Episode 667: More Practice Reviews = More Patients

 Consultants Tiff and Britt share their insight for asking patients for reviews. These days, people are used to being asked for their opinion and provide feedback — it’s a critical way to both improve your practice and draw more people to your business (people like seeing businesses with lots of reviews!). The consultants share their favorite ways, including exactly what to say, to ask patients for reviews, plus advice for setting a goal and getting there.

Episode resources:

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Transcript:

[music]

0:00:05.8 Kiera Dent: Hey everyone, welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent, and I have this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective, because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, filler, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants, where we have traveled to over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yep, we don't just understand you, we are you. Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental, and I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress, and create A teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera, and you guys, you are in for the best treat of your life, Consultant Takeover. That's right. Get ready. They're dropping some dynamite. Our consulting team is incredible, guys, and we are so blessed and so fortunate to have them sharing tips and tricks with you today. And as always, thanks for listening, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

0:01:12.8 Tiffanie: Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Tiffanie, and you are here on Dental A Team Consultant Takeover, where the traveling Dental A Team consultants take over the mic and share tips and tricks from hundreds of offices nationwide, and today, I have with me Britt. Miss Britt.

0:01:28.2 Britt: Hey, guys.

[laughter]

0:01:29.4 Tiffanie: I'm so excited. I love podcasting with you. I really do. I feel like we're like a lot of the time, on the same page, right? And we're like, "Yes, this is great," 'cause I mean, we talk about things we consult on, so I think that's why. But then I think also, you and I are similar in a lot of ways, but you and I are drastically different in a lot of ways too, and so I think it also is fun sometimes to, like... One, I'm like, "Oh, that's a good perspective. I wouldn't have thought of that," right? But then, two, I think sometimes, we challenge each other, and I think that's pretty cool, so thanks for doing this with me.

0:02:00.5 Britt: For sure. It's like consultant hangout time. It's like nerdy dental time, like, great, let's talk about the things. You've got a different opinion, you've got a good way to do it, let's talk about it.

0:02:07.1 Tiffanie: Yes. I's so true. It's so true, and it's so fun because I don't know if you listeners know this or not, if Kiera's mentioned this multiple times. She has, I know, but our marketing team, they're freaking fantastic, and I love them. And what they've done is they found this incredible resource for us to record our podcast on, and they've made it though so that they're video. So the funny thing is that Britt and I and the other consultants, whenever we podcast together, so whenever I'm the one hosting, or Britt's hosting, or somebody else is hosting the podcast rather than Kiera, we've always done it by video, 'cause it's always been on Zoom for us. So we've seen each other, but now the whole world gets to see us when we're seeing each other. [laughter] So it's like...

0:02:56.0 Britt: A little different.

0:02:57.1 Tiffanie: It's so much different, I had to really... 'Cause I was like, "Oh, it's fine. Consultant podcasting" and then this morning, I was like, "No, girl, you're gonna have to make sure your hair's straight, your eyebrows are not all... " Sometimes, one goes wild and the other is normal. Anyway, so we're here, and I really wanna talk about... Actually, I wanna talk about something really fun, and I think it's something that we can utilize what we're talking to. I wanna talk about asking for reviews, and I think this day and age, it's not quite as hard as it used to be. I think it's much easier. I think people are more comfortable with it. I think we expect it. I think we can thank Google for that, right? Every time we leave somewhere, Google messages me on my map, like, "Were you just here? Leave them a review." I'm like, "Okay, great."

0:03:43.0 Tiffanie: So I'm getting all this exposure. And then we ask, right? And right now, if you love our podcasts, you love our videos, you love seeing our faces and hearing our voices, and you're getting tips and tricks, tell us, right? 'Cause those reviews, you drop us a review on whatever platform you're listening to us on right now, you drop us that review, and it helps us know, "Great, quality content. We're nailing it" We don't get reviews, we're like, " I don't know. Could we have done better? Could it have been different?" And then we come up with the ideas on our own, right? Because then, we're figuring out what we could have done differently, what we could have done better. And really, we might have nailed it, and we just don't know because we're not getting the feedback. So those reviews, for us, are a way for us to get feedback, and I think it's the same for practices, right? Because when you're asking your patients for reviews, it's a way for you to get feedback on the services that you're rendering and on the experience that they're having. Otherwise, you guys are just taking stabs in the dark all the time trying to figure out if people like it or not. That feels like a lot of work to me, right?

