Why Seniors and Their Families Want Access to Reviews

79% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations (BrightLocal, 2020), and 37% of consumers said that details from other reviewers’ experiences help them decide if a product or service is right for them (Fan & Fuel, 2016).  

With so much weight placed on the experiences of others, getting and sharing high-quality reviews for your residence can act as a major support for clients seeking a senior care provider. 

92% of consumers hesitated to make a purchase when they were unable to find customer reviews (Fan & Fuel, 2016). Ensuring that your residence’s reviews are easily found online can help potential residents and their families find the insights that they’re looking for.  

Research by Fan & Fuel (2016) found that consumers are looking for more than just reviews of services, that they’re also seeking nitty-gritty details. Consumers are interested in learning about the unique experiences or problems other clients have faced, seeing how you’ve resolved issues, and the consensus on whether your service lived up to its claims. 

With this in mind, it’s easy to see how all feedback is good feedback—if you respond with care. Positive reviews are great social proof for your residence, while negative reviews give you the opportunity to show off your excellent customer service.  

Your reputation and credibility rely heavily on what others share about their experience with your residence online. Gathering and nurturing social proof for your brand’s image can be done through exceeding current residents’ expectations, encouraging advocates to post about you on social media, and by inviting satisfied residents or their loved ones to leave you positive reviews on a variety of platforms.  

87% of people say that a business needs a rating of 3-5 stars before they will use them (NiceJob, 2022). Your residence’s rating out of five stars reflects the average of the good and bad reviews you’ve received. If your goal is to maintain an overall rating of four stars, you'll need four five-star reviews to make up for every one-star review (Inc, 2018).  

With nearly a quarter (23%) of senior living sales coming directly from online sources (Creating Results, 2018), having a strong, consistent reputation across your digital presence can positively influence the decisions made by prospective clients and their loved ones. 

86% of people hesitate to do business with a company if it has negative online reviews (Invesp, 2022). Despite this worrying statistic, the reality is that many prospective residents and their loved ones will give you the benefit of the doubt if they see that your residence has addressed concerns in a respectful and timely way.  

While you may know the reasons behind a poor review, people who are finding your residence for the first time don’t.  

Prospective residents and their loved ones use what they find online to help them make their senior living decisions. Many will visit your site, Facebook page or search for your company’s reviews on Google, but you’ll never hear from them. What they see can have a significant impact on whether they choose to stay with your residence.  

Engaging promptly, politely, and with the intention of resolving an issue raised in the review can show onlookers that your residence’s management team is responsive, open to feedback, and committed to making changes that residents want to see. 

Learn more about responding to reviews our 7-Step Negative Review Toolkit. 

As seniors and their loved ones search for a care provider, a handful of concerns typically arise. Worries about settling in, finding the right level of care, or feeling lonely, are among the most common.  Ensuring that high quality, detailed reviews of your residence are accessible across your digital presence can help ease these worries much earlier in prospective clients’ decision-making process. 

Reviews posted to your Google listing or Facebook pages are likely how prospective residents or their loved ones will discover your residence, but these reviews may not inspire an extraordinarily keen sense of trust in your brand. 93% of consumers on Facebook and 90% on Google have indicated that they're at least 'a little’ suspicious of the honesty of the reviews (Brightlocal, 2022).  

Using a vetted third-party review platform can help support your brand’s trustworthy reputation and help prospective clients and their loved ones feel more confident choosing your residence.  

Platforms like Cared Upon have been specifically tailored for prospective residents, their families, and senior care professionals, and have already established trust as a client-focused digital information hub. Cared Upon offers care providers the unique opportunity to:   

• Build trust with prospective clients by responding directly to authentic, vetted reviews  
• Customize your listing with photos and videos to encourage additional reviews, and showcase what life is like at your residence 

To further support the confidence of prospective residents and their loved ones, consider reaching out to your professional network to receive trustworthy testimonials from other industry experts.  

Social workers, hospital discharge coordinators, Senior Living Advisors and other healthcare professionals in your area have a deep understanding of the niche you share and often come with years of experience.  

An endorsement from another senior living authority in the form of an online review or social media shout out, can inspire an even more trust in the care your residence provides.