Best Practices and up to the minute news on Customer Experience Management and Service Excellence
Best Practices and up to the minute news on Customer Experience Management and Service Excellence
More than three-quarters (77 percent) of consumers “always” or “regularly” search for online reviews when browsing their phones for local businesses, according to “Local Consumer Review Survey 2022,” a report from marketing agency BrightLocal.
Plenty of consumers also said they would take time to write a review. Nearly 70 percent of those surveyed said they’d consider leaving a good review for a positive experience. Around 40 percent said they’d leave a bad review after a negative experience, according to the report.
When pet owners in your city search for a new vet, you can count on many of them checking out reviews about your practice before calling to make an appointment. When most of those reviews are good, pet owners are probably more likely to trust your staff and practice.
“Having 5-star reviews on Google, Yelp, and other lesser-known review sites will help represent your veterinary practice’s high-quality service,” according to veterinary practice software provider VitusVet. “Good reviews will reflect your practice and what it stands for and help ensure that people don’t scroll past you.”
Want your practice to garner lots of 5-star reviews? Read on for four tips for getting better reviews and heading off the bad ones.
“One of the easiest ways to prevent bad reviews from popping up is to address issues before they head over to a review site a few days later, says PetDesk. “To do this, we highly recommend proactively checking in with your clients after their visit.
“When your client is checking out with a customer service representative, use this time as an opportunity to ask how the appointment went or if they have any other requests that you can resolve. Asking your clients before they leave is the perfect opportunity to turn a customer around if they’re having issues with anything.”
“During the conversation, simply ask the client how the appointment went or if there are things the clinic could do better,” recommends PetDesk.
“Most of the time the answer is no, but this is still a good opportunity to resolve issues that may have come up. If there was an issue, it may be easier for your client to discuss it while they’re outside the clinic.”
Sending clients an email survey after their visit can shed light on any issues they may have had that could end up in a bad review. That way, you’ll have a chance to better please the client before they leave a negative review.
The BrightLocal survey found that 89 percent of consumers are “highly” or “fairly” likely to use a business that responds to all of its online reviews. And 57 percent said they would be “not very” or “not at all” likely to use a business that doesn’t respond to reviews at all.
Responding to online reviews shows that your veterinary practice cares about the guest experience and wants to address customer issues and complaints. And it’s not just the negative reviews that need attention.
Thanking reviewers for leaving a good review and letting them know you appreciate their business goes a long way towards winning over new clients and keeping the ones you have.
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