0:04:47.7 Britt: It helps to get feedback, and it helps other people who are looking at the Dental A Team, right?

0:04:54.9 Tiffanie: Absolutely.

0:04:55.4 Britt: They're looking for a good resource, and you're like, "Yeah, they're great" And you give us a review, it helps other people find us because in this day and age, that's what people go by. They're gonna...

0:05:05.7 Tiffanie: Oh my gosh.

0:05:06.2 Britt: Rely on reviews and what people are saying to help them make that decision.

0:05:11.7 Tiffanie: Absolutely, absolutely. I would never walk into a medical practice of any kind before reading reviews, especially a dentist, and I'm sorry. I know the PCPs are fantastic, and your doctors are super important. I totally get that. This is my whole body, totally understand that, but you're literally drilling on my tooth. I am not walking through that door unless you have got some stellar reviews, and you better have more. If I'm honest, I need 120, 150+. You have six reviews, I'm like, "Oh, wait, I'll wait it out" You need some more time. You need some more practice. You keep practicing on those patients and we'll watch those numbers spike up. And that's just the bottom line is people want to see that other people have opinions, and what are those opinions that they're having about you? And if we're not asking for them, we're not getting those reviews from them, what are we doing? Why are you even... Why are you doing all this work if you're not trying to figure out if it's working or not?

0:06:14.5 Britt: Right, and I'm like, it's totally valid that that's what people go by. They wanna be able to have a little information before they walk into your office, and they're gonna use whatever resources they have available, so let's help to provide them with as much information as we can by asking our patients for reviews so that they can give that feedback and put that information out there.

0:06:32.6 Tiffanie: For sure, for sure. And I think everyone needs to be asking for reviews. A lot of people in practices, they'll ask me, "Well, who should be the one asking for a review. Should the doctor be? Should the front office?" I feel like it's the front office 'cause if I ask, and then they ask, and then the patient. And like you guys, anybody can ask, and guess what, if the doctor asks me to give a review and then the front office is like, "Hey, when you get a chance, give a review," I'm like, "Oh yeah, thank you for that reminder" Now two, three, four people have asked me, for sure, I'm gonna give you a review 'cause otherwise, I'm gonna forget when I leave here, so thank you for the reminder. I'm sure that's not everybody.

0:07:02.3 Britt: And chances are like team members remember chances are like you're probably not gonna be asking the same person, right? You're not.

0:07:10.7 Tiffanie: No, and you know what, Britt? You know a really good way to make sure that doesn't happen? When you walk up front with your patient, you say, "And guess what? Britt's gonna be so sweet, and she had such a good experience today, she's gonna leave us a review when she leaves. She's not gonna forget 'cause she loves us so much, and I just can't wait to see what you write." Now...

0:07:26.5 Britt: Exactly.

0:07:27.3 Tiffanie: My front office knows not to ask for another review. They're gonna be like, "Oh my gosh, I can't wait to see your review come through" and now you're tied to a review because, guess what, I just locked you in and made you commit to not only me in the back office, but you just committed to my front office girl too, and we can't wait to see that review come in. You're like, "Oh yeah, I'm doing it. I'm doing that."

0:07:44.7 Britt: It could be another end, and the beauty of communication, right? Most things can be solved with it, so that's an easy solution for reviews.

0:07:54.6 Tiffanie: Absolutely, absolutely. So what's your favorite way? I have my favorite way. What is your favorite way to ask for a review, Britt?

