5 Tips to Bump Up Your Dental Reviews

How’s your dental review management going? Are your reviews not making enough noise? Gargle experts found these 5 tips significantly bump up the volume for your dental reviews!

1. TRAIN YOUR TEAM

Your team is key to getting reviews for your dental practice. It is crucial they know how to ask for them, to ensure they do train your team. Using the HOW, WHEN, and WHERE technique is a great place to start:

• HOW should you ask for reviews? Create a script, it doesn’t have to be word for word but layout conversation points. Not every person feels comfortable conversing on the fly.
• WHEN should you ask for a review? Before, during, and after appointments! Ask happy patients who are on their way out, and take advantage of waiting times in the lobby. Help your team identify ideal moments to ask.
• WHERE should you ask for reviews? Does your practice mainly ask in-person, via text, email, surveys, or QR codes? Give your team a process. An example could be asking for reviews after a successful visit, and then sending a reminder via text (Google link attached) later that same day.

Now you have the substance for your team, schedule your trainings. Be sure to include time for mock conversations. Creating scenarios for your team to practice will help exponentially. Scenarios can be in-person, over the phone, and email! It’s even better if you practice all three! Get your team comfortable with asking, and you’ll see your reviews increase.

2. AUTOMATE YOUR REVIEW PROCESS

Create an easy, automated process for your patients to leave a review. Let’s assume you’re already asking for reviews, that’s great! Unfortunately not everyone will always remember to ask. Others may be busy, and timing isn’t always ideal. Automating the process can also relieve your team from feeling overwhelmed in regards to reviews. It creates a consistent process to fill in the gaps. There are many review software companies, but through our partnership with Swell we’ve found they are the best to recommend!

Swell’s technology gives you complete control! You have the ability to efficiently engage with patients, and manage/respond to reviews. As a user you have access to a centralized dashboard to manage and reply from one place. Swell’s software also posts your reviews DIRECTLY to Google, no micro sites so you never lose a hard earned review. All of this helps you maintain a high patient satisfaction and in return, retention. It is the perfect solution to bump up your reputation and get your practice seen! Reviews are the most important marketing asset for dental practices, so make sure your practice is taking the right steps to cultivate them.

3. CREATE GOALS & INCENTIVES

Not everyone is motivated equally. How do you get your front desk, or dental assistants to ask for reviews? Create achievable goals and incentives! Goals set the expectation for your practice, and incentives drive your staff to reach them. Goal examples:

• 30 new reviews (minimum) per month.
• Get enough 5 star reviews to average a 4.5 MINIMUM.
• Double your reviews in 90 days.

Once goals are set, create incentives. Typically superstar patients will be more than willing to write a review, but they need to be asked. Give your team fuel, while showing appreciation for their hard work. Monthly prizes, staff lunches, mini vacations, or drawings for big vacations are all great options. Don’t cheap out with $5 gift-cards, they’re not big enough to create drive for asks. Reviews are one of the best marketing assets for dental practices. If it’s important, show them it’s important.

4. MONITOR YOUR DENTAL REVIEWS

What’s your review situation? How many reviews are you receiving and how often are you getting them? Gargle has found that getting 10 -20 fresh reviews (per month) consistently helps you rank higher on the Google map. This means your business is being seen more frequently.

How often are you responding to reviews? Responding every now and then will only hurt your reputation, it’s great to respond but it should be frequently. According to Review Trackers, 53% of reviewers expect a reply within 1 week. Are you getting quality reviews? Specificity and length create a quality review. If your patients are leaving general reviews, ask them to start describing in detail why they had a great experience. Go even further and continue to ask for reviews. Complacency will not help your review numbers grow. Continue to ask for your reviews, happy patients will be more than willing to sing your praises.

5. RESEARCH COMPETITORS

How are the competitors around your area doing? What is their review average per month? What are they doing to receive that many reviews? If you don’t know the answer to those questions, it’s time to do your research. In order to list as one of the top three practices in your Google search area you’ll need to at least match your competition. All it takes is Google searching “dental practices near me” and seeing who comes up first. Use what you learn to create your team goals, and drive incentive. Consistently do your research to stay on top.

Now that you know how to turn up the volume, utilize these dental review tips today and watch your reputation grow.

Originally published on July 26, 2022 by Keslie Ta’afua.