I’ve attended numerous meetings about managing an optometry office’s online presence. The big question is always, “What should I do with a negative review?”
A negative review is exactly what it is–negative. What’s nice about mathematics is that a negative and a positive cancel each other out. When you have a strategic online marketing plan that includes posting reviews, positive experiences can far outweigh the negative. To ensure people online are getting a good reflection of your office do this:
- Give your patients the option to submit reviews on your website. These reviews should be syndicated to multiple avenues such as Google plus, Facebook, yelp, and a general review on your website that has both negative and positive.
- Don’t debate a negative review online, contact the person directly. Have a good heart-to-heart talk and try to find a way to fix the problem. Most patients are sensible and you can find a solution for their concerns. If they are unreasonable, give them their money back and recommend another OD in town.
- Use the opportunity as a teachable moment for staff. Many times a negative review is not a surprise to someone in the office, because he or she is familiar with the incident that led to the review. Create a culture where staff and doctors are not afraid to discuss the not-so-positive moments, then proactively find ways to turn them into positive reviews.
All optometry offices are going to get a negative review at some point in the life cycle of the practice. Be proactive and start building online reviews. You won’t need to sweat the one on two negative reviews because you can confidently point to dozens–or even hundreds–of positive ones.
