Three orthodontists among the businesses someone searching in Northbrook, IL is shown had answered every one of their 10 most recent Google reviews. Graber and Gyllenhaal Orthodontics, Rosen Orthodontics and Lippitz Orthodontics each answered 10 of 10. We read 20 orthodontists in this catchment, and those three are the ones answering the most. We can name only those three, so we can't see how the other orthodontists we read handle their replies.
The dentists we read have leaders close behind. Skale Dental Professionals answered 9 of its 10 most recent reviews, Northbrook Dental Group also answered 9 of 10, and North Suburban Oral Surgery answered 8 of 10. We read 20 dentists here as well. Across the 57 businesses in this catchment where we measured replies, a typical one had answered 75% of its recent reviews. All of these reply figures describe only the most recent handful of reviews on each listing.
The review totals are a different measurement: they cover the whole history of each listing. The median dentist we read carries 63 Google reviews, and the median orthodontist carries 49. The three most-reviewed dentists carry 626, 540 and 529 reviews, and Skale Dental Professionals is the one at 626. Among the orthodontists, the three most-reviewed carry 526, 273 and 196, with Graber and Gyllenhaal Orthodontics at 526 and Rosen Orthodontics at 273. So two of the practices answering every recent review are also among the most-reviewed orthodontists we read.
The median rating is 5 in both trades. That is a single middle value, not a description of every listing, and we don't have the ratings of the practices credited above. What it does show for each of them is a reply from the practice under 8 or more of its 10 most recent reviews.
What to do about it
Open your own Google listing and count how many of your 10 most recent reviews carry a reply from you. The practices named above answered 8, 9 or 10 of theirs; that is the figure to measure yourself against, not the star rating. The review is the customer's; the reply is the part you write.
Answer each new review, the good ones as well as the critical ones, and keep each reply short and specific to what the reviewer said. Thank them in plain words and invite them to call the office if something needs sorting out. Because you are a healthcare practice, never confirm in a reply that the reviewer is your patient, and never mention treatment, appointments or anything from their record, even when they raised it first. A reply that follows those two rules can still be warm, and it is still yours.
Dentists
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Skale Dental Professionals | 9 of 10 | 626 | 5 |
| 2 | Northbrook Dental Group | 9 of 10 | 179 | 5 |
| 3 | North Suburban Oral Surgery | 8 of 10 | 273 | 4.9 |
Orthodontists
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Graber and Gyllenhaal Orthodontics | 10 of 10 | 526 | 4.9 |
| 2 | Rosen Orthodontics | 10 of 10 | 273 | 5 |
| 3 | Lippitz Orthodontics | 10 of 10 | 131 | 5 |