0:08:01.4 Britt: My favorite way is, one, I love asking the patients that I love. This is the "Hi, dentist route" The patients that I love, I love asking for reviews 'cause I want more people like them. And I love to give a compliment that's genuine. So I will usually let the patients know, like, "Hey, I love seeing you. I'd love to take care of anybody else that you have, family, friends that you wanna send over. And we know that people rely on reviews, and we'd love to take care of more people within our community, so if you don't mind, scan this QR code, go leave us a review, and help other people find us." It's all about other people. That's my favorite way to do it.

0:08:36.9 Tiffanie: Absolutely. Mine's the same. I love making it about other people. And I think, to Britt's point, from a hygiene standpoint, that's huge, and that's why I love to train that way when I train practice is to ask for reviews. So doctors, this is for you to use to take to your team because the whole reason that we got into the medical field and into dentistry is because we wanna help people, right? So if I come at you and I'm like, "Sell, sell, sell," or "Ask for reviews because then, you're gonna get more new patients to sell to you," that's not gonna sell to anyone. Nobody's gonna take that, and that's not why we're doing it. We're here because we wanna make people healthier. We wanna help people choose the right route, we wanna help people know that there are alternatives for them that they didn't even realize and help them know that they're sick when they're sick. That's why we're in the medical industry. So if we just talk about that, if we talk about why we're doing something, it's genuine, and people want to help us. They want to help the greater good.

0:09:34.8 Tiffanie: So if our greater good is to make a bigger reach and a bigger impact on our community than we already are, we can do that by receiving reviews and allowing people to see us on Google as high-ranking so they can come to a good place to get good dental treatment, it allows us to reach more people in our community? Who's gonna say no to that? Who's gonna be like, "Nah. I don't think the new people who come into this community are actually gonna be interested in dentistry, so I'm not gonna leave you a review" No, they're gonna go leave a review 'cause they're like, "You know what? That's brilliant, because how do you find a dentist if you're not getting a recommendation from someone? You Google. You go to your insurance company, you see a list of names, and then you Google. And if you're Googling and there's no reviews, you're moving on to the next name. So help me help our community by leaving us a stellar review. I know your appointment was awesome today. I love the feedback that you're giving me. And if you wouldn't mind, I would love if you'd share that with our community by leaving us a quick review. It doesn't have to be long. Just a few words, just letting them know that there's a safe, genuine place that they can come for dental treatment when they need it.

0:10:42.5 Britt: Yeah. 100%. And make it easy for them to find it. I've seen offices do a couple different things. I've seen them put it up as a QR code in their office. I've seen them put it on the back side of their clipboard for treatment coordinators to be able to...

0:10:58.1 Tiffanie: I love that.

0:10:58.9 Britt: Scan it really quick. I've seen little cards that they make with a QR code on it. So make it easy for them to leave that review for you. But even if they're waiting there for a second, "Hey, go ahead and scan right now. That way, you can even take it with you and fill it out" but at least they've already got it up.

0:11:14.7 Tiffanie: I love that. I totally love that. Good job, Britt. Those QR codes came in clutch, and I feel like in the last two years, they have just... They exploded, and it's probably the restaurants because we all know how to use a QR code now. I didn't know how to use it before. I was like, "What do you mean my camera? I'm not... That makes zero sense to me. I'm gonna take a picture of it, and it's gonna La La Land me?" So I just never did it, right? 'Cause I didn't understand it. But I think now we understand it, we know how to make them. Google. Thank you, Google. We know how to make them. We can create it, and we can make it easy for people, and even creating a little video like this, a little 30-second video on how to write a review, put it on your TV out in the front with the QR code up there. Sometimes, people don't know how to do something, so it keeps them from doing it. So make it easy. Create something that makes it easy for them. Make it easy for your team. Talk to your team about the verbiage. These are your action items. We're rolling in action items. Talk to your team about reviews. How many reviews do you have? How many do you want? How many do you have? How many do you want? What's the difference between there, and how the heck are you gonna get there by the end of the year? If you've got 100, I wanna see 200. You got 150, I wanna see 250.

