Online reviews provide valuable insights into how your clinic is performing, highlighting your strengths and where you could improve your customer service. They also play a crucial role in strengthening your relationship with your customers and can enhance your website's visibility and search engine rankings.
While there is a lot you can do to encourage positive reviews, nobody is immune from negative reviews or comments, no matter how good they are.
In reality, one bad review in a sea of five-star ones isn’t going to take your business down, but statistics show that one negative review requires roughly 40 positive reviews to outweigh the damage.
So, how you deal with negative feedback is crucial. Remember, the eyes of your existing and future patients are watching. All it takes is one dissatisfied customer, cyberbully, troll, maybe even a disgruntled ex-employee or competitor taking to their keyboard, and if you react unprofessionally to it, your hard work in building your reputation could be undone.
Navigating negative online reviews can be a minefield, merely because it is natural to take things personally when someone attacks your reputation, professional integrity, or business. So, in this article, we’ll explore why online reviews matter, how to manage negative ones when they arise and what to do when someone oversteps the mark. We will also advise on how to remove negative reviews and what to do if you think a review is defamatory or in breach of Google guidelines.
Online reviews are not just digital commentary—they are a crucial aspect of how potential clients perceive your aesthetic clinic.
Online reviews are clearly pivotal to influencing customers' purchasing decisions, both about which practitioner they are most likely to trust and how much they are prepared to. In fact, online reviews are often the first thing a potential customer will look for when considering whether to use your services.
Statistics show that 95% of customers read online reviews before purchasing, with 89% routinely checking reviews before buying products online (Trustpilot). Google reviews remain critical, with 81% of consumers checking them first and 74% saying reviews enhance their trust in a company.
This suggests that, even if your potential patient has been referred to you by another customer, they will likely go online to confirm the existing customer’s view and seek out the opinions of other patients before making a firm commitment.
Negative reviews deter 94% of potential customers, whereas positive feedback can boost spending by up to 31%. But, interestingly, consumers are sceptical of perfect five-star ratings without numerous supporting reviews, indicating a preference for transparency and detailed feedback.
This demonstrates the importance of managing negative reviews not just reactively but by shifting your perspective to see them as an opportunity to improve your service quality and online visibility. By putting in place clear protocols, your team will be prepared in advance and can manage negative feedback promptly and professionally.
It may seem that there is little you, as a practitioner, can do to rectify the aftermath of a negative online review, but 53% of consumers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week; you must not bury your head in the sand.
The good news is that there are techniques for managing negative online reviews or comments and keeping your reputation intact.
As long as you view online reviews as an opportunity to build interaction and transparency with your customers and make sure that you are communicating consistent marketing messages, you can leverage them to your advantage.
But what should you do if, despite your best efforts, you receive a negative online review?
We have all seen businesses react defensively to a negative review or, worse, ignore it entirely. The crucial thing is not to ignore negative reviews. Rather than responding defensively to a bad online review, it is important to take onboard insights into how your target audience views your brand.
Julia Kendrick, founder of Kendrick PR, recommends using the A.C.E method.
Law firm Clyde & Co, who Hamilton Fraser works with, provide the following advice for cosmetic practitioners when dealing with negative online reviews:
How shall I respond when I receive an online review from a dissatisfied patient?
Accept the reality: Bad online reviews are, unfortunately, a fact of modern life.
Understand the platform providers’ policies: Platform providers, such as Google, who facilitate the posting of online reviews, will usually have policies prohibiting the publication of inappropriate content.
NB: It is very unlikely that a platform provider will remove any review that is not in breach of any of its policies
Dealing with inconsistencies: It may be tempting to respond stating what you consider happened as a matter of fact. However, this could breach patient confidentiality. It is also unattractive to engage in an online dispute with the patient
Response options: Whether to respond and how you phrase any response will depend upon what the patient has written and the circumstances of the situation. Here are two potential options below:
Legal considerations: The law of defamation offers a potential but often unattractive remedy:
Public perception: People who read online reviews (good and bad) will usually do so with a healthy degree of scepticism and pragmatic acceptance of a bad online review will often be the best approach
Take the time to read reviews carefully and objectively, be open to feedback and ask yourself honestly whether there is anything you can learn from the review. Incorporate relevant feedback, particularly if you identify a pattern or trend, and take it on board as constructive criticism that you can use to identify areas for improvement.
2. Respond personally to the reviewer, ideally offline
Often, by picking up the phone and making an effort to speak to the customer, you can turn a bad situation around, and the customer may be prepared to retract or update the negative review. For this approach to work, however, you must take the time to listen and empathise.
3. Respond promptly but allow time to cool off if needed
Make sure you respond as soon as you can, but if a review makes you upset, wait until you feel calm before doing so. Resist the temptation to get emotional or defensive and remain polite and professional at all times, even if you feel the reviewer is being unreasonable.
How you handle a bad review is often of more interest to others than the actual complaint. See every poor review as an opportunity for you to retain patients and acquire new ones by demonstrating your high levels of customer service and empathy.
We all know the old adage that a customer who has complained and had their complaint handled well becomes more of an advocate than those who have not complained at all. And in today’s rapidly expanding aesthetics industry, how you handle those online reviews is more important than ever.
But what should you do if you receive a review that oversteps the mark, isn’t truthful and could be harmful to your business?
In cases where reviews overstep the bounds of fairness and legality, there are legal avenues available to protect your business. Whether through negotiation, legal action, or working with platforms like Google to remove defamatory content, it’s important to be proactive in safeguarding your reputation.
As Director of Nath Solicitors, Shubha Nath has plenty of experience in removing negative and defamatory online reviews about aesthetic treatments. She says, “Complimentary online reviews are now a major way of generating business and cementing the reputation of a practice. However, because treatments are so personal in nature, professional aesthetics practitioners always face the threat of unwarranted negative reviews by clients. Whether they appear online or in more traditional media, illegal and defamatory postings can fatally undermine even the most lucrative, professionally run aesthetics practice.
“At Nath Solicitors in London, we have extensive experience in reducing this type of threat through informal but effective negotiation with the individuals behind negative reviews; discussions with search engines like Google and tactical use of recognised legal remedies such as injunctions and claims for monetary damages.”
It won’t be possible to remove every online review you take exception to but there are steps that can be taken. “Even if there isn’t a legal case to remove a particular piece of online content, we can help manage the situation to minimise any negative impact on your business”, says Nath. “However, where an online review is untrue, and you can show that it has caused you serious harm (you have lost business as a result, for example), then you could have various options open to you under the Defamation Act, 2013. In addition, we may be able to advise you on a claim for harassment and breach of your data privacy rights under GDPR and related legislation.”
Google has a comprehensive set of guidelines in relation to the content that appears in its search results. We regularly work in conjunction with Google to speedily remove online reviews that contravene these guidelines. When a review is submitted to Google, processes mean the content is automatically scrutinised to detect inappropriate content like fake reviews and spam.
To comply with its legal obligations, the search engine states that it may automatically remove such reviews. Google also undertakes not to accept content that’s illegal or which ‘infringes anyone else’s legal rights’.
Managing your online reputation, particularly in the face of negative reviews, is a crucial aspect of running and growing a successful aesthetics practice. By addressing any negative feedback promptly and professionally, you can demonstrate your commitment to customer satisfaction and quality service and even potentially turn dissatisfied clients into loyal advocates.
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