Boosting Your Online Patient Reviews with Dr. Len Tau

Alec Goldman:
Welcome to How I Grew My Practice, a podcast presented by Nex
Health. I'm your host Alec. In this episode, we have Dr. Len Tau. Dr. Len Tau is the author of two books, Raving Patients and 100 Tips to 100 Five Star Reviews in 100 Days. He has retired from clinical dentistry after more than 20 years, now focusing all of his attention on helping practices increase their revenue. He leads the dental division over at Bird Eye. You can find him lecturing nationally on his own podcast, on social media, talking all things reputation marketing. And he is here with us today talking about his journey and becoming known as the reviews doctor. Dr. Len Tau, thank you so much for agreeing to be on this podcast, jumping on the show. How are you doing today?
Len Tau:
I'm doing great, thanks for having me. I'm looking forward to it.
Alec Goldman:
So obviously you're a very well-known name in the dental industry, but for those who are listening and may not know a little bit about you, I would love just to hear a little bit about how you kind of got into the industry, how you became known as the review doctor, and what you're up to now.
Len Tau:
So I'm a dentist, as you had eloquently stated in my little intro. I practiced for 23 years in Philadelphia. Started my own practice 15 years prior, and knew or understood the value of marketing to my practice and started learning to do it myself. Created my own review software called iSocialReviews, which turned into BirdEye a year and a half later. So I've been with BirdEye for about nine years now. and just became an authority in the review space. People reach out to me every day with questions regarding issues on how to answer a bad review, how do you get more good reviews? And it's something I've kind of branded myself and it's a niche market. Not a lot of people know about what I know about. And I speak all over the country, like you said, teaching what I know and what I believe in and what I know helps practices make more money. And that's kind of how I got into the space and how I got into lecturing. And obviously things have done a whole 180 or 360 in this case. I never thought 10 years ago that I would be out of dentistry, you know, 10 years later. So, but, you know, we sold the practice in 2020, moved to Florida. I worked for the new associate or my new owner, who is my associate for about a little over a year. And basically decided in December that I was done. So I've been done seven months now. I haven't really missed it at all, which is really interesting to me. But now I'm fully on the consulting slash marketing side of the business now.
Alec Goldman:
Congratulations. And it's really exciting to hear that you're now really focused on something that, I mean, obviously you love dentistry, but now really loving the consulting and marketing side. It's interesting of all the things, obviously you're an expert on many things when it comes to running and growing a practice, but the thing that you became known for specifically is reviews. What is it about reviews that you're so passionate about? And what's the opportunity you think for lots of practices who are missing out on having great reviews at their practice?
Len Tau:
So I realized very early in my career through discussions with patients, and this is when reviews were not what they are now, that they were making decisions based on what others were saying. So you had word of mouth, you had now word of mouth online, you had insurance books to go into, patients were relying on these decisions based on what they were reading, what others they may not even know were saying. And something kind of triggered me in my brain that said, you know, This is a great way to differentiate yourself. And not only does it differentiate you when you have so many more reviews and a competitor down the street, but it also makes everything that you do in the practice such as your marketing work significantly better. The return on investment is much higher versus someone who's not generating reviews and most likely not marketing versus someone who is not generating reviews and someone is actually trying to market. There's a significant difference in the results you get. And I lived it personally You know, that's what I kind of teach practices to do is stop your marketing spend until you have a steady flow of reviews because you're wasting your money. And once that
Alec Goldman:
Yeah, you know.
Len Tau:
kind of, what's that called?
Alec Goldman:
I don't know if you're thinking, please.
Len Tau:
So once I realized that or recognize that as a, as a big deal, I figured I needed to figure out a way to, to help make it easy for practices to do that. And that's exactly what I did.
Alec Goldman:
You know, as a marketer at a software company, it's one thing for us to say the importance of your reviews coming from a dentist who increased and improved his reviews at his own practices is a totally different thing. Can you share a little bit about the impact that you saw at of reviews at your own practice, let alone all the practices that you're helping get more reviews?
Len Tau:
Yeah, so I originally, when I first bought the practice, I was using a product called Demand Force. And Demand Force, which still exists now, they had a relationship with Google where their reviews were actually going into the Google review number. So, you know, you had practices who were using Demand Force that had huge numbers of reviews and they were getting a lot of business because of it. Well, one day Google said, these practices went to zero. Now, I still had, I knew the power of these, so I had gotten 15, 20, 30 of my own. So I didn't have the dramatic impact that some of these other practices had. I mean, you had practiced with thousands that went to zero overnight. And I knew that it was going to affect these practices, and I knew that my practice was gonna stay afloat. and patients would still come in because of what other people were saying about my practice. That's kind of the first inkling I got that this was a huge thing.
