Prior to the advent of the internet, people found dentists through Yellow Pages ads or word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends.
Oh, how things have changed since that simpler time.
Today’s dental prospects overwhelmingly begin their search for a dentist online – more than 90 percent fire up their phones, laptops, pads, or desktops as the first step. And practically all of those people read online reviews before making a decision. Research has shown that people trust online reviews just as much as they trust personal recommendations.
Dentists who don’t pay close attention to their online reputation are asking for trouble.
The Power of Positive Reviews
Dental practices typically have a few dozen online reviews. Larger practices may have a few hundred. For those with relatively few, just a couple of very poor reviews can have a major impact on how prospects view your practices. The more positive reviews you have, the more likely it is that negative reviews will be seen as isolated outliers. And that’s very good for your patient attraction efforts.
Ideally, you’ll have a mix of reviews – a suitable number of “Everybody here is just AWESOME!” posts with a variety of “Dr. X changed my life” reviews. Having more specific reviews is great for attracting the implant, cosmetic dentistry, or full-mouth reconstruction cases that will do wonders for your bottom line.
It’s In The Stars
Positive online reviews are typically accompanied by a four- or five-star rating. Stars are a good deal more important than you might think. In today’s time-pressed world, stars allow a prospect to compare at a glance how your practice stacks up against your competitors.
Your star rating has to equal or exceed those of your competition. If you’re even a half-star lower than another dentist in your area, your prospects may not even read your reviews. If your star rating is clearly superior to your competitors’, you can expect more prospects to pore over your reviews and hopefully choose you.
Get More
SmartBox is proud to announce the launch of our new RAVE
Reputation Management System.
RAVE automatically solicits your patients via email or text after each appointment to post an online review. Your front office is freed up from having to ask for reviews after appointments, sending out reminder cards, or keeping track of review request emails.
Your practice is notified immediately via email when a review is posted, and the 4- and 5-star reviews are immediately promoted to popular review sites. Lower-rated reviews are sent to you for consideration and action.
RAVE is extremely affordable. Setup is just $249 for a single office, and $249 a month thereafter. When you think about your average case value, you’ll see why investing in RAVE to help manage your online reputation is one of the smartest investments you can make.
RAVE Reputation Management is one of four groundbreaking products in SmartBox’s Practice Perfection Suite. Discover how you can turn your practice into a new patient-attracting machine with our Practice Perfection Suite.
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