Millions of people around the world have searched for chiropractor at one point in their lives. How do potential patients find a chiropractor? In today’s Internet-driven marketplace, your potential patients rely on online reviews and local listings to decide which chiropractor can cater to their needs. Thus, it is essential for chiropractors like you to establish and maintain an active online presence.
This is where online reviews play a significant role. They will either attract more patients to your chiropractic practice or make them choose another chiropractor. Whether people are researching for vacuum cleaners or choosing a chiropractor, online reviews influence their decision-making process. In fact, according to a survey, 92 percent of consumers read online reviews, and 40 percent form an opinion after just reading three to five online reviews.
So, if your online reviews are less or majorly negative, potential patients will keep searching for a chiropractor until they find one with a large number of positive reviews. These eight tips will help you increase positive online reviews and attract new patients to your chiropractic practice:
- Provide an outstanding patient experience: Give your patients plenty to write about by making their visits comfortable. Your patients will enjoy their visits when they are warmly welcomed by the staff. Try to respect your patients’ time and do not keep them waiting. You patients will feel comfortable when you provide them with easy-to-understand information about their treatment options and empathize with their problems.
- Ask for reviews: When patients are satisfied with your service, politely ask them to write an online review of your practice. However, you should never force your patients to post a review if they do not seem willing or convinced. While the most convenient time to ask for a review is at the end of their visit, if you do not feel comfortable requesting a review, you can send them a follow-up email with your request. You can include links to third-party review sites such as Yelp, Google Places, Angie’s List and many more. Most of your patients will be happy to provide reviews but may have never considered writing one before.
- Make it easy: Your Internet-savvy patients are more likely to leave a review for your practice if the process is easy. Make it easy for them by providing step-by-step instructions for the most common review sites. You can include a link about where to review your practice on business cards, on your practice website or at various places in your office.
- Respond promptly: A personal response or a “thank you” will show that you genuinely care. You must thank those who leave positive reviews and try to calm down upset patients who had a not-so-pleasant experience. Try to resolve their problems by offering a solution. At some point, all practices will have negative reviews. A steady flow of positive reviews will help mitigate the damage done by negative ones.
- Address negative reviews: You will never have a 100 percent positive rating. When you see an online review that is negative, you must follow up quickly. You should reach out to the patient, apologize for the unpleasant experience and offer to solve the problem. This will not only allow your practice to fix an issue but also shows that you are concerned about patients’ comforts.
- Offer incentives for posting a review: Though it is not considered ethical to bribe a patient to post a review, you can show your appreciation for their efforts by offering them discounts on their next visit. This may encourage your patients to share their feedback in exchange for a gift card or discount. You can extend discounts to all the patients who rate your practice on social media or post a rating on review sites.
- Stay active on social media: Practices that remain active on social media attract more reviews and testimonials than those that do not. Simple activities such as responding to comments posted on your profile page, or interacting with patients who left reviews on third-party review sites, will tell your followers that you care and are listening.
- Send personalized emails: Personalized emails to patients thanking them for their continued business are a great tactic to stay top-of-mind. Instead of sending an automated email asking for feedback, consider making a personal phone call or writing a handwritten letter to your patients. This will not only open up the line of communication but will also add a personal touch to the entire experience, which may earn you positive online reviews.