Alec Goldman:
And I feel like even since you started, it's only getting more and more right. As more of the economy goes online to be making decisions. Um, I think it's what now I think it was 80% of folks look at reviews before.
Len Tau:
Yeah, it's 98% search for a business online, 98% at least look at the reviews online, at least occasionally. So, I mean, this is big business. There's a, and if you guys want to check the stats out, it's a survey done by Bright Local. It's the local consumer review survey and all the data is in there to support everything I've been talking about. And I go over these stats within my seminars. You know, they want reviews within ideally in the last two weeks. So you need fresh current reviews. They want healthcare or medical or dental, which we fall under. It's like 50% of people think that practices that get reviews are more relevant. All the data supports exactly what I talk about.
Alec Goldman:
Yeah, it's big business. So,
Len Tau:
100% too.
Alec Goldman:
um, obviously big and it almost feels intuitive. It feels obvious. Um, but so many practices are missing out on the opportunity of reviews. And I don't think it's a huge mystery. Why? I think it's a lack of process. And I also think there's some awkwardness in asking consumers for reviews. Um, so certainly you have a ton of expertise here and handling that, but, you know, what's the right way to ask and capture a review?
Len Tau:
So I think it's the people or the practices that are not focused on this are missing the ball. They don't understand the true effect of it. So one, it can turn people away if you don't have enough reviews. If you have bad reviews, it certainly will turn them away. It may make them look at one of your competitors. But I think one of the biggest struggles practices has is figuring out how to do it and if they wanna do it on their own, which they can try. I mean, look, asking for a review is the cheapest and it's the easiest way to do it. The problem is patients don't respond to that. It's a very difficult process. There's a lot of steps involved. It's got to be a little easier on the patient for them to do it. So typically if you ask 100 patients, 5% will respond. So you've got five people doing it. I think after a couple of hundred, you're going to get so frustrated with no results that you'll stop doing it. Okay. I like to, and I brought this to the market. I like asking for feedback about the patient experience. I think asking for feedback opens the door to so much more than asking someone for a review. practices or someone at the front asks, you know, can you give us a Google review? It almost sounds like they're begging for it to some extent. And I like it when you ask for feedback, it changes the entire conversation with the patient. So just, you know, keep that in mind when you're, when you're figuring out how you want to go about getting these reviews, but that's the first step in the process is, is asking the proper way. And also I would say is creating a reputation culture in the office. where they know that everything that they're doing is being observed by the patient. And at the end of the day, they're gonna get a report card based on how they did. And if you have this reputation culture where you always put the customer experience first, you should end up getting positive reviews online, which will help you make more money.
Alec Goldman:
Yeah, I love the subtlety of positioning it as feedback and really just being a curious person. How can I improve if it happens that it was positive and turning that into a moment where a patient would share a positive statement online. I think that is a really subtle, great takeaway for a lot of folks listening in. So certainly, there's written reviews. There's reviews that go on Google. There's reviews that go on Yelp. There's lots of platforms for reviews and I'm sure it's changed over the last decade. But what are the places in which reviews matter most? And this is really more speaking towards the positive reviews, because certainly negative reviews, the best place is for your team, right? It's for your team to kind of do a standup and ask the questions. How can we improve? What processes can we change? What technologies should we change? So negative, I think hopefully the goal is to keep it internally, but where should positive reviews be going in 2023?
Len Tau:
Look, I think it's by far and away, Google is the beast. You have to have Google reviews no matter where you are in the United States. People, that's what they do. Google is a verb. They Google you, they Google dentist in my town, okay? So you have to have them on Google by far as number one, it's not even close, okay? Depending on geographically where the practice is located, I will tell you that Yelp is important for specific areas of the country, such as California. Miami, New York, Chicago, those bigger cities. I was in Philadelphia and Yelp didn't matter at all. I didn't look good on Yelp, I could care less about Yelp, but in those specific cities, Yelp is important. And then to a lesser expense, Facebook. And look, the only time they go on Facebook is if they know who you are and they look for you. So it's just another form of social proof. But the biggest advantage of Facebook is that Facebook page ranks on a Google search. So when someone's searching for you, they'll see your Facebook page. and they'll see how many reviews you have. That's the really the only reason why you need to have some reviews go into Facebook, but it's really just recommendations they're called. They're not even reviews, they change their whole policies around that. But Google by far and away is where you need to put them.
Alec Goldman:
Yeah, so kind of going into the next point, there's reviews for the purpose of search optimization, right, SEO and being findable on, to your point, the very, very Google. But there's also using reviews as social.
Len Tau:
correct.
Alec Goldman:
in today's kind of world where people are looking for products and that product even being dentistry, they certainly are going to platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, let alone eventually your own website. But lots of these platforms are driven by video content. So what's your position on? Obviously there's getting written testimonials from patients, but then there is trying to capture them on video, which is even more awkward. than just asking for a written statement. So kind of what's your approach there?
