time, but you’ll have to face some disgruntled patients despite that. This has led to some people believing that reputation management is a waste of money.
While it is true that you can’t avoid negative reviews, it is possible to overwhelm them with positive feedback. In fact, a good combination of negative and positive reviews gives the clinic a sense of legitimacy. People are often mistrustful of establishments with a pristine reputation and full 5-star reviews. Many clinics and businesses employ deceptive practices to polish their reputation, which is immediately noticeable by an experienced internet user.
Remark; Online reviews aren’t going away and no one can escape negative feedback. Good reputation repair strategies will help you overcome these obstacles and earn people’s trust. Going forth, a well-managed online reputation management agency can help you repair clinic reviews and generate more leads, helping clinics build a strong patient base.
Impact of Negative Reviews
Every business receives a few negative reviews here and there, even if they provide excellent services. Things can go wrong, mistakes can happen, and people can respond angrily to some situations. Negative reviews are even more common in the medical field because patients and their families often react emotionally to a bad diagnosis or undesirable outcomes. Unfortunately, these reviews can create some distrust and make future patients hesitate to approach your establishment. Here’s a look at some of the consequences:
- More than 77% of patients look at online reviews before visiting a practice.
- Most people require at least a 3.3-star rating to contact a business or establishment. The standards are higher for medical clinics and hospitals so it is preferable to have a 4-star or 4.5-star rating to attract patients.
- People will change their minds about recommended establishments if they have seen a few negative reviews online. While word-of-mouth and referrals are still valuable, your online reputation can minimize their impact.
- Over 94% of search users say that they avoided a business if they saw it had bad reviews online.
As you can see, poor feedback can have a big impact on your clinic’s success. In fact, most of your marketing campaigns are likely to fail without a strong online reputation. People rarely walk into a clinic without investigating it online in some way. If you repair clinic website and its online reputation, you’ll experience a surge of patients and earn more revenue.
Why Do People Leave Negative Reviews?
Before you attempt to repair clinic reviews, it is a good idea to understand where the negative feedback is coming from. If you provide good-quality services and are dedicated to patient welfare, you won’t have an overwhelming number of bad ratings. However, sometimes establishments have some internal issues that can compromise the quality of service, which affects the patient’s experience. Sometimes competitors or disgruntled employees try to ruin an establishment’s reputation by publishing negative feedback.
Once you understand the root cause of the issue, it is easier to rectify it. Clinic owners can come up with a multi-pronged approach to addressing the problem. They can work on internal improvements and employ experienced marketers to handle external reputations. Negative feedback will keep coming if the root causes aren’t addressed.
Why Do People Leave Positive Reviews?
You can’t come up with a good strategy to repair clinic website reviews and online presence without understanding why people leave positive reviews. It is easier to get negative feedback than to earn positive comments because people are naturally more inclined to share their bad experiences. Most patients will only send a positive review if they’re prompted or incentivized by the clinic. Some patients will comment online if they are very impressed by the clinic’s services or if the treatment significantly improved their quality of life.
If you want to reduce the impact of bad feedback by burying it under a deluge of good reviews, you need a well-planned and strategic approach. An experienced reputation management professional will study your current reputation, competition, and target audience before coming up with ways to address the issue.
How Do Positive Comments Help?
People consider ads, clinic blog posts, and promoted content biased. They don’t base their decisions solely on these marketing materials. Patients seek out reviews and ratings because they consider them an unbiased source of information. This kind of feedback helps clinics leverage the power of word-of-mouth and personal recommendations. Here’s a look at how good comments help:
- Positive reviews increase a patient’s trust in a clinic and encourage them to check the establishment out themselves.
- These kinds of comments also have an impact on a clinic’s search engine rankings. Establishments with higher ratings are more visible than those with low ratings. That’s because Google and other search engines always want to provide the best resources to their users.
- Requesting patient feedback also helps clinics build a strong relationship with their existing base. You show patients that you care for their experience and are willing to improve based on their recommendations.
As you can see, positive reviews are highly beneficial. However, they’re not as common as negative reviews. It is important to develop a strategy that will help you gain better feedback consistently.
Why Should You Ensure Your Strategies to Repair Clinic are Legit?
Fake reviews and deceptive strategies may work in the short-term, but they don’t provide long-term benefits. Google and other search engines have become increasingly proficient in spotting deceptive practices. Most modern consumers are also very savvy and know how to distinguish between real or fake feedback. If patients realize an establishment is using fake reviews, they will find it difficult to trust the clinic in the future even if it takes measures to address the issue. Keep your strategies to repair clinic legit if you want steady and consistent long-term results.
A trustworthy and well-established reputation management company can help you repair clinic reviews. They will study your online presence carefully, look at all of the negative feedback, and then come up with a strategy to address the matter.
Professional reputation managers understand the online space well and know which techniques can help repair clinic websites and reputations. They will help you recover and thrive once again.
