Like it or not, online reviews are a huge part of any dental practice marketing strategy. After all, these are going to set the tone for your overall online reputation and are a huge deal for plenty of potential patients. If your online reviews don’t look good, then you will miss out on a lot of potential business.
However, no matter how well you handle your practice and your dental practice marketing, you will always run into the possibility of a negative review being left on your online profiles. It’s important that you learn how to respond to these properly so that you don’t end up hurting your reputation further. Here are some ways to respond to negative reviews.
Don’t ignore it
When you find that you have a negative review, one of your very first instincts may be to ignore it and move on. However, this can end up badly for you. You can do more good for your practice’s online reputation by responding positively online, as this sends a message to potential patients that you are willing to work to maintain the quality of your service.
Keep your cool
Receiving a negative review is never a pleasant event. However, while your first reaction may be to angrily defend yourself online, the number one thing that you should always remember when it comes to responding to negative reviews is that you should always keep your cool and maintain your professionalism. Take a deep breath and assess the situation properly. What exactly are they complaining about? What can you do about it? Keeping your cool is the main key to responding to negative reviews properly.
Offer to resolve the problem
When you interact with a negative review, one of the ways to diffuse the situation is by offering a solution to the problem at hand. But make sure that you don’t overly engage in public. Offer them a way to contact you, whether it’s through email or via call. You should be asking for their input privately so that you can work together to see how you can amend the situation. You don’t want to overly engage in public because this shows a lack of professionalism.
Learn how to handle your online reviews
Learning how to handle online reviews is an essential part of your dental practice marketing. As long as you keep an eye out for these reviews and know the best way to respond to these, then you should have no problems keeping your online reputation clean.