The Amazing Power of Patient Testimonials – Practice Builders

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The Amazing Power of Patient Testimonials
Looking for an advertising or marketing strategy
with a great track record and proven results for
healthcare practices? Patient testimonials can
give you added credibility, a closer connection
to your target audience and some
attention-getting marketing messages. Just be
careful how you present them in the context of
your marketing plan and objectives. Testimonials
from satisfied patients are among the most
effective marketing messages any healthcare
practice can use. Why? Because we human beings
tend to trust the reviews, recommendations and
referrals that come from people who are most like
ourselves. Your patients often tell your story
best. If you are like most healthcare
practitioners, you probably have some or many
patients who are raving fans of your care and
your practice. They express their appreciation.
They refer other patients to you. Obviously, they
are the best ones to tell your story to potential
new patients. Theres always greater credibility
in hearing how wonderful you are from someone
else. Ideally, testimonials will come to you
unsolicited. Satisfied patient emails, letters or
handwritten notes can be kept in a folder on your
computer or in a three-ring binder labeled
Testimonials/Patient. If you receive similar
kinds of testimonials from referring
practitioners, you can keep them in a folder or
binder labeled Testimonials/ Professional. If
you do not receive any unsolicited testimonials,
dont despair. You or your staff can also ask for
them. The perfect time to ask is when a patient
makes a positive statement about your care during
a visit.
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You or a member of your staff can explain how
important it is to have happy, satisfied patients
and ask if the patient would be willing to put
it in writing. Many patients will be happy to
accommodate your request. Make it easy for them
to provide feedback by giving them a patient
satisfaction survey.
Use a Patient Satisfaction Survey One of the
simplest yet most effective tools you can use to
solicit patient testimonials is the time-honored
patient satisfaction survey. Ask every patient
to fill out the survey. The survey can be emailed
to the patient and it only takes a couple of
minutes and their responses will help you better
serve them in the future. Their responses may
also provide you with testimonials you can use in
your marketing program. The best testimonials,
aside from having good things to say about you
and your practice, will speak to those specific
services, treatments, procedures or diagnoses
that you are trying to promote within your
practice. Click here to learn how you can use
these survey results to post them on your reviews
websites (i.e. Yelp, HealthGrades, Goggle, etc.)