It can be very easy for a physical therapy to get a negative reputation thanks to the ease of sharing bad experiences via the internet and especially via social media. In this article we will be sharing tips on how to repair a physical therapy clinic's reputation following negative reviews.
Never wait until there is a problem before working on building up your reputation. It is a lot more difficult to fix a bad reputation than it is to cultivate a good one right from the start! There are lots of things that you can do to make sure that your physical therapy practice gets a good reputation. One of the best things you can put into practice is making sure that you follow up with every single patient that is on your list. This is especially important in larger practices where it is easy for your patients to start feeling like nothing but a number on your system.
Follow ups could be as simple as just checking that they are doing okay following an appointment or even just asking them for some feedback on their last appointment. You can also follow up with the patients that you haven't seen for a while and maybe offer them a mini consultation at a special rate or something along those lines. It isn't a difficult thing to do and you can even automate the process, but it will help to make your patients feel special and will elevate your customer service reputation to a higher level.
There comes a time when every physical therapist is going to encounter an unhappy patient. It could be that you failed to deliver on a promise or that you made an error with their treatment or something completely different. Whatever it is that has upset them you need to make sure that you address their concerns in a timely fashion. In the majority of cases, someone making a complaint just wants to be heard. Listen to their complaints and figure out what it is that they expect from you. It could be an apology or maybe a refund. Addressing concerns immediately will help to nip any ill feeling in the bud and hopefully things can be smoothed out before the complaint goes public!
Thanks to the internet, it is now easier than ever before for disgruntled patients to share a bad experience with others. This need not be a disaster, it is all in how you handled these negative reviews. Keep in mind that although the complaints are out there in the public eye, so too is your response. Handling negative reviews quickly and professionally lets other people see that you care about your patients and that you are willing to accept responsibility for your mistakes. Knowing that you have worked hard to rectify a problem is going to give people confidence in you despite a poor review.
If you have a large number of negative reviews for your physical therapy clinic then you will need to work on rebuilding your reputation. The first step is to take a good look at what the negative reviews are saying and look at how you can address problem areas. This could mean having to arrange additional training for staff or looking at ways to improve your customer service.
When you are sure that you have addressed any issues that have been highlighted, you can think about encouraging positive reviews and testimonials from satisfied patients. Of course, it is important that you do not breach any terms of use for websites like Facebook and Yelp as they do not allow solicitation of reviews. However, there are methods that can be used that will not get you into trouble. Once the positive reviews start coming back in your negative ones will be pushed down and your ratings will begin to improve.
If you would like to discuss how to handle your physical therapy clinic's online reputation then please do not hesitate to call us today on (866) 565-4746 to see what PatientSites.com has to offer.