THE WELLINGTON DENTAL PRACTICE
From strength to strength: The Wellington Dental Practice’s feedback journey
The Wellington Dental Practice has always been driven by innovation and continuous improvement. In 2021 it embarked on a trial of Customer Radar with the aim of enhancing its online reputation through increased Google reviews. Practice Manager, Tara Williams saw the tool as a strategic method to gather timely patient feedback, refine their services and consequently improve their patient experience further.
The Opportunity:
“We started getting excellent feedback. We wanted to do it to increase our presence on Google which it did, but the biggest and most unexpected payoff was the impact of the feedback on the team as we shared it. ”
Building an online reputation
Tara says “We’d heard so much about the importance of having a good Google standing in helping patients find us and choosing us. We were asking our patients for reviews verbally and typically following a major case, but patients were often distracted or recovering from treatment so it frequently got overlooked.”
Customer Radar was able to seamlessly integrate with EXACT dental practice management software which The Wellington Dental Practice uses. “Implementation was straightforward and hassle free – I didn’t know a lot about the process before we chatted, but Customer Radar explained it well, showed they understood what we were trying to achieve and made it easy,” says Tara. We have automated emails going out about an hour after a patient has visited them – making it easy for the patient to give timely, relevant feedback.
The Process:
“Seeing the positive impact on our team and being able to quantify the monetary value of the Google reviews is what makes Customer Radar a really great solution for us."
Happy patients, happy team
As soon as they began the trial, the positive feedback started flooding in. “We started getting excellent feedback,” shares Tara. “We wanted to do it to increase our presence on Google which it did, but the biggest and most unexpected payoff was the impact of the feedback on the team as we shared it. Receiving positive feedback makes the team feel great and they know their work is recognised - especially on the more stressful days. We found it drives team engagement and encourages an even higher level of delivering the best customer experience.”
Each day, Tara shares a few key reviews from the day before with the team and actively shares them with each team member if they’re mentioned by name.
“One of the things the team liked the most was being mentioned by name. It turned into a competition to see if they could get their name on the response word cloud by providing an exceptional experience. They started wearing their name tags more for that reason!”
Where the feedback isn’t as positive as expected, Tara reaches out to the patient directly to better understand what happened and give them a chance to talk through any issues. “We always thank them for their feedback as it gives us a chance to put things right, make improvements in the practice and raise the bar with our customer experience levels.” Says Tara. “We don’t do a lot of marketing so receiving good reviews is one of our best ways to manage our reputation and encourage referrals – we always remember our patients have a choice”.
Tara can change the frequency of feedback requests to control which patients are asked for feedback and when. This makes it a completely seamless part of the whole customer engagement.
The Impact:
“I wasn’t expecting the benefits we did get out of it, it’s a great product and I’ve been actively recommending it to other practices.”
A great reputation online and off
The Wellington Dental Practice’s tagline is ‘Caring for you’ – and they’ve well and truly proven that with their customer feedback. Since implementing Customer Radar in 2021, Google reviews have increased over 1000% and the practice currently has an impressive Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 94.
Beyond the amazing customer feedback, what made using Customer Radar valuable for the business was in achieving their initial goal of generating more Google reviews. In the space of just four months, they more than tripled their number of Google reviews and increased their (already high) rating to an incredible 4.9 stars out of 5.
Delivering benefits
“I was willing to give Customer Radar a try because we like trialling new things but, if I’m being honest, I didn’t think we’d get a lot out of it or continue past the trial period because we already had good customer service. But seeing the positive impact on our team and being able to quantify the monetary value of the Google reviews, changed my mind,” shares Tara. “The solution is regularly improved and new functionality added so we can now get the customer feedback feeding to our website which means prospective patients can see our feedback and star rating.
I wasn’t expecting the benefits we did get out of it; it’s a great product and I’ve been actively recommending it to other practices.”
Key Business Benefits:
Enhanced Online Reputation: The substantial growth in Google reviews and improved star ratings has contributed to an increase in new client acquisition, reinforcing our online visibility and credibility.
Improved Customer Satisfaction: By achieving an exceptional Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 94, well above industry standards, we’re demonstrating our commitment to exceeding customer expectations, leading to increased loyalty and repeat business.
Boosted Team Morale: Regular, positive customer feedback has significantly uplifted team motivation and engagement, fostering a work environment focused on excellence and continuous improvement which enhances patient experience.
Efficient Feedback Management: Our seamless integration with existing software systems enables automated feedback collection, optimizing our processes and ensuring timely responses to customer insights.
Increased Financial Impact: By continuously enhancing customer attraction and retention strategies based on real-time feedback, we drive measurable improvements in profitability and business growth.
The Wellington Dental Practice showcases how effectively leveraging customer feedback tools like Customer Radar can transform service quality and business outcomes.