0:12:24.5 Tiffanie: Also, by the way, side tangent before we get through all the action items, I learned from a marketing company this week, which many of you may already know, that depending on the amount of reviews that you have is where Google puts you in the ranking on searches, which I knew the reviews made a difference, but apparently, once you reach 250, you surpass 250 reviews on your Google reviews not other platforms, your Google reviews surpass 250, you hit a new bracket, and Google is like, "Wow, they're doing amazing things. Let's ramp them up" So you guys, if you don't have 250, that's your target. I don't care where you are. If you've got two, your target is 250. I don't care. It might take you two and a half years to get there, but I want you to freaking get there. There are companies that help.

0:13:12.6 Britt: You can do it quick.

0:13:14.2 Tiffanie: You can do it quick. You can do it quick. Friends, family. Who's coming to your practice? You guys, hit up those people. Hit up the people that are in your inner circle. I know my friends would come to my practice. The girls that worked with me, their friends are coming to my practice. They should be the first people to write reviews, so make it easy. So figure out how many you have, where you're trying to get to, what's the difference, so how are you gonna get there by when. So figure out the number, come up with verbiage that you guys all like, and train your team to do it. Set those goals, and just do it, guys. It's not that hard. And today, right here, right now, when you click off of this, wherever you're hearing this or watching it, go leave us a review. I want you to practice and see how freaking easy it is to leave a review. Google the podcast.

0:14:01.8 Tiffanie: I can't think of what all the different places are called, but I have an iPhone, so I only know... I can only think of the purple I... You know, the purple podcasting, but I know that there's one on all the platforms, Spotify, Instagram, all of these places, TikTok, wherever you're listening to this, leave us a review. Hop on the podcast if you're on TikTok and leave us a review. See how easy it is. Thedentalateam.com, right? Hop on there, thedentalateam. You Google us, you'll come up with our Google. Leave us a review. Let yourself see how easy it is and see how easy it was in this conversation for us to be like, "Go leave us reviews" [chuckle] Go do it because it's that simple, and if we overcomplicate it, you guys are missing out, and then guess what? People in your community are missing out too, and that literally makes me sad. It makes me so sad inside to think that something so simple might make it so that somebody in your community doesn't have the opportunity to find a really good place to go get really great dental treatment, and many of you out there are holistic health practitioners, and that's huge. So do your community justice, do them the service, and go do things. Make it easy. It doesn't have to be hard. Go get it done.

0:15:17.4 Britt: It's not hard. Once you've got your verbiage down, guys, it's not that hard. Figure out the verbiage that's gonna work for you. You guys don't all have to say it exactly the same way. Make it something that rings true to you. Also, add this in. There's a little bit of... I believe in "You get what you give," so I know I also try to leave reviews for people. If someone's doing a good job, I try to leave reviews. Just put some positivity out in the world. And it's one of those rare things anymore that gives people a chance to actually help each other out, put some positivity out there, give some compliments, so go do it for other people, and ask people so they can do it for you because any time that I get to complement someone else and let them know how great they're doing, it makes me feel better too.

0:16:02.8 Tiffanie: Totally. I feel way better when I compliment somebody else than when I receive a compliment, I'll tell you that much right now. And it lasts longer. That high lasts way longer, so I love that. Good job, Britt.

0:16:10.7 Britt: Same thing. You think you're inconveniencing your patient, but you're not. They love you, so give them the opportunity to say some great things about you.

0:16:19.0 Tiffanie: I love it. I love it. And your friends and family, guys. Come on. Come on. Make it easy. [chuckle] I love it. Thanks for going down that tangent with me today, Britt. I love it. I think reviews are just so important and so special, so thanks for doing that with me today.

0:16:33.0 Britt: Absolutely. It's a good one.

0:16:34.8 Tiffanie: Yeah. Alrighty, guys. That wraps up the Dental A Team podcast Consultant Takeover. Let us know what you think. We love hearing from our listeners. Again, drop us a five-star review or email us over at [email protected]. Thanks so much for listening. We'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

[music]

0:16:52.5 KD: And that wraps it up for another episode of the Dental A Team podcast. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.