Approximately 3 billion people or 50% of all global internet users are posting reviews online each month.
It’s Friday night. You’re in the mood for pizza and will accept no substitutes. Deep dish, gooey, cheese-y, with olives, mushrooms, and jalapeños. What’s the first thing you do? You go online to find places on your way home from work. Right away, you’ve got all the info you need, including the latest star ratings and several reviews from pizza lovers in your area. It’s easy to suss out which place has the best pizza, and even though it’s a little pricier and a little bit out of your way, you’re headed there now. You trust the source.
Online Reviews are Insanely Influential
- 97% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, with 54% looking online every month.
- 85% trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
- Positive reviews make 73% of consumers trust a local business more.
- 49% need at least a four-star rating before they choose a business.
The exact same thing is true for your patients. The higher the ratings, the more positive the reviews, the more you stand out alongside competition and the more convinced patients are about the higher quality of urgent care you provide. (And that’s worth a lot of pizza.)
They’ll not only choose you first…
If you have a better online reputation, they’ll even choose you over a provider who’s closer and over one that takes their insurance.
A recent survey of the U.S. patient population discovered that:
- 82% use online reviews to evaluate physicians.
- 72% use them as their first step in finding a new doctor.
- 48% would go out of their insurance network for a provider with favorable reviews.
5 Ways Patient Reviews Help Transform Your Business
Want a bigger slice of the pizza? Don’t see why you can’t be the best, go-to urgent care center in town? Determined to strengthen your relationship with customers?
Here are five reasons patient ratings and reviews are super relevant to your success. Because they:
- Sharpen your competitive edge with an enhanced profile compared to other providers.
- Increase your revenues with growing numbers of new patients, repeat visits, and referrals.
- Identify issues in quality of care you offer and improve customer service.
- Lift your website presence due to search engine prioritization.
- Provide a more personable and informed experience for your patients.
Think of it this way: The bonanza in people posting reviews and rating you online packs a one-two punch of simple-word of mouth meets viral feedback.
Bigger, better, and more reviews are strong social proof that you’re not only the best choice, but that you’re also:
- More highly qualified.
- More trustworthy, attentive, and thorough.
- Better managed.
- Worth recommending by rating and reviewing.
In Bruce Clay’s “Smarter Search Marketing” blog, he states that “Positive reviews provide a greater boost to conversion rates than any other SEO tactic.”
How can I give my patients more to “wow” about online?
Let’s say Google currently gives you 2.5 stars and 3 reviews, while the urgent care center down the road has 4 stars and 8 reviews. Who would you choose? How can you shift of this perception from “average” or “good” to “very good” or “excellent”? Plus, get those 5 stars?
6 Secrets for Making Your Online Reputation Pop
- Invite patients to give honest online feedback (not “good” reviews, per se).
- Complete business profiles on all review sites (Yelp, Google+ Local, Yahoo!, etc.).
- Pay attention to the guidelines and review policies of different sites.
- Activate reviews on Facebook/Twitter groups and all available social media channels.
- Make reviewing as easy as possible for your patients.
- Respond quickly to bad reviews – and reach out to negative reviewers personally.
- Embrace suggestions and criticisms to actively and consistently improve quality of care.
But remember: The single most powerful thing you can do to get awesome online reviews is to deliver an amazing patient experience.
Solv takes a lot of the guesswork out of winning over patients and getting stellar feedback. Our mobile-optimized, same-day care solution results in more online bookings, reduced wait times, increased patient satisfaction, and more.
Solv also delivers instant patient reviews and ratings. In fact, our urgent care providers have increased 1 full star on Google – and are 5 times more likely receive 5-star reviews on Google!
Now, pass over another slice of that pizza…
