Product and service comparisons drive consumer behavior in today’s digital marketplace. Pricing, reviews and ratings, and brand reputation are equal determinants in a consumers buying decision process. Increasingly, online reviews and ratings are playing a vital role in how potential patients view a practice.

Brands with a rock solid reputation typically enjoy good ratings and give due importance to earning stellar reviews from their users.

This is why digital marketers give a lot of importance to building a strong line up of positive reviews for brands. Here are a few interesting stats on online reviews;

• A vast number of US consumers rely on online reviews when making buying decisions.
• 78% consumers will check the review section before they go ahead and make a buying decision.
• 87% of Americans who read online reviews believe that reviewer star ratings are important in the buying decision.
• 34% of consumers believe reviewer star ratings are very important to their buying process.

Online reviews about your medical practice brand can play a crucial role in the buying decision process of potential patients. The only way medical practices can maintain brand consistency is by proactively managing their online reputation and giving importance to earning positive reviews and stellar ratings from patients.

4 Steps to Earning Five Star Ratings and Positive Reviews for your Medical Brand

Providing exceptional patient service is one of the most effective ways of building medical practice brand reputation. Here are four ways in which you can make your patients feel special and wanted.

Focus on Delivering Stellar Patient Experiences – so that your patients are encouraged to come back to your practice. Make sure patients issues and concerns are promptly and efficiently managed. Train your staff to provide positive brand engagement experiences not only at your office but also online over your website and social sites. Remember your patients on their important days (anniversaries, birthdays), introduce special offers and discounts customized to their preferences and never forget to thank your patients for choosing your brand.

Issue Resolution is Crucial – if you want to hold on and expand your patient base. Quick and prompt action to any patient issues or grievances can help build back trust in your brand even if a patient is unhappy over a particular issue; provided it is to their satisfaction of course. What is important here is the kind of effort you put in to meeting their expectations from your brand.

Conduct Patient Feedback Surveys – as it helps in understanding patient expectations and also to identify ways in which you can deliver greater brand value. Surveys are highly effective especially to pinpoint areas that need improvement be it in the kind of service your offer or sour points in your patient experience or to plan your  medical practice marketing strategy for maximum impact.

Listen to What Patients are saying about your Medical Practice

Consistency in delivering positive brand experiences takes time and effort. Here are a few things to keep in mind;

• Make sure you constantly monitor all your practice listings.
• Positive reviews on Google and Yelp can take your medical practice reputation to places; never ignore them.
• Never ignore negative reviews; respond to them with a cool head and try to resolve the issue or concern quickly and efficiently.
• Reviews both good and bad or neutral can present ripe opportunities to further expand brand relationships, to mend broken trust or to even sway patient sentiment towards to your brand. When you respond to what people are saying about your brand, it shows target audiences that you care about how your brand is perceived and are willing to take necessary steps to improve your brand value.
• Never shy away from an apology; even if the situation is bleak, a short and sincere apology is the best way to deal with criticism and or shortfalls.