Modern-Day Word of Mouth with Stuart Faught

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 26

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Guest: Stuart Faught / Founder of PatientSnap.com

Key Takeaways:

• Online reviews are crucial to the success of your dental practice, they can also be very hard to obtain.
• Make sure every patient receives a text message right after their appointment asking for review and giving links to post a review.
• Key platforms are Yelp, Google, and on your website.
• 88% of patients are currently checking online reviews before going into a practice.
• There’s a democratization of small business; people have a much greater power to make or break your business.
• Shoot for getting the most stars and the best reviews.
• Cadence and consistency are important. Look at your review request process as an evergreen strategy and not a quick fix.
• Respond to every negative review, and at least some of the positive reviews. Every review response is another marketing opportunity.
• Even the best practices will eventually get a bad review. An occasional bad review actually authenticates all your positive reviews.
• Use bad reviews as a way to get patient feedback and an opportunity to keep them as loyal customers.
• Reviews translate your culture, can add value to the business’s sale price, and attract top-performing talent to your office.
• Best practice:
  • Doctors have say-so on which patients should get request to review
  • Have one person accountable for actually sending
  • Use technology to send a text
  • Ask screening questions first; ask if experience was positive or negative
  • If they’re positive they’re sent links to review on Yelp, Google, or website
  • If negative they are sent to feedback comment box and assure them you’ll work to make things right
• It has to be easy or they’re not going to do it.
• Target conversion rates is at least 10% of requests.
• Don’t spam, patients shouldn’t be asked to write a review more than once every six months.
• Make reviews fun, get your team excited and reward your team and patients for their efforts.
• Review add-ins are also key; work to get patients to check in, add a picture, and interact with the review platform as much as possible.
• We’re just barely scratching the surface with “social proof.” Everything is moving toward video and authentication.
• PatientSnap.com is offering a 30-day trial to listeners who try out the demo.

Tweetables:

Online reviews are the modern day word of mouth. – Stuart Faught

People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. – Dr. Craig Spodak