How Do Nursing Homes Gather Positive Reviews?
When caregivers are in search of a nursing home which offers optimal support and care they start by doing a local search of “nursing home near me”. At that point a few local organizations will get listed on Google’s home page. Sounds great, but when the facilities star rating falls below four stars chances are it will get overlooked by the potential client. This is the decisive moment for the potential $91,000 prospect and you just blew it. Keep reading and I will provide you with an idea on how to improve your Google appearance.
How does a nursing homes deal with bad Google reviews?
It’s important to know where these Google reviews live. There is a platform called Google My Business where a business has the capabilities of posting images and information about the facility. There you can see the reviews for the nursing home and respond to them accordingly. Keep in mind that patients and caregivers are looking for empathy and as a Google My Business manager it’s your job to respond to them accordingly.
It’s only the people whom had a bad experience that are leaving reviews?
True, but you have to remember getting reviews is a numbers game. The more reviews you get the better the rating gets even though you aggregated some bad apples. Try and reach out to the client who left a negative review. You may be surprised very often things can be smoothed out like done bellow.
Start implementing new guidelines with positive treatment of patients and caregivers?
I understand that your nursing home offers the best service and care for its residents but what can be done to change a standard experience into a positive one. Always make sure that the staff is smiling. This should be the number one requirement for any position in the facility. In fact smiling may lead to lowering blood pressure and even longevity. Also make sure to address patients and caregivers by their first name. Next time you meet somebody mention their first name and see the response you get. When an uncomfortable issue arises be empathetic and try to “nip in the bud” before it gets to the web.
Follow up with a call to the family after the patient has settled down. It’s a very stressful experience when a senior loses independence and gets admitted to a nursing home. Having someone reach out to them gives the caregiver a sense of security that the patient is in good hands. Don’t send an email but rather call. There is something a bit more personable when picking up the phone.
Create a three pronged approach for aggregating positive reviews
🔱 Start implementing ideas which motivates workers to enhance the environment in a positive way
🔱 Respond to negative reviews and see if you can resolve or at least explain your side of the story
🔱 Follow up with the family to see how things are going. Perhaps there is something that the patient likes that you can provide.
The idea which I promised
Here is a strategy which is really simple and could accomplish getting the results you want. Every month target 5 potential review prospects and try and build a relationship with them. Once you get an idea that they are content with the current conditions ask them if they could provide feedback on Google for other people like them. If you get two good reviews a month that’s 24 a year which is more than enough for the nursing home sector.
Nursing homes are becoming more aware of the appearance across the web. Not being proactive in collecting reviews will ultimately lead to a handful of negative ones. No one who had a good experience was ever asked to share their thoughts about the facility. By default the nursing home is left with the bad apples which impacts the brand. A nursing home in Northeast Ohio met with a loan officer of a local bank for construction on a new wing. One week later the bank followed up with a call that it was uncertain to lend such a large some of money to the organization because of its web reputation. The administrator was baffled because as far as she was concerned her staff excelled in service and care for its patients. However, she did not have a plan in place how to deal with online brand reputation.
Uncertainty of how to retrieve good reviews is not a reason not to act. Pickup the phone and speak to a trusted marketing consultant and he or she could direct you on implementation. It may take a little leg work but it’s something which needs to be addressed. Remember that all it takes is two or three reviews a month and they will pile up quickly. With better ratings your organic rankings will begin to improve.
