Part 4

When we implemented the Client Feedback Tool, we had certain expectations about how we would use the survey data.  We expected to stimulate dialogue with our clients; to identify opportunities for improvement; and to collect information about group and staff performance.  We found the program to be effective in these areas.  With an onsite visit from DesignFacilitator consultants, we were challenged to do even more with the data.

As we reported last time, we kicked off our program with general satisfaction surveys to faithful clients, initiated by our company president.  Many of the respondents singled out individual employees for praise.  The surveys gave us an additional opportunity for a client “touch” – to thank the client for responding, to show gratitude for their kind words, to reinforce in the clients’ minds how happy they were with us – and to ask for referrals.  When we moved on to project-specific surveys initiated by project managers, the feedback became more specific.  Through this tool we discovered that a client needed to see invoice information a different way.  Another client rated us as merely “acceptable” on “scope and fees.”  This presented an opportunity for a frank discussion with the client about pricing.  Turns out she had beat us up over price and had gotten a reduced fee – which allowed no room for the extra attention to which she was accustomed.  We have had numerous occasions to chat with clients as a result of feedback.

After we were up and running for a few months, Ryan and David from DesignFacilitator came to our office for an onsite consultation.  We were doing a good job responding to individual survey data.  However, they observed that we were not harnessing the power of the reports.  Armed with reports consolidating our company data, they demonstrated that we have a great story to tell.  Using Advanced Reporting Tools, they had produced a pie chart showing our results by performance category.  Fully 77% of the responses showed that we had exceeded expectations or better.  Our consultants recommended that we find a way to make this a part of our company narrative.  They showed us statistical reports showing averages by question category.  We also spent some time analyzing the bar graph report, to isolate particular groups who had unusual aggregate responses.  Seeing that one group, for example, always scored “exceptional” in the “scope and fees” category, for example, might be indicative that this department has set its fees too low.  We have continued to explore the advanced reporting options available to us.  For example, we have made good use of the “Tags” feature.  We can limit reports based on project type or company type, but at times a broader criterion is warranted.  As Firm Administrator, I have created a few tags on which I can filter my reports.

To use the survey results to tell our story, we enlisted our new Marketing Director and social media guru.  Alyah wrote a news piece for our website.  Using data from the reports, she created a bar chart to illustrate our results.  She sent a “Survey says” Tweet with a link to the story, and promoted it on Facebook.  After getting clients’ permission to publish their responses, Alyah plans to include client comments on our web page.  We have also begun modifying our printed marketing materials and presentation outlines to incorporate client care as a differentiator.

Our DesignFacilitator consultants had also advised that we promote our survey results within our company.  We have posted summaries on the company intranet, and we encourage all staff to use our great feedback to promote Koontz-Bryant.  On a large whiteboard in the breakroom, we periodically post a “Client Feedback Quote of the Day” culled from the comments.  Praise for employees by name becomes public in a low-tech, high-touch way.  This has generated some great whiteboard kudos and prompted some great conversations.

When Ryan and David visited with us, they helped us use the Client Feedback Tool in a fuller technical capacity.  More important than that, however, they gave us some sound business and marketing advice.  In a business where the things we do can be perceived as commodities, they have helped us to position ourselves as client caretakers.

Part 3

At our last report to you, Koontz-Bryant had gone through the system setup with our implementation consultant, and we had conducted a Lunch and Learn training session with staff. We were just beginning to send surveys to clients, but did not yet have results to share.

To jump-start our efforts with the Client Feedback Tool, Koontz-Bryant’s president, Greg Koontz, sent general satisfaction surveys to several dozen clients. These surveys were not tied to particular projects, but instead were designed to gauge clients’ overall impression of our company. To speed the process along, Greg used the Client Feedback Tool’s import feature to bring in contact and company information from Outlook. We were pleased with the results. His response rate was 42%, and feedback was very positive. 

Of particular interest were the free-form comments people made. Where they mentioned a particular employee by name, we were quick to pass those compliments along. This gave us an opportunity to express appreciation to the employee, and to reinforce the idea that the surveys were a good thing. One of the comments related to the survey itself. Our client said, “I appreciate your use of the scale. It is a device I have not previously seen.” 

One of the survey recipients was an institutional client for whom we have done many projects. Though we knew our relationship was a good one, this client gave us the highest mark on every measure, and added, “I will take a consultant like Koontz-Bryant any day and twice on Sundays.” This high praise spurred us to build a marketing piece about this institution and our work together, and we included a glowing client testimonial. 

Getting individual project managers to send their surveys still seemed slow. As the “Firm Administrator,” I met with the practice leaders to identity barriers to cooperation. There seemed to be a bit of “decision paralysis” when it came to selecting the survey to use.  The Client Feedback Tool has 96 survey templates, and we had inactivated about two thirds of them. However, there were still too many to choose from.  We agreed that I would identify a few survey templates for general use. 

Most of our project managers have begun to send surveys. However, we were stumped as to how to overcome the problem of a few people not getting on board. We talked with Mike Phillips at Design Facilitator about this. His emphatic advice was to go ahead and send surveys on their behalf.  Regardless of whether the PMs “should” do these themselves, he reasoned, the important thing is to get the feedback, and not create a lot of organizational stress about it. When I offered to send surveys on behalf of a particular group leader, he was enthusiastic. We sat down with a billing register and he chose a batch of clients to survey. If PM participation lags, this is a technique we will use with other groups.

Though some of internal company surveys have shown us where we had opportunity for improvement, all of our client responses have been 4 (meets expectation) and above.  At first blush this looks like wonderful news, but we do have some concern that we have “cherry-picked” the recipients.  A low score, properly addressed, can be an opportunity to forge a strong bond with a client. As our PMs become more comfortable with the process, we will encourage them to send surveys encompassing the most difficult relationships, as well.

