NAVIGATING THE (Sometimes Treacherous) WATERS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is a fact of modern life. It is here to stay. It can be good and bad for your practice as consumers place increasing importance on companies' online presence. A local consumer survey by BrightLocal showed that 49% of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends and family members.1 The benefits of social media and positive reviews on your practice are significant. This article will not discuss those. Instead, we will focus on the negative aspects of social media and how to deal with them.

Let’s start with the Consumer Review Fairness Act. This 2016 law protects the ability of persons to share their honest opinions about a business’s goods or services on any forum including social media. It does so by prohibiting “gag clauses” in non-negotiable consumer contracts. This means that form contracts that prohibit the posting of reviews or threaten legal action for posting are illegal. Having your clients sign a contract, or having terms on your practice website, that condition the provision of services to an agreement not to post negative social media posts or reviews may run afoul of this law.

Some customers may post negative reviews on social media without ever discussing the matter with you or otherwise giving you an opportunity to address their concerns, which can lead to sudden fears about how your rating will be impacted. Although it may be too late to avoid the review, there is still something that can be done. While you may not be able to repair the relationship with the client, you can respond in a way that shows the rest of the world that you take all comments seriously and that you are willing to improve. According to Podium’s 2021 State of Reviews publication, 56% of consumers changed their perspective on a business based on how the business responded to a review.1 Your goal is to come across as a caring and reasonable veterinarian, which may not only help counter the negative review, but even cast some doubt as to the legitimacy of the criticism in the first place.

The first step is to review the situation from the client’s perspective and identify any possible mistakes or areas that can be improved. You may then consider reaching out to the client privately. Communication should start by expressing regret for not having addressed the concerns. You should then thank the client for their time and feedback, letting the client know that you are always willing to receive such feedback and that you are always willing to improve your practice. You must avoid letting the matter become adversarial or a back-and-forth. On the other hand, if some reasonable refund or other accommodation may satisfy the client and perhaps cause them to remove the negative review that possibility should be discussed.

If you need to respond to the negative review in writing, your response should not explain or otherwise discuss the treatment rendered. You do not want to provide a rebuttal to the allegations made by the client, or otherwise invite a back-and-forth that will end up creating a much longer post. Instead, the response should be something along the lines of “Thank you for your comments. At the XYZ clinic, we regularly monitor reviews on social media in an effort to identify areas for improvement, and when appropriate, implement changes. We are always willing to learn from client experiences and improve the quality of our services.” A written response along these lines comes across as caring and professional. It greatly reduces the opportunity for additional negative comments and puts an end to the discussion.

At the end of the day, keep in mind that the best defense against one negative review is ten or more wonderful reviews. While positive reviews remain a key way for companies to sell their product, with customers willing to spend 31% more on a business with excellent reviews 2 , your average rating is often key to whether or not a potential client chooses your practice. 3 Data from a recent study by PatientPop shows that younger generations like Gen Z place the strongest emphasis on a provider’s average star rating (49%), while older generations, like Baby Boomers (31%), see less importance. 2 When you look at restaurant reviews on social media, there are often 400 very good reviews, 30 or so middle-of-the-road reviews, and a handful of “worse place ever” or “do not eat here” reviews. Do you make your dining decision on the five terrible reviews? No. You look at the 400 hundred wonderful reviews, and you think that the five terrible reviewers are disgruntled human beings that will never be happy with anything. That is human nature. That is the reason you should not worry about those few negative reviews because most reasonable people will react the same way. In regards to human medicine, more than half of consumers (56%) won’t consider an average star rating of less than 4.0 for a healthcare provider. 3

Clients have a right to post negative reviews. Your response to negative reviews and your average rating outweigh a handful of negative reviews. If a client threatens to post a negative review unless you give a refund, that may well cross the line into blackmail or extortion. If the post is flat-out wrong or malicious, or if the review is posted after the threat, you may have a right to sue the client. Nevertheless, I would never advise a veterinarian to go that route. Only lawyers will come out ahead in that scenario. Taking the high road and providing the right response will make the best case for you.

References

1. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/online-reviewstatistics/329701/#close

2. https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/online-review-stats/

3. https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/howconsumers-shop-online-doctors