Mrs. Sandra Genochio

Do you think word of mouth is one of the best ways to grow your practice?

Joshua Austin DDS, MAGD

Absolutely! In fact, online reviews are actually just the 21st century's version of word of mouth. It's no different than the way my dad grew his practice in the 70s. He had people telling their friends at their sewing circle or bridge game. Now a days, people leave online reviews. The same concepts are still there...we are growing our practice off our good name based on how we treat people. Word of mouth! The only difference is how far the voice carries!

Linda Leon

A patient wrote a bad review 4 years ago, which still shows up. Do I reply to it to give my side of the story? (Eventually, this patient paid me in $75 worth of pennies! because she was angry and petty.) Do I contact google and try to get it removed?

Joshua Austin DDS, MAGD

It is always worth it to try and flag a bad review to be removed. The worst Google or Yelp can say is no. If they say no, I would recommend a response. Even a short and simple response like "We are so sorry your experience what you hoped it would be. Best of luck in the future. Please let us know if we can help in any way." That response is not for the patient who left the review...its for everyone who ever reads it. It lets them know you care.

Mrs. Amy Rankin

How can we remove old bad reviews?

Joshua Austin DDS, MAGD

Unfortunately you can't. Only the patient who left the review can remove it. We can only do our best to either reach out to the patient or respond well.

Dr. Leah Kanner

how to use google my business if you work for someone else?

Joshua Austin DDS, MAGD

Great question- I would do one of two things. First, have a discussion with your senior doc. This might be a good way for you to take a leadership role in the practice and manage the GMB page for the entire practice. The second option is to build your own GMB profile with your own name on it. I wouldn't do this with out a discussion with your senior doc first. Both can work well!!!

Y. G.

Do you have any evidence your advertisement is working on the Google or other sites?

Joshua Austin DDS, MAGD

We track how our new patients heard about our office. We ask each one and document it. Over the past 8 years, we get around 23 new patients a month from yelp and 28 new patients a month from Google. That is how I can see that things are working. The only way to know is to ask your new patients how they ended up in your chair!

Linda Leon

I had a different patient give me a bad review. Then, he changed his mind and was a happy patient for years. Should I have asked him to update the review? He's moved away, but the bad review is still there.

Joshua Austin DDS, MAGD

Yes, I would definitely reach out to ask him to update it!!!