In our next update, we’ll share our experience with an onsite consultation visit by the DesignFacilitator staff.

Part 2

When Koontz-Bryant, P.C. decided to embark upon a program to collect regular client feedback, we had some questions about getting started.  We knew that with the Client Feedback Tool we could jump in with already-written surveys, and that compilation of results was part of the program. But how would we get buy-in from staff? What was the best way to train? How would we introduce the surveys to our clients? As Mary Poppins tells her young charges, “Well begun is half done.” We felt that our success with the feedback program depended on a good roll-out.

One of the things we liked about the Client Feedback Tool was the implementation assistance that came along with it. As a starting point, DesignFacilitator presented an outline of implementation steps that included consultation, software setup, training, and review. A pre-consultation questionnaire got us thinking about details such as our goals for feedback collection; who would be in charge of implementation; who would request feedback, and how often; who would review results and how results would be used.  With Ryan, our DesignFacilitator consultant, we scheduled some webinar meeting dates and got to work.

Two of us at Koontz-Bryant were charged with implementation. Our Controller would be the Firm Administrator and responsible for setup, and our COO would determine when surveys should go out, encourage staff participation, and assure appropriate follow-up. In our initial online consultation, Ryan talked with us about our company and staff structure, and our thoughts based on the pre-consultation questions. He helped us think through the feedback work flow, and shared some examples of what had worked with other firms. Ryan gave us a bit of homework and challenged us to come up with an assignment for the staff who would be using the Client Feedback Tool.

A week later, the real fun began. Our account went live and through an online meeting Ryan stepped us through the setup. He had already inserted our logo, and we selected colors for our firm branding settings. He showed us how to set up firm members and teams. Preference settings allowed us to determine default settings for notifications (what range of low/high scores should trigger an email alert?) and message defaults (messages sent to clients with the surveys). We learned how to use filters to narrow down the 96 pre-defined survey templates, and how to set up clients and projects. Over the next week, we completed setup of firm members and deactivated some of the survey templates.

Our next step was to train the staff. We scheduled a two-hour lunch and learn webinar for all office personnel. Koontz-Bryant management had been impressed with DesignFacilitator’s “Power of Feedback” presentation, so we asked Ryan to present a fair amount of that background material. He then walked staff through the program, guiding them through the steps of requesting feedback, reviewing results, and managing their personal preferences. An open discussion at the end allowed staff to ask questions. At the end of the session, we asked staff to send a survey to someone – client or internal. A few of the staff jumped right in and sent surveys to their coworkers, and a couple of people sent them to clients. However, some employees did not respond. 

A few days after the training, we sent a survey to everyone who attended the lunch and learn, using a training template that was already pre-established in the Client Feedback Tool. Everyone had an opportunity to see the process from the client’s perspective. More important, we gathered valuable feedback about our training process. We learned that overall our training met or exceeded expectations, the food was great, and our consultant got high marks for responsiveness and quality of presentation. We also learned that:

• the staff was less interested in the “why” of collecting feedback than in the “how”;
• two hours was a bit too long, even though the first half-hour was lunch; by the time we got to the “how” people were mentally tired;
• most people could not see the details of the software projected on the screen.

For anyone going through the process, our recommendation is to focus more on the “how”, and to find a way to set people up at multiple computers so they can see the screens.

The Client Feedback Tool has a section for tracking followup. We followed up with each person who rated an area low, and recorded this activity in the software.

A few weeks after the training meeting, our president, Greg, met with project managers to establish specific points in a project’s life cycle at which a survey should be sent. To increase our momentum, he also sent initial surveys to a batch of top clients.  Results are starting to come in.

In our next update, we look forward to sharing results with you.

I had a great conversation about client feedback with Lee Frederiksen, Managing Partner at Hinge Marketing.  Lee is a behavioral psychologist by education, and has helped many architects, engineers, and other professional services firms engage their clients to build their brand and markets.  During our conversation, he was reminded of a story where one group within an organization was accused of “cheating” because they kept winning performance awards.   You can read the whole story on Hinge’s Blog.  I’ve excerpted below:

As it turns out, [the winning group] had simply adopted the practice of handing out a rating form each time they performed a service and encouraging the recipient to fill it out. This simple practice had an amazing effect. It turned an intermittent system of feedback into one that provided almost continuous feedback to the professional providing the support. In short, they knew that each interaction counted. They suddenly became more “helpful” and it showed in their evaluation ratings.

What happened is a typical result of what we’ve seen with our clients who deploy our Client Feedback Tool within their organization.  By engaging everyone in the process of collecting feedback, everyone becomes more aware of their performance – knowing it will be measured.  By collecting feedback from clients during projects (not just after they’re done), those doing the work naturally begin to perform better for clients.

Feedback works to change performance. Decades of well-controlled behavioral research clearly shows that it does so under the right conditions. For example, feedback has to be frequent, timely, and objective.

So, how do you “cheat” and become better than your competitors in an unfair way?  It’s really pretty easy.  Collect feedback when you can do something about it (i.e., before the project is over).  Get feedback as soon as you’ve just performed some work, while memory of it is fresh.  Ask questions that are specific and focused on what was just delivered.  Most importantly, have the people doing the work ask for the feedback!  This is the quickest way to assure each person working for your clients is focused on the clients’ needs, and aware of his performance.

When you have an entire firm of client-focused professionals, working to meet each client’s specific needs, there will be no contest between you and the competition.

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.