| PATIENT TESTIMONIALS | PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
your clinic marketing arsenal. Used in the right way, they can influence a potential patient to choose your clinic over all of the others. Testimonials are essential because they are evidence of your ability as a physician and they provide prospective customers with an expectation for results. When a prospective patient identifies with a patient that has given a testimonial, it helps them recognize that the solutions to their problems lie with you. They also give you instant credibility. People are always more comfortable when they see a real person, with real results, and an honest opinion endorse your clinic. However, many patient testimonials are ineffective and fail to soothe prospective patients’ anxieties. In fact, just like any other marketing message; they should sell your brand and your services.
What belongs in a testimonial Ideally, testimonials used in medical marketing should be well structured. First, allow your satisfied patient to describe their problem briefly, and then let them talk about how they felt about the healthcare you provided to them, and then let them brag about the result of your products or services. Always allow the patient providing you with a testimonial to write or tell you about their experience naturally. You never want to tell satisfied patients what to say, but you can certainly help them shape their testimonial by asking the right questions. Testimonials should not make only
claims or assertions, even if they are glowing. For example, ‘Jones Medical Aesthetics Clinic was great!’ is not all that compelling on its own. Similarly, blanket statements such as: ‘I highly recommend Dr Jones’, or ‘Thank you for doing such great work!’ are equally unsubstantial. Although these are all positive comments, they are missing an essential element of a great testimonial; they are not convincing to move someone to make a purchasing decision. They are just claims or assertions, which on their own do not really sell anything. A better testimonial format should
illustrate and prove any claims or assertions. For example, ‘My experience at Jones Clinic was better than any clinic I have been to. The staff were friendly and genuinely cared about me. This was apparent from the warm reception and
Always allow the patient
providing you with a testimonial to write or tell you about their experience naturally. You never want to tell satisfied patients what to say, but you can certainly help them shape their testimonial by asking the right questions.
the excellent care I received. And I have beautiful skin again!’ Doing it this way will help distinguish this message from the thousands of others that are merely assertions. Whenever possible, try to get
testimonials from patients signed with first and last names, along with their occupations or titles, and location. Of course, this is not a fait accompli in medical aesthetics, where patients want to remain anonymous to some degree. However, testimonials from a nameless
person or initials only just does not ring true. In this age of increasing transparency, it makes it look and sound fake, even when it is the genuine article. Because the person reading it cannot identify with the writer, the effect may be lost. For example, ‘Jane Doe, Estate Agent, Marlowe’, or ‘Lauren Smith, President of Smith & John Associates, Ltd’, sounds more official and will thus have a greater impact. In most cases, generalities or allusions
to benefits are also not advised. For instance, instead of: ‘Dr Jones is wonderful’, try to get something like, ‘Dr Jones was so reassuring. I used to dread needles but his bedside manner and competence made me feel at ease right away!’ Or even more specific, such as, ‘The cosmetic treatments I had with Dr Jones improved my appearance 100%. He made me look like a million! I have so much more confidence now.’ Mentioning specific benefits received rather than generic assertions of benefits makes the testimonial come alive. Think of what would persuade you
prime-journal.com | July/August 2014 49
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