The Correct Way to Handle Negative Reviews

When it comes to receiving a negative online review, no practice owner is happy. However, the way that you handle a negative review can have a big impact on the affected patient, future potential patients, and your practice. In this day and age, everything is open to the public, and you want to make sure that any future potential patients aren’t turned away before they’ve even interacted with your practice.

Stay relaxed and keep calm.

For most practice owners, noticing a negative review can be a very unsettling experience. It is important however to relax and remain calm; overacting won’t result in a positive outcome.

Don’t ignore your negative review

Many practice owners think that the best way to handle negative feedback is just to ignore it. However, this is a bad decision. Neglecting to respond may result in future potential patients taking the negative review at face value and deciding to work with a competitor.

Take a break.

Before you respond to any negative comments online, be sure to take a break so that you can think about the entire situation. Responding too quickly may result in a rushed response that feels inauthentic.

Attempt to resolve the issue.

Instead of just simply responding to the negative review, attempt to actually resolve the issue your patient is having. You can do this by asking them to contact you by phone, email or even in person to further discuss the matter. Be sure to make it clear your practice is dedicating to resolving any patient satisfaction problems.

Get a second opinion.

Prior to posting your response to the negative online review, make sure you ask someone for a second opinion. Whether it is family, a friend or a co-worker, they can let you know whether or not the response sounds sincere and effective.

Getting More “Pozative” Online Reviews

Want to make sure your potential patients don't just see negative reviews? With Pozative, an online reputation management tool, you can easily request review invites from your satisfied patients. In the event that someone has negative feedback, you’ll be informed prior to the review going live so you can try to resolve it before the review even shows up online!