A Beginners Guide to Ophthalmology Reputation Management

Imagine this – you’re a thriving business that delivers good results. You have a loyal community of customers, but for some reason, you find it challenging to attract new patients. Why? Some angry visitors spoke about their experience online and left some unflattering reviews. So unfortunately your online reputation is being affected tremendously.

Regardless of how many happy clients you have, a few negative reviews can affect the perception of the general public. This kind of issue is common in any business nowadays. However, not all hope is lost.

Online reputation management can help you turn things around. This blog will highlight the main benefits of reputation management. We will give you tips you can apply to resolve issues like this and even more importantly how to best respond to negative feedback. 

1. Showcase Patient Reviews

Nowadays, prospective patients search online when they need a service. Most people check out reviews to get an idea of what they can expect from a particular business. Patient feedback is basically the digital equivalent of word-of-mouth recommendations.

Let’s note that not everything people say online is true. However, what people say about your business online to a degree will affect potential patients’ confidence levels in your practice. Every account of patient experience can affect people’s perception of your practice. After all, your ophthalmology practice’s online reputation is your business’s first impression.

So on the other hand, positive online reviews can do wonders for your business. You can use these positive reviews to your advantage by displaying them on your company website. Positive feedback from your current patients helps fortify how effective your services are. Additionally, it shows your much your business values patient relationships.

Your ophthalmology practice can also display your positive reviews on social media. Sharing your positive feedback and a few kind words is great social media content. This is a great way to convince more prospective patients how credible and trustworthy your business is.

2. Manage your Brand

The digital world is full of opportunities. Online reputation management is a practice of structuring a brand’s reputation online by displacing possibly misleading content, uploading trending content, and increasing the brand’s visibility online.

Companies today need to be aware more than ever of their positive narratives and values. You need to be mindful of the possible impact of your posts to avoid damaging your reputation and getting ‘canceled.’ You need to communicate effectively what matters to your ophthalmology practice. How you address every concern online can affect how other people perceive your business.

Nowadays, a healthcare provider like you should be consistent. You should address all online comments regularly and make it a point to pay attention to what people have to say in social media comments and messages.

Your business should post and create quality content. A professional photo conveys the impression that you’re a trustworthy business. That’s why you should post pictures or videos that position your business in the best positive light. With your patients’ consent, you can post before-and-after photos that show the world what your ophthalmology practice can do.

Plus, your business should be transparent. Even the best companies in the industry commit mistakes once in a while. You must be honest in patient relationships and acknowledge when your business has fallen short or has committed errors. Your business needs to take control of its narrative.

Lastly, you can find a unique story that can make your ophthalmology practice stand out among the competition. You can capitalize on factors such as your location, community, and background to position your company in the best possible light.

3. How to Address Negative Reviews

While positive reviews are great for business, a negative review that goes viral can severely damage your business. Therefore, you need to check whether your online reviews scare away patients or attract them.

A vast majority of businesses can get discouraged by negative comments. However, you can use bad reviews to your advantage. First of all, don’t ignore bad reviews. For example, use a negative comment as an opportunity to make amends with a patient and showcase how patient relationships matter to your business.

Secondly, when addressing a bad review, you should take a personal approach. Try to acknowledge that person’s sentiments and show how much you value their feedback. Maintaining a polite tone is a must to convey professionalism, and you should let them know you’re addressing the issue. Moreover, it’s not enough to say you intend to address a particular problem. You should follow through with it and address their concern in real life.

Review Response Examples:

Negative Review – “Their office was messy. I didn’t feel comfortable there. I wouldn’t recommend this practice.”

1. Be personal and polite.

“Dear (name),

Thank you for your feedback! I’m sorry to hear about your experience and that our staff didn’t meet the level of service we strive for. We try our best to create an inviting environment for everyone. We apologize for any inconvenience. Sometimes we get so busy we clean our offices at the beginning and end of the day. We will keep our eyes out for any extra clutter moving forward.”

Negative Review – “I wasn’t satisfied with my experience. The service left much to be desired, and I don’t recommend you try this business.”

2. Ask for a second chance.

“Thank you for your feedback. I apologize that your last visit to our office has been less than stellar. We’d like to ask you for a second chance? To make it up to you I want to invite you for a free consultation to fix our mistakes and give you the servicse you deserve.”

Negative Review – “I had a terrible experience at this practice. I had to wait an additional 30 minutes for my appointment which made me behind schedule the rest of the day. I didn’t get any type of apology for the wait time either.”

3. Address the issue.

“Thank you for your feedback. I’m sorry to hear you had to wait for your appointment. We’ll continue to improve our services to provide you with the best service possible. We will be making adjustments to our online booking system to prevent these types of issues in the future. Plus, we would also like to offer you a $50 gift card after your next consultation. Kindly message us for more details. Hope to see you soon.”

BONUS TIP – Offer incentives to mend your relationship with patients with less than stellar experiences in your practice. 

4. Why You Should Be Asking Patients for Review

So why should you be asking patients for reviews? In this day and age, potential patients trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. This means that your business’s online reputation and success are directly affected by your reviews.

How can you boost the number of positive online reviews on review sites? You should take control by requesting your clients for patient feedback. You can encourage people to leave kind words about your business in different ways.

For example, you can give them physical cards when they check in for their appointment. The cards can be incentivized if a new patient reviews your business on Google My Business.

Another good idea would be to encourage them to leave reviews online in exchange for a free consultation or free item. Everyone loves receiving free things, and you can maximize your email list by sending them reminder emails to leave a comment about your business online.

Lastly, you can explore something like providing a QR code to leave online reviews in their after-care pack. What’s important is that you make it convenient for anyone to post reviews about your business online.

5. Try a Survey Builder

You can also take care of your online reputation by trying a survey builder. A survey builder is an online tool that offers an easy-to-use interface for creating appealing and interactive survey designs. For your business to generate positive reviews from patients, you need to ask them practice-specific questions.

How can you encourage more people to answer your surveys? It would be best if you send them patient surveys after their appointment via email. Having the link in their email inbox makes it easier for them to write a review at their convenience. You should also make an effort to ask them to do so after their appointment is done.

6. Focus on Preventing Negative Reviews

While you have the option to manage your online reputation manually, you should take advantage of digital marketing tools to make your life so much easier. Investing in reputation management software allows your business to take control of your online narrative.

This digital tool allows your business to generate more stellar reviews and increase your online reputation. This solution enables you to manage all your reviews in one place. It also allows companies to monitor and compare progress in your area. Moreover, this tool can take your online reputation to the next level.

What’s great about having reputation management software is that you can track your reviews across all platforms. This tool makes finding positive reviews that you can feature on your website more accessible. Moreover, you can also easily find bad ones that you must pay attention to immediately. The timeliness of your response to unflattering comments leaves an impression of how valuable patient feedback is to your business.

Managing Online Reputation and Beyond

Nowadays, it’s important that you take control of your reputation and encourage more people to leave kind words about your business.

Knowing everything your business has on its plate, it might be difficult to apply all these tips. Fortunately, you don’t have to do everything on your own. For help applying all these tips, eye care professionals can reach out to our marketing professionals and schedule an evaluation. For more information on digital marketing packages that include content creation, call 888.792.8384 or click here.