Optometrist review management: requesting public reviews and preparing replies that wait for the owner's signature
Review management covers the public reviews that gather on the map pin and on other listing sites. Our hand is in three things: the sentence that asks for a review, the link that lands on the review box, and first drafts of replies. The practice's team does the sending, and the owner chooses which replies carry the practice's name.
Reviews sit in public view, so the rule here is blunt. A request, a reply or the monthly tally may never identify a patient or describe an exam.
Low on the chart
Where reviews hang on the wall chart
The big letters near the top of the chart are the landing pages for each exam type. Reviews hang lower down, in the smaller lines, next to the map pin that we cover under Google Maps work for eye practices. A page can be perfectly written and still sit beside a listing with no reviews, so the two lines are tended together.
One invitation is written, and it goes to whoever the practice decides to ask. We do not sort people by what we guess they will write, and no review is bought with an offer. Each listing site publishes its own rules about asking, so the owner reads those pages for the present year before the first invitation leaves the building.
We draft; the owner decides. Some replies get posted, some get skipped, and a few are rewritten from scratch.
Four pieces of the review line
- Ask wording
The sentence that invites a review
A short, courteous invitation that the practice's team can drop into its own channels. Every person the practice chooses to ask receives the same one.
- Review link
A direct link into the listing's review box
We create the review link and check that it lands on the right listing. The practice's team places it wherever messages already go.
- Reply drafts
A drafted answer for every review the owner wishes to answer
Drafts are brief, warm and signed with the practice's name. Each waits in a queue until the owner accepts it, changes it or discards it.
- Month-end count
A count of new reviews and which ones were answered
The monthly note lists numbers only, with no names and no exam details, and it is filed beside the month's other changes.
What arrives on the listing, and the reply that goes with it
| Review that arrives | Reply we draft | Line we hold |
|---|---|---|
| A short thank-you review | A brief thanks for the owner to sign | A reply never says the writer was a patient |
| A sharply critical review | A calm reply that points the writer toward the contact page for a private exchange | No detail about any visit and no public argument |
| A review naming a staff member | A reply with thanks and without the name | Names stay out of every reply |
| A review describing an exam | A reply that does not discuss the exam at all | Exam details never enter a reply |
| A review on a second listing site | The same style of reply, drafted for that site | Every draft crosses one desk before posting |
How the review line runs from month to month
Write the invitation
The request sentence is drafted and laid in front of the owner. Nothing leaves until the wording has a yes.
Hand the link to the practice
The practice's team receives the link and the sentence and sends them in its own way. We hold no list of people and ask for none.
Draft answers as reviews come in
We keep watch on the listings and write a draft for any new review the owner wants answered. The draft stays private until it is cleared.
Read the count at month end
A plain count of new reviews and posted replies arrives with the rest of the month's changes.
Lines we hold on every review draft
- One invitation text serves every person the practice asks
- No review is requested with an offer attached
- No reply states, or hints, that a writer was a patient
- No reply repeats a name, a date or a detail about an exam
- Nothing is posted ahead of the owner's look at the draft
- Critical reviews get the same courteous tone as kind ones
- The month-end count holds numbers only, with no names
Three wrong turns people take with review requests
Overheard at the optical counterA request should go only to people likely to say something kind.
What the chart showsWe sort no one. The wording is identical for each person asked, and sorting by expected opinion is a line we will not cross.
Overheard at the optical counterA good reply explains what really happened during the visit.
What the chart showsA public reply never discusses a visit. It thanks, points to a private route and stops.
Overheard at the optical counterReviews are a separate job from everything else on the chart.
What the chart showsThe map pin, the landing pages and the reviews all describe one practice, so we draft them with the same names for exam types and towns.
What owners of eye practices ask about reviews
Do you write the reviews themselves?
Is it fine for the practice to hand out a gift in exchange for a review?
Who sends the invitations?
What does a reply say to a harsh review?
How do replies work across several listing sites?
Set up the review line for your listing
Leave a note on the form, or reserve a half-hour with the picker and Ross Cohen dials your number when it arrives. Review management for the practice begins with that same short list.
Which exam types get the top row?
Name the exam types and appointment kinds you want booked more, the towns your patients travel from and any optical shop lines worth a page of their own. Leave out patient names and anything about anyone's eyes.
The last line of the chart is the phone
The pages, listings and ads sit on the lines above this one. Set an hour for a phone chat with the CEO, or send a written note first and keep reading.
The chart drawn below the text is an illustration of how the work lines up, not a forecast.