Online reviews: To respond or not to respond

For veterinary practices, online reviews can be an essential part of the clinic because reviews can bring in more clients or defer them based on what they see online. Because of this, managing them is a crucial job the clinic must take on in a way that creates trust and client retention, but also show the team and clinic to be humble, resilient, and think strategically.

During her lecture, The Online Review Survival Kit: Thick Skin, Quick Wit, and a Dash of Humility at the 2025 WVC conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, Rhonda Bell, CVPM, PCM, CDMP, shared her survival guide that veterinary staff members can take back to their clinics to help them maneuver all reviews, the good, the bad, and maybe even the ugly.

Reviews matter, but not all of them

According to Bell, online reviews have become an important part of decision making by modern consumers because it provides social proof, which is the psychological tendency to look at other people’s experiences to decide for themselves. When it comes to the reviews, it also creates a peer consensus that can shape the clinic's perspective in their community and those online before they even step foot in the veterinary clinic. Bad reviews can even impact staff, where potential team members may not be interested in joining a practice after reading its reviews online or hurt the morale of the staff currently employed in the clinic.

“We can actually dissuade people from not leaving a review based on the fact that we respond. So remember how much fun we like conflict? A lot of people who leave reviews are also conflict averse. That's why they went online. They didn't call you. Right? So if they know that you are going to respond to all reviews, good and bad, they may not even leave you one because they're too afraid that you're going to continue that conversation. They know you're watching. So use that in your favor as well,” Bell explained.

“That's a good way to try to set up an environment of prevention. The other thing you can do when you're responding is you can say, ‘I'm sorry you had a bad experience. We'll be calling you to discuss this in person.’ So you're going to scare the pants off the guy who wrote the review and anyone else who's coming behind him who's reading it going, they call you and talk about it? Never mind,” she continued.

Bell also explained that although reviews are important, it’s not necessary to respond to all of them. There are certain reviews that can be left on Google, Yelp, Facebook, or other review sites that can be acknowledged without engagement, or even better off ignored. The key for practices is to know when to engage with reviews and when to not.

For bad reviews, they can be done in a way that does not have any intention of providing the clinic productive feedback based on their experience, rooted in a misunderstanding, or completely hostile. Bell explained that when it comes to these types of responses, it is more powerful to not respond than to engage.

Some types of reviews

Constructive criticism: From genuinely concerned clients who may have had an unpleasant experience, a misunderstanding or unmet expectations. These reviews tend to be more specific or provide ways to improve the practice based on their experience. Normally, these reviews are worth addressing with empathy and can show the clinic areas they can improve in.
Trolls and pack attacks: These kinds of reviews tend to be irrelevant or inflammatory in nature, often coming from people who have never actually been a client to the practice. In some cases, these types of reviewers can mobilize in groups and flood review platforms with negative comments. When it comes to these, it is best to not respond because it could escalate the impact of the trolls and packs.
Vulgar or threatening: If the clinic is getting these types of reviews, it should be reported to the platform they are being left on. Many review sites will remove content that violates their terms of service.

If you respond to these kinds of reviews, it is possible to react emotionally, which can backfire, reinforce the initial complaint or invite further criticism. In these cases, it is best to take a moment to determine if the review warrants a response or can simply be noted. Responding to these types of reviews can create the negative impact of over engagement which can waste valuable time as well as emotional energy. Over-engagement can also potentially cause a situation to escalate, especially if the reviews are “troll”-like or pack attacks, which is when nonclients join in on bad reviews to create negativity. Bell believes in these scenarios; it is best to not respond.

Crafting a response

When it is time to respond to a review, once it has been deemed on that it is necessary, it should be crafted in a way that is professional and empathic to the reviewing, meaning it should contain 3 key components:

Bell encourages responders to not get into specifics in the response, especially if it involves pricing or a medical decision because it could lead to further criticism or a misinterpretation. She said if the review mentioned the name of the pet, it can be used in the response to be empathetic to the client and get back on the same page.

Before hitting send on that response, be sure to take a moment to step back and become emotionally grounded. If teams craft messages when they are emotional, it can lead to coming off more defensive or even unprofessional when it comes to the language. It is also important to make sure the responses are just not for the reviewer, but for anyone who could be reading the reviews of the practice, so be sure to keep the long-term reputation of the clinic in mind when crafting response.

Finally, staff wellbeing needs to be considered during responses, because that negative review can affect everyone’s morale. Owners or practice managers can have an open discussion about the review sin a supportive way to help foster a culture that sees the criticism as a possibility to grow.

“Don’t ignore positive reviews. There's a lot of power in responding to positive reviews. Remember social proofing, it tells people that you're paying attention, that you're watching closely. It also thanks the people who stopped and took the time to help you out. If you only respond to the negative ones, you're kind of alienating those guys who actually did something good for you because you never said thank you, right? And it doesn't have to be anything long. ‘Thanks so much for that 5 star review. We really appreciate it. Can't wait to see you guys again’ Don't do the same one every time. There's no copy and paste. Be a real person,” said Bell.

Takeaway

Online reviews can have a great impact on the reputation of a veterinary practice, but they will all not be great ones. Learning how to deal with the bad with empathy can help turn the negatives into a positive, with opportunities to grow as a practice and as individuals, plus strengthening the ties and trust with the clinic’s community and clients.

She concluded her lecture by also suggesting that once resolving the reason the client left the bad review, asking if they would take it down and write a good one instead. Explain to them that the team works really hard to keep good reviews and that it would be unfair to them if the issue was resolved that was beneficial to both parties, but the bad review remained. Some people never think to ask, Bell concluded, but reminding them can help improve the clinic's online presence.

Bell R. The Online Review Survival Kit: Thick Skin, Quick Wit, and a Dash of Humility. Presented at: WVC; Las Vegas, Nevada. March 2-5, 2025.