It has been a well-known fact that Dentists and Surgeons are faced with many challenges in their line of work. From keeping up with the latest medical procedures and diagnoses, to insurance and government regulations, HIPPA Laws and regulations and more. Many Surgeons and Dentists have found the competition for new patients has also gotten stiffer.
Surgeons who work in a hospital environment just treat the patients who are there or referred. In private practice, doctors are faced with the challenge of providing excellent patient care and also marketing to bring in new patients. This can be a daunting and overwhelming task.
Clint Evans has been helping professionals with client acquisition for over 14 years. Using a combination of behavioral psychology and digital marketing he has turned his expertise to helping Austin Dentists and Surgeons. He suggests they don’t rely solely on referrals. It’s better to have a flow of patients coming in from multiple sources.
This is in line with what Malcom Gladwell, author of “The Tipping Point”, said about most recommendations coming from what are called “weak ties”.
Clint explains, “What they found is its not close family or friends recommending Dentists but more like acquaintances. This may be someone you see or speak to only 2 or 3 times per year. The potential patient does more research. They go to Google to research the Dentist and look for reviews and other sources to confirm the recommendation. They want to see if the Dentist has a consistent level of good reviews, if there is an overall vibe of trust and comfort. In other words, what is the overall range of feeling and reviews about this dentist?”
Many of the medical rating websites don’t show high in Google search. And when Googling a doctor’s name if there was information it was very limited. Many Dentists don’t publish enough information potential patients to make a judgment about their expertise.
Creating and maintaining a stellar reputation via online reviews has now been added to the mix of the already mentioned challenges facing Dentists and Surgeons.
Clint tells of a recent consultation with a Dentist who had over 200 positive reviews on Rateadentist.com. The problem is Google didn’t show it in the ranking when people would search for his name or practice. “Google actually likes to show their own reviews and then Yelp.com. What was showing up was not the 200 great reviews but the 2 or 3 bad reviews that were on Yelp. This is a huge problem that can negatively impact a practice,” says Clint.
A report released by Yelp agrees stating, “For every half star increase in rating it translated into 19% more sales”.
This is further proof of the need to increase and maintain a high star rating and a steady flow of positive reviews. Clint goes on to say “What you want to do is put a system and strategy in place. Also publish more things out there people can find when they Google you. This includes news coverage, a CNN piece, a video and other articles to support your status as an expert authority in your field. All these things rolled together help you stand out. You need to proactively encourage and even solicit patient reviews. This way when a potential patient looks at 2 to 4 other dentists you rise above because you have multiple examples of credibility and supporting evidence. This increases the probability the potential patient chooses you.”
As the landscape changes and media and internet availability and reliance increases it will be interesting to see how this impacts the medical profession in the months and years to come.
If you would like more information about Clint Evans go to ClintEvans.com.