A while back we used a very simple–and free–process to quickly gather testimonials from our patients. If you’ve ever wanted to add positive comments to your website, print materials or other marketing efforts, it’s surprisingly easy to gather them.
“A very personalized experience–when I am in her office, I feel like I am the only patient she has.”
“The staff are very welcoming, the appointments never feel rushed, and you are always given plenty of time. The doctors truly listen and want to learn about my symptoms.”
Those are just two of the 32 testimonials we received in just a few minutes of work. Here’s the process we used:
1. Create a SurveyMonkey account. Don’t worry. It’s free.
2. Create a survey using just two questions. You can create your own wording, but here’s what we used, more or less:
- What do you enjoy most about your experience at our clinic?
- What can we add or improve to make things better?
The second question will give you some great ideas for new services, or ways to improve. The first one will give you testimonials. Every time.
Tip: There are a variety of question types in SurveyMonkey. We used the “comment/essay box” style so people can just type their answers in.
3. Add a check-box: “Can we use your comments on our website?”
4. Collect an email address and name. (Optional) You can then follow up if you need to, or use their name as part of the testimonial
5. Email the link to your survey to your patients/clients. Use some variation on this:
We’re always looking for ways to improve our service, and would love your input. This survey only has two questions and shouldn’t take longer than two minutes to complete.
Thanks for your feedback!
We’ve also done the same thing in our waiting room using paper, but the email survey seemed to work a lot better. Either way, the secret is to keep the survey ridiculously short ( you can even use just one question if you want) and tell people how short it is. That way people will actually click through and answer it.
That’s it. After that, just sit back and wait for the responses!
This article has been really helpful. It’s a step-by-step guide that takes minutes to set up and delivers invaluable information from clients on giving the best service possible to keep them coming back. Thank you!
Thanks for this tip. I also heard that there is a way to get video testimonials. There is also a call-in service for audio testimonials, where your patients get a phone number to call. I have yet to try this but it sounds like a great idea.