But we wanted to dig deeper, and let the actual clients surveyed tell the story, from their perspective.

We analyzed all the feedback collected in the last two years. 24% of all replies included a score below “Met Expectations.” We then selected just the cases where someone who gave a low score at least once later responded to another survey from the same person.

We found 1,121 vendor-client relationships that had feedback collected a second time after a low score was given.

In these relationships, the occurrence of scores below “Met Expectations” went DOWN by over 83%. In essence, those who collected feedback and got a low score were able to adjust and demonstrably improve their service to those clients.

Would you like to eliminate 83% of your client problems?

In addition to an overall lower rate of low scores, the overall average scores went up noticeably as well.  If we draw a line for all feedback collected before the low score occurred, and compare it to all feedback collected after, we see the ratings move from just barely meeting expectations to consistently exceeding expectations.

When you can exceed your client’s expectations, you will keep them around – building loyalty and maximizing the value of your relationship.

If you aren’t already asking, don’t assume your clients are telling you everything.  When you ask for feedback, you will discover opportunities to improve.  Even better, once you discover a problem, the data shows you can fix it.

If you want to find out how we can help you find these opportunities quickly, contact us at:

answers@designfacilitator.com   or   866-4-DES-FAC

• Get More Feedback
• Work Harder
• Work Faster
• Charge More
• Make Fewer Mistakes
• Etc

At some point we’ve all talked about ways to make our businesses better, and most ideas end up as a list like that.  No one would argue that they’re good things to have on a list, but how often do we actually have any idea of how do anything on that list?

Let’s look at “working harder” as an example.  You’re helping build a house, and the foreman yells for you to work harder.  It’s your job to carry lumber.  You could just pick up the boards and start walking around the house.  You’re working harder.  Or, you could figure out who needs what boards, where, and when, and deliver them before they are needed.  You’re still working harder – but you’ve got a plan and a purpose for what you’re doing.

Similarly, “Getting More Feedback” requires a purpose and a plan in order to provide the maximum benefit to your business.  Without knowing why you’re collecting feedback, you won’t know what feedback to gather.  When feedback comes in, you don’t know what to do with it.   The feedback just sits there, cold and lonely and wondering why someone even bothered to ask.  (So does your client, by the way).

Feedback helps firms do some amazing things.  We’ve identified nine key benefits, though certainly others apply.  From this list (or yours) pick ONE or TWO that you really want to focus on:

• Build Client Loyalty
• Market to Clients Effectively
• Increase Profitability
• Improve Firm Management
• Reduce Firm Liability
• Identify Patterns for Desired Outcomes
• Strengthen Staff Performance
• Promote Staff Satisfaction
• Increase Staff Retention

Once you have a purpose in mind, focus on a plan for how to obtain the desired benefits.  Our Client Feedback Tool has built in processes to help (and even automate) feedback collection in a standardized, methodical manner.

Consider the following example:

Your firm has been hit with reduced profits since the recession began.  You may have laid off staff, reduced hours, or cut benefits in response.  Your staff are scared, your reserves dwindling, and what you really need most right now is a boost in profits to help ride out the storm.  You identify your primary purpose for collecting feedback is to increase profitability.

Knowing what you want to accomplish, you can now put together a plan.  You determine that winning more proposals – without having to undercut your competitors – would quickly boost billable time.  Likewise, your firm has a history of being unable to bill for change orders late in the project – costing you time that can’t be billed.

First, you decide to collect feedback with a standard survey immediately after submitting each proposal.  The questions are focused on how well the proposal responded to the client’s stated requirements.  As the client engages in giving you feedback (before he’s awarded the project), he’s really training you on how to do his work better.  In addition, he now knows you know what he needs better than anyone else (because no one else asked).  You respond with a revised proposal, more fitting to his needs.

What you’ve just done is built value with your client.  You’ve proven you really understand him better than anyone else.  Your price may not be the lowest (and it shouldn’t be!) but you’ve given him confidence that you’ll more likely solve the problems he needs help with.  That’s worth something, and you start to win more projects.

Second, you decide to collect feedback at each project milestone.   When the project gets off track, change orders are harder to collect payment on.  By gathering feedback specific to each phase, and being alerted promptly if anything is off track, the frequency of change orders is reduced.  When changes and scope creep do come up, you can address them quickly, and with positive feedback from your clients, communicate changes to the fee with confidence.  Feedback helps you identify which changes are worth the added price to the client, and puts him in control of the decision process for which scope changes to make.  Overall, this eliminates wasted effort, and maximizes the project’s profitability.

There are hundreds of ways you can apply a feedback program to your business operations in order to improve outcomes and overall success.  The important thing is to identify a specific goal, develop a measurable plan, and apply the resources you need to execute the plan.  Once in place, measure the results as you go, and adjust your plan accordingly.

Not sure how to get started?  When we help our clients implement The Client Feedback Tool, we walk them through a consultative process to discover goals, plans, and desired outcomes.  Contact our team of experts, and we can help jump start the process.

DesignFacilitator’s Mike Phillips will be presenting an educational session on Thursday, October 15 at 1:00pm entitled “Using Client Feedback to Improve Your Firm’s Prosperity,” at Buildex Seattle.  This case study will detail the simple strategies found to improve the understanding between designers and their clients.

“Our analysis suggests that how often consumers felt their real expectations were met appears to be a better indicator of their likelihood of leaving or remaining loyal.”

This is also what we have learned with our work on DesignFacilitator’s Client Feedback Tool.  What matters most is not how well they thought you served your client, but how well you performed compared to their expectations.   Comparing what they expected to what they actually received measures their feelings in a way that a “very satisfied – not at all satisfied” scale simply cannot capture.  Take for example a crab cake I ordered at Second Empire Restaurant.  It was fantastic, but was it $18 worth of fantastic? Actually, yes it was. This says a lot because, as one of the highest rated restaurants in our area, my expectations were extremely high, and yet they still impressed me.  

Stereotypes of car dealers and dealerships abound, and since this was my first new car buying experience, those stereotypes were what I expected.  I winced walking in the door.  It wasn’t loads of fun, but since I was expecting the worst, I thought it really went quite well.  Now I have a better opinion of (some) car salesmen, a new car, and higher expectations for the next time around.  

To download the report mentioned above, visit: https://www.accenture.com/Global/Registration/Accenture2008SurveyRequest.htm

Having used a previously successful process to collect programming information about the project, Marc and Jason met with the client to review the initial schematic designs. The meeting went smoothly, and both left feeling the project was on track. However, after a survey was sent to the eight participants, two attendees rated the efforts “needing improvement.”

Surprised, Jason quickly followed up, and discovered that these project participants hadn’t been through an architectural project of this nature before – and therefore had no basis to set expectations for what a schematic design was, nor what the deliverables from that phase included. After some discussion (and education) everyone was up to speed. Subsequent surveys revealed a very high level of excellence, consistently exceeding the client’s more informed expectations. The project resolved successfully. Of the experience, Jason says, “Had we never sent a survey requesting feedback, we would have been oblivious to the client’s feelings as to where we stood to date.” Armed with this information, Jason could adjust expectations accordingly by walking through the project’s process clearly.

Taking the lesson learned more broadly, Marc and Jason now approach new projects differently. Rather than take for granted an understanding of the architectural project’s process and deliverables, an initial project conversation is held to:

• Clearly quantify expectations for the next deliverable.
• Establish a clear timeline to meet those expectations.
• Communicate any deviations in advance.

“While these items may seem obvious, we sometimes take for granted that we are delivering in accordance with our clients expectations, ” says Marc.

Recent projects have accordingly seen consistently high marks across the board, as the improved processes are taking place.