The most effective type of client feedback covers a wide variety of issues related to the efforts that a professional services firm makes for their clients. In order to be useful, the feedback must also accurately capture the clients’ perception of how the service providing firm performed relative to the client expectations. This is a critical aspect for feedback to be able to help a firm understand their client and how to most quickly create the maximum value. If the firm did not meet the expectations of their client, a problem is created that if unnoticed and left unattended, can fester into a major issue or a liability insurance claim. With the typical cost of claims at over $300,000 /year and each claim averaging about 3 years duration, that’s a million dollar misunderstanding.

However, whether the firm exceeded the client’s expectations or not, effective feedback will contain sufficient specifics to allow the firm to understand exactly what the client either appreciated or objected to. In surveying clients for their feedback, we have found that the shorter and simpler the survey, the greater number of surveys are returned with feedback. Our research has shown that a survey that takes more than a few minutes to complete will be abandoned by 95% of people.  

The ultimate challenge of gathering effective feedback is to make the survey very comprehensive while also being very concise. Over the years, we have distilled the survey questions in our patent pending Client Feedback Tool to a grand total of six. In order for only six questions cover a wide gamut of client service issues we divided the topics covered into two main categories: Deliverables and Relationships. “Deliverables” inventory the client’s perceptions on WHAT the design firm produced. “Relationships” questions collect feedback on HOW the firm’s process worked. Deliverable questions focus on things while relationship questions focus on people. 

The key factors regarding the Deliverables include how well the design firm’s products:

• Attended to the Schedule goals of the project
• Addressed the Budget parameters of the project
• Included the appropriate Accuracy required to be effective

The key factors regarding the Relationships include how well the design staff’s process:

• Offered the Helpfulness needed by the client
• Included the Responsiveness desired by the client
• Contained the level of Quality sought by the client

This breakdown of categories was honed to produce the most constructive feedback for professional service firms while also allowing the client the most succinct but satisfying opportunity to offer feedback to help produce the most successful project. While the firm gets full credit for being proactive and professional in asking for feedback, the client becomes more involved and engaged in the project and therefore feels more ownership in the outcome.

A survey tool that includes one question in each of the above six categories, particularly if the survey uses our specialized process-oriented question format and detailed numeric answer slider can collect valuable, objective, actionable feedback for a professional services firm in only two minutes of a client’s day.