Len Tau:
So I call them and I coined this term video trustimonials, not testimonials, but trustimonials because they create trust with patients to an extent that you can't imagine. But it is awkward. Some patients don't feel comfortable in front of a camera. They need to do 10 different takes to get it done properly. But video testimonials, especially on your website, have a really powerful response. versus going on YouTube. I don't think people go on YouTube to look at video testimonials in my opinion, okay? Now, we are a very visual society. There's TikTok, there's Instagram, there's all these different things that are out there now that are visual oriented. But I think putting them on your website that are true words coming from your patients has another dramatic impact, but just getting them is more difficult.
Alec Goldman:
Yeah, I think it kind of goes twofold. I was speaking with the doctor about this the other week, but it feels like one patient fear is a factor that goes into their lack of video reviews. And then there's also their own fear of will the content look good? And how do you capture it? And do I need to hire a videographer? Do I need to do, you know, kind of have all the bells and whistles in the recommendation we had is, you know, it really takes perhaps a $30 microphone, a $30 microphone, a lavalier that you can connect into an iPhone that... then goes onto an iPhone stand. And that's really the whole recipe, maybe a light, but again, you're talking about maybe under $100 of equipment to bang out a really quality piece of content that you could be using across all of your different social platform or social accounts, your website, and that stuff lives forever. To your point, the amount of impact, the amount of dollars that each of those reviews are making may not be directly correlated to that specific review. But it is one of those things that if you do an aggregate, it really will embellish your brand in a way that, you know, I don't even think a written review would do.
Len Tau:
Yeah, I agree that it's not expensive to do. You do not want to make these like fully produced video testimonials. You can literally take out your iPhone, have a microphone and a light and something to prevent shaking and you end up with a great video testimonial. I think the limitation are is one, doesn't go to Google. And I know Google is playing with the idea of bringing video testimonials. They already have allowed photos in the reviews. And for a time being there, I was able to drop a video in there. Now they can't do that anymore. So if Google ever allows video testimonials into the Google review system, I think they're even more powerful. But again, your barrier there is just having a patient who's not really comfortable in front of the camera and that you'll find them. They don't want to really, you know, they don't want to do it. And that's a limitation. You know, everybody's writing them down, but I do think Google reviews, excuse me, video reviews are a really strong future, future proof way of ensuring that your content lives really long online.
Alec Goldman:
Yeah. Um, and it's, it's tough. I'd ask the question, I guess I'll ask the question, you know, how your, uh, front office, uh, yeah, front off a front staff member, you're a dentist, you're a hygienist. How do you identify somebody from your perspective of who would be a good candidate for a video, uh, testimonial versus written versus somebody who you think just would not be open to either.
Len Tau:
I definitely think it's personality. I think the person has to be outgoing. They have to be someone they have a really good relationship with. And the example would be, hey, I know you've been a long time patient of ours. You love our practice. You really have a great personality. We would love to get some feedback about your experiences on camera and do a little video recording. Is that something you'd be comfortable with? And let them decide if it's comfortable or not. I mean, it's really, that's what, outgoing is really important. I mean, there's some people who have no interest in their hide in their face. They're like this, you know, that's something that I would steer away from. But if they are definitely an outgoing personality, that's where I would start first.
Alec Goldman:
Yeah, I think two characteristics you brought up that I think are great are certainly personality, tenure of patient, how long they've been with you. I think top of mind, the only thing that I really would consider is the type of treatment perhaps they just had, maybe they'd be more excited about a veneer than a cleaning.
Len Tau:
Yeah, procedure two. If they're really happy and exhibit the happiness, in this line, veneers, anything that really makes a change to their appearance significantly, that would be another opportunity to do it as well.
Alec Goldman:
Yeah, I feel like they'd be more proud of showing off that smile. I guess going into the topic of, let's say that patient gives that yes, right? We were speaking to a patient that, you know, I just had a manure in Visalign, what makes a good review?
Len Tau:
So you're talking about video or written or both.
Alec Goldman:
Let's start with Redden and then we'll do video.
Len Tau:
So written review, really, I like reviews that talk about an experience, you know, tell their story. Just getting a five-star review with nothing written doesn't help you at all, it's almost a waste. So there has to be some story there, something compelling for the patient that wants to read. It doesn't have to be really long, and the long ones are not gonna read the whole thing. So reviews that yay big, I think are not really great. But they should describe maybe an individual they worked with in the office that had a really good, you know, good experience with, whether it's the hygienist, a team member. So always mentioning names in the review as well. And then on top of it, getting a photo in the review. So I mentioned that Google now allows photos in the reviews. And what we're finding is that when someone puts a photo in there, it actually makes the review more relevant. And that review is gonna be ranking higher when you look at, when you click on the Google reviews, relevancy is number one. Then there's lowest and highest. So they'll always see the most relevant reviews first. And when you put a photo in there, it automatically becomes more relevant because of that.
