How to Ask for Positive Online Reviews for Your Dental Practice

Potential patients often rely on online reviews to help them choose a dentist. Positive online reviews are valuable to your practice growth. This means that it is a good idea to ask every happy patient to write an online review. But how do you do this without bugging your patients or sounding desperate for compliments?

The good news is it’s much easier than you may think. In fact, most happy patients are more than willing to write a positive review about their experience with your office. Some will take the initiative to write an online review, others need to be asked.

Here are 10 Simple Ways to Get More Positive Online Reviews:

1. Role play – Practice, practice, practice! Together as a team, practice asking for reviews until your request feels comfortable and sounds natural. Take time during your morning huddles, or weekly team meetings to role play.

2. Be alert to opportunities to ask for reviews – For example, make the most of compliments. When a patient compliments the practice, a team member, the dentist, or is thrilled about the dental treatment/procedure they received, after graciously thanking them, ask for a review. Something simple like: “Your feedback is very important to us. Would you be willing to share your experience with us by writing a short review that we might use to encourage others to…”

3. Or create the opportunity to request a review by asking: "Do you read online reviews? We do too! Would you be willing to share your experience with us by writing a short review that we might use to encourage others to…”

4. Signs posted in office – In your office, post nicely framed signs that let patients know that you appreciate them sharing their positive experiences by writing online reviews. Include icons for review sites. Consider using QR codes that will link patients to these platforms.

5. Instruction - Make an easy to follow instruction sheet that walks them through the steps of making a review.

6. Video - Share a video on Facebook and YouTube that demonstrate how simple it is to write a review(s).

7. Text/Email - Send your patients personalized texts and emails asking them to kindly write a review. For example, Dear Patient's name , we enjoyed seeing you today! Online reviews are a great way to help people, like you, find a dentist. If you’d like to share your experience by writing a review, here’s where you can do that:

8. Website – Include links on your website that patients can click on to write a review.

9. Gratitude - Regularly express sincere gratitude on your social media pages, website, newsletters, etc. for the reviews that you have received. This will inform your patients that you appreciate reviews and encourage anyone who hasn’t yet written a review to do so.

10. Acknowledge - Once your patients have taken time out of their day to write a positive online review, it is important to always reply to the review. This sends a message that you care about and listen to your patients.