Every medical practitioner must face the hard truth that not everybody will bear the same unified perspective about themselves as professionals. And opinions about their practices may vary widely. For instance, how a particular medical spa renders its services and treatments to its clients may garner positive and negative reviews online. Today, we will talk about how to deal with the latter effectively.
Many aesthetic users perceive word-of-mouth recommendations as a crucial source of information when choosing the best aesthetician or medical spa to go for. As the digital world boomed, these recommendations somehow branched to online reviews on prominent platforms like Google My Business or Yelp, where prospective patients can scroll through ratings and read comments before they arrive at a decision.
As such, Google reviews can cause a massive impact on medical practitioners, whether making or breaking them. Bad press and negative comments can even overlap positive SEO efforts, and when not addressed appropriately, it might let all of one’s digital efforts and hard work go down the drain. However, medical marketers can turn the tables and use negative Google reviews by taking a step back to take two steps forward.
How powerful are negative Google reviews?
Some medical practitioners might not pay much attention to bad online reviews, thinking they don’t bear that much weight. Well, they’d be wrong; because they do. Studies reveal that only 9% out of billions of consumers worldwide do not read online reviews. Meaning most consumers of today’s era check online reviews to leverage them as they contemplate signing up for treatments, e.g., Botox, Microneedling, etc., or choosing the most hotshot injector in town.
Furthermore, 84% of consumers nowadays trust online reviews and treat them almost as good as the recommendations given by their family and peers. This equally means that people have become more reliant on what they can find on the internet, and thus, can easily affect your reputation, either positively or negatively. If you received negative Google reviews for your practice, you need to take the extra mile, so your medical practice doesn’t develop a bad online reputation. Below are the things you might consider doing after receiving negative online feedback to, nevertheless, preserve and nurture a positive online reputation:
1. Respond and Avoid Feeling Intimidated
Ignoring or shrugging a negative comment can almost be likened to posting an angry or rude response. If you don’t address negative feedback, patients may interpret it as if your practice doesn’t care about them or their experiences. Plus, the reviewer and other readers will likely justify the feedback due to a lack of acknowledgment of the issue.
Instead, use this opportunity to respond to highlight the positive attributes of your practice and to show people that their opinions do matter. It may be a gesture for self-promotion, but it should not take away your effort to empathize with the reviewer while providing a sincere answer to their concerns.
2. Apologize when Needed
Others may feel that apologizing is a painful task, and it can be hard to do sometimes. Yet, who says apologizing when necessary would lower one’s pride? Frustrated patients, who paid money for the services they wanted, will naturally want to feel satisfied and get their money’s worth. It is a terrible habit to take clients for granted as soon as they pay the bill.
People who leave negative reviews want someone to hear them out, more often than not. It is best not to wait and apologize right away to show your genuine regret that the patient had a bad experience. Apologizing and engaging professionally with a disappointed former patient may change their mind and give you another shot to make up to them. Negative ratings almost always switch to being positive when businesses get out of their way to empathize and acknowledge the reviewer’s sentiments.
3. “Thank you!”
Having someone point out your lapses as a medical practitioner is something you should be grateful about. No matter how much effort you put in to model your practice into perfection, making mistakes is inevitable, and there is always room for improvement. One of the best ways to show your appreciation to your reviewers is by thanking them, plain and simple.
This is a significant step that some businesses fail to accomplish. Thanking the upset reviewer would mean you acknowledge their feedback, even when it is a hard pill to swallow. Doing this will show your professionalism in all aspects as you take every feedback seriously to improve your services and establish a satisfactory patient experience.
Remember to be courteous when responding to a negative Google review, regardless of agreeing with the comment or not. Being rude will only further infuriate an already disappointed patient, thus positioning your online reputation on the opposing end. What’s worse is prospects might perceive you as a disgruntled aesthetician who can’t accept criticisms.
4. Resolve the Issue, Even Offline!
Now that your patient conveyed the concern, it is time to take action. Aside from responding to the comment online, you can contact the patient by phone or invite them to your office to further discuss the issue. Talking to them in person will give your client more opportunity to pour their heart out and determine the root cause of when and where this all transpired.
At times, personal interaction results in the patient deleting their negative online review and replacing it with a positive one. Now you have addressed it excellently and ultimately preserved your online reputation since your office listened to the complaint and took the feedback seriously.
Our Takeaway about Google Reviews
Online reviews are essential to your digital marketing strategies to make your medical practice known and build a robust online presence. Growth99 can help make that happen with its team of digital marketing experts along with its cutting-edge technology. Sign up for a free consultation and take your medical practice to the next level while reaching a wider audience with a broader scheme. Get in touch with the leading digital marketing company today!