Alec Goldman:
Yeah, I love that. And I really, the small, just sharing those details, I think prompting a patient to say, hey, who was the individual who helped you today? And why were they great? Maybe not leading them with higher grade, but certainly asking who that individual who helped you and any feedback you wanna share, I think positions them to leave a comment with more believable detail. And I think to your point, this is all about trust, right? So now transitioning from written to video, what makes a great video?
Len Tau:
So again, I think it needs to be short, 30 seconds to 60 seconds max, too long, too short, not gonna help you. I think they have to state their name, you know, name of the practice. I think they have to talk about the experience they had. They have to smile, they have to show off their teeth. And they have to have a great personality, which is why I would not do someone who is, you know, monotone, they have to be excited about doing this for you. Because if they're not excited, the people who are listening to or reviewing, it won't be excited either.
Alec Goldman:
Yeah, I, you know, we're doing this podcast. I'm like, what I, should I be leaving a review for my, for my very dentist?
Len Tau:
Hey, if you got an ability to capture that and you're comfortable asking and the patients will do it, video reviews are really powerful.
Alec Goldman:
I'm working on it, you know, getting in front of the camera here. So maybe the next step for me, for me will be to go to grand street dental, uh, that down the street and say, Hey, I'm, I'm ready to leave you a review.
Len Tau:
Hehehe
Alec Goldman:
Dr. Lentop, uh, we're at the 19 minute mark. Uh, want to ask just what's, what's a one last piece of advisor, you know, a one last statement that you'd like to leave our audience with on the topic of, of reviews.
Len Tau:
They are a huge opportunity. Take your practice to the next level. Look at it as a way to grow your practice, not as a hindrance. Don't worry about the bad review. Bad reviews actually make the good reviews look real. You're not gonna hurt your practice. If you're getting too many negative reviews, just in general, or feedback as we call it, you gotta change your systems in the office. You gotta fix what you're doing wrong. If the reviews say, every time I come there, we're running late, or the doctor's running late. You're running late. You have to use that as constructive criticism and use it to make a better practice. They should be a tool, not a hindrance. And I want to state that more. I can't be more, you know, cure or sure about that comment because there's so many practices who don't use it as a way to grow. And this is one of the cheapest, most effective ways that you can grow your practice and attract more new patients to it as well. So look to get reviews from your patients, not shy away from them.
Alec Goldman:
Dr. Len Tau, that's a great last piece of information for the audience here. Just wanna say thank you again for jumping on. It was such a pleasure to learn from you and speak with you about the topic of reviews.
Len Tau:
Thank you for having me, I appreciate it.
Alec Goldman:
Can I ask you one last question and I'll maybe tinker with it?
Len Tau:
Sure.
Alec Goldman:
Ready? Um, what, can you talk about the importance of software in collecting reviews? Certainly it's awkward to ask face to face and face to face may not always be the right place to ask. So how do you think about introducing software to help you increase both the quantity and, uh, the quality and quantity of reviews?
Len Tau:
Great question. Obviously I run the dental division for BirdEye. We are a software company that helps businesses get online reviews, not just dentists. I think it's an absolute important to add a tool like BirdEye, there are others like us, but it makes the process of asking so much easier. We automate the process for the practice management software. We make it very easy for the patients to do the review. The link that we have is unique. It's unique to that person. It does not get flagged by Google. And we also auto log the patient in. So it makes the review process really easy. We find that, you know, solutions that just send a link are not gonna be as powerful as what BirdEye does. But I absolutely think it's of most importance for practices to use a software like ours, because you can only expect your team to do so much. And when I had my own platform called iSocialReviews back in 2013, it was a manual system. It wasn't automated. And what we would see is we would see these. When they first got it, it would be go way up. They would get a ton of reviews. A couple months later, they would completely drop to zero. They would get me on the call with them and I would get them motivated again. It would go back up again. Two months later, it would go like this. We don't see that anymore. We see this straight up. It's nice, consistent, and that's really important because consistent reviews within Google are one of the biggest ranking factors as well. So if you stop getting reviews, you're probably gonna tank in the rankings.
Alec Goldman:
I know it may be obvious, but I just want to hear it from you. Why were you seeing kind of the spikes and valleys of
Len Tau:
because you're involving human beings in the office and they have other things they have to do other than focus on reviews. So, you know, anytime you get a new software, you're gonna see a big spike and then it's gonna drop back down again if it's required too much manual entry and someone sending them their own link or someone, you know, triggering a link on their own. If it's not automated, you're certainly gonna see a decrease in the results.
Alec Goldman:
That's really the importance of automation in this process.
Len Tau:
Correct, 100%.