Nasty Review On The Internet?

If someone writes a nasty review about your service, don't respond right away. Relax, because an angry response will make this situation worse. Like it or not, you are bound by privacy laws and can't reveal specifics about the case. This person likely spends most of his or her time writing reviews, and if enraged, he or she may write more of them. Let the review sit fora while and read the policies of the rating sen ice. They usually disallow hate speech, personal attacks, and references to malpractice. Writing the editors a wcll-woidcd e-mail describing how the negative entry violates their written policies can be very effective in having the review removed. Whatever you do. do not stalk, threaten, bribe, or coerce them. You will just get more negative comments about your actions and may face legal action. Here is an example of a negative review and how to deal with it: Janet K. wrote: "Weirdest chiropractor ever. Super phony and talks at you, not toyou. And my adjustment hurt! (I've been to chiropractors for years, and I've never had an adjustment hurt before.)" The upset doctor writes the website company. RE: Review Guidelines Violation You folks run a great website, but someone lias violated your policy about "personal attacks." This person describes me as the "weirdest chiropractor ever, super phony" etc. Based on your review guidelines, this is a personal attack and it should be deleted. Dr. Upset. DC If the website deems that this is not a personal attack, you should comment directly but cautiously to the negative review. Your response could be: Hi Janet. I appreciate your feedback. All chiropractors work differently, and what you assumed to be "weird" and "talking at you" was a very direct communication with you about your condition. I know things of this sort arc not easy to hear, but as a doctor. I am speaking as an expert, not as a "friend." I use "low-force" adjustment techniques and have never had a complaint about actually harming or hurting someone in my office. Your par­ticular response to care may be increased circulation and a subsequent temporary discomfort. I wish you the best always. -Dr. U. You must take the high ground and get on with your life. If you're going to be the bigger person, you're going to have to deal with big problems. It is most important that you learn and grow from it. In response, also ask enthusiastic patients to add mam posi­tive reviews, which will bun the nasty review with good ones. Then, anyone checking on you and your service will see the best ones first. When they do get to the poor one. they are more likely to take it with a grain of salt. Yelp! Websites such as Yelp use "filters" to avoid posting reviews that may not be reliable. Requesting that your patients send reviews to cover a negative one may ultimately hurt your rank­ings on this sensitive site. The Yelp filter deselects reviews that may be suspicious, including: Positive reviews tliat arc posted quickly after a nega­tive one. Reviews that come from people who don't have a long track record with Yelp. Reviews from people who post only positive reviews. Fortunately. Yelp appeals to a younger demographic of people who may not be your best source of new patients. With websites such as this one. wait out the negative review and take no ac­tion. Continue to provide exceptional sen ice to every single patient and make sure everyone leaves your clinic happy and enthusiastic about your sen ice. When they do get to the poor one. they are more likely to take it with a grain of salt. Everyone Leaves Happy Your online reputation is a vital part of your practice. New patients will check what others have written, and existing pa­tients will check to sec if they're in the right place. It's smart to ask patients how their visits were, particularly on their first and second appointments. It may be your only chance to make things right. Always Make It Right It's impossible to please everyone. Ovcryour lifetime, you're going to help a lot of people who are sick and irritable. Some of them may feel worse before they get better. They may be upset and unreasonable even after receiving the highest quality care. However, patients must leave your center uplifted or at least hopeful. Train Your Team Let your staff know that everyone leaves happy. If they get the feeling that anyone is less than satisfied, give them the authority to make things right. Train them to ask. "How can we make things right for you?" Giving patients their money-back may be much cheaper than a scathing review in the long run. In most instances, upset patients just want to be heard. By listening and making sure things go more smoothly in the future, you can usually set things right. If you take action to correct the problem to their satisfaction right aw ay. it may prompt the person who posted the negative review to delete it. Five-Star Ratings Keep a list of online review sites, with your clinic's name and your name on it as well, and have it ready to give to your most enthusiastic patients. Some of the best review sites include dcxknows.com. cityscarch.com. superpages.com. insidcrpages. com. yahoo.com. and googlc.com. When someone says. "Doctor. I feel so much better. I don't know how to thank you." Respond by saying. "Mr. Jones. I've enjoyed working with you too. Here's a list of online review sites. I would love to have you add your opinion about our sen ice to one of these sites." If your patient docs add a comment online, be sure to thank him or her. If you've ever done this, you know it takes some time and effort. It's great to have five-star reviews, but if every one is a five-star review, it will lack credibility. No one is that good. It's okay to have a mix with mostly high ratings. The best way to ensure getting mostly five-star review's is to provide five-star sen ice. r Steven ] Isentin is a Denver chiropractor at Care Chiropractic serving "The World's Best Patients"for over 30years, www.carechiropraclic.com. Dr. I Isentin is also an accomplished public speaker and author of an e-book on practice growth.