Won’t I Annoy My Clients…

…if I ask for too much feedback?

This question is, almost without exception, the first one asked when we talk to firms about client feedback.  The short answer is NO!  Not if you ask for feedback when they want to give you feedback.

We are so conditioned to the idea of “feedback” as being a long survey sent to hundreds or thousands of people.  These surveys are generic, and don’t offer anything to the person responding.   They also usually come after the product or service has been offered, when it’s too late to do anything about it.  They are separated from the project, and don’t seem relevant at the time they are sent.

But you already ask for feedback all the time!  When you deliver something to a client, don’t you ask “is this what you were looking for?”  When you wrap up a meeting, don’t you ask if everything was covered? That’s asking for feedback!  It’s not very structured, and it doesn’t always get asked, but no client will ever be bothered if you check with them to make sure you covered your (and their) bases.

Our Client Feedback Tool blends the best from both approaches.  While we use email and the internet to deliver surveys, they are not typically designed to be sent broadly (though, they can be).  Instead, we’ve built hundreds of templates and supporting processes to send surveys, systematically, in a much more focused manner.

When should you ask for feedback (i.e., send a survey)?  Send one every time your client may want to give you feedback.  No client waits around to answer a mass survey.  If you send that out monthly, it’s too much.   On the other hand, if you give your client a key deliverable every week, don’t you want to make sure, each time, that you’ve given him what he needed/expected?  You could call or email asking “did you get what you need?”   Or, you could send a short feedback request that digs a little deeper and gives you more data, while not really taking any more time.

Odds are, you’ll only annoy your clients if you ask them for feedback two months AFTER a project is over as part of a quarterly survey.  It’s too late to fix, so why ask now?

Instead, show clients you care.   Ask for feedback when it makes sense.  Deliver something?  Ask for feedback.  That easy.  Since asking via The Client Feedback Tool is a simple email, clients can always ignore/delete it.  Even that gives you feedback!  NOT responding, in essence, let’s you know that things are most likely going well enough they don’t feel a need to correct anything.  However, for every few times they ignore your request because things are going okay, there will be one time when they have feedback, and will be glad you asked.  And they’ll respond.   Until you ask, you don’t know.  So, you have to ask.  And ask again.

If you’re still concerned, ask your clients!  Find out from them when they’d like to be asked for feedback.  Odds are, it’s more often than you think.

Watch Your Blind Spot!

You’re driving down the highway, and the car in front of you is going too slowly.  You would like to go faster.   Looking around, you decide that moving to the left lane will let you get ahead.  Seems like a good decision so you go for it – after all, who doesn’t want to get there faster?  You obey all traffic laws, use your signal, and slide over.

Except, you didn’t see the car in your blind spot.  If you’re lucky, he sees you and honks, avoiding disaster.  But if he’s busy yapping on his cell phone or otherwise focused, kaboom!  Your easy solution to speed things up just blew up, leaving you in quite a mess.  Your car is mangled; it’s going to take hours to sort out; you’ve got a very irate driver in the other car (hopefully not injured), and there’s no way you’re going to make that meeting now.  Oh, yeah, and there’s the increased insurance premiums, the lawsuit, and hours of work over the coming weeks and months to sort out all the financial and legal issues.

This was totally avoidable, if you had just checked your blind spot!

If you work on projects for a client, the same story holds true.

How often have you been working on a project, and part way in, you realize there’s a “better” or “faster” way to get things done.  Of course your client wants his project better and faster, so you “change lanes” and start doing things a bit differently.  You innovate every day – it’s how you solve the problems needed to get projects done.  You are constantly changing, adapting and adjusting your processes to “get there faster/better/cheaper.”  You have to, just to meet the demands of your clients and be competitive in your market.

However, have you checked your blind spot?  Do you always include your client in these process adjustments, to let him know what you’re doing and why?  Most of the time, your client will appreciate that you’ve adjusted and innovated for his benefit.  Does he know you’ve done so?  If not, let him know so he can appreciate the value you are adding.

But what about those times when the process doesn’t work for your client?  Your bright idea didn’t factor in some information your client knows (that you don’t) which will cause a wreck?  Assuming nothing can go wrong is a costly and risky proposition.   What you must do is check your blind spot!  Get feedback from your clients constantly throughout the project.  If you shift gears in order to “improve” the project, schedule, or budget – let your client know and get validation that the changes really are an enhancement.   Otherwise, you risk running into your client, and damaging not just the project delivery, but your very valuable client relationship.

To read more about feedback and your blind spot, check out my post on the Johari Window.

When Clients are Your Biggest Problem

We give seminars all over the country about feedback and it’s impact on professional services firms, their clients, and the industry.  We often ask a fun question:

What is your biggest problem?

Every seminar we pose this question, a large percentage of the audience quickly and simultaneously chime in “THE CLIENTS!”

The audience says this in jest, but the notion is rooted in truth.  Too many professionals have the attitude that it’s clients that make our life so difficult.  That somehow, if we could just get the client out of the way, we could really do some good work.  The client hires us to solve their problem, then we commandeer their problem and turn it into our project.  No wonder why clients are our biggest challenge – they don’t care about our project at all!  All they care about is their problem.

Whose agenda are we serving when we preempt the client and claim a project?  Many architects are talking about “green” everything.  Many try to be environmentally sensitive on all their projects – even if it costs more.  Is that really what the client wants?  Or, is your social conscience to save the planet costing your client the only “green” he cares about?  Don’t get me wrong – green is good, and it often can save a lot of money.  But if your client’s problem is a budget that’s too thin – green should only be a consideration where it saves him money.  Use green strategies to solve his problems, not to create new ones!

The same thing applies with any variable on the project.   Our preferences for quality, aesthetic, budget, social conscious – they really shouldn’t matter.  In order to maximize our value to clients, we need to focus doggedly on their needs and preferences, not ours.  We need to demonstrate an awareness of the client’s problem, and demonstrate that we care enough to solve it.

The thing is, we can’t actually know our clients’ preferences if we’re not asking!  Even worse – their preferences change!  Their problem is not static, but constantly shifting, evolving, and responding to a vast matrix of variables and external influences often beyond control.  How can we possibly get the project right without constantly seeking to understand the evolving nature of the original problem as presented?

You can’t, of course.   We need conversation, communication, and feedback throughout the project life-cycle.  Feedback allows us to identify when we’ve gone off track and made the project ours.  Feedback makes known the changing parameters of the client’s problem.   Feedback keeps us focused on the client’s problem, let’s him see our focus, and truly maximizes our value.

Imagine what business would be like if we truly embraced the clients’ problems and became their expert problem solver, instead of just another problem they had to manage?

Knowing What to Charge by Knowing What (Your Clients Think) You Are Worth

After running an architectural firm for 20 years, I have found two consistent challenges to a firm’s prosperity that most design firms share:

1. We underestimate our value to our clients

2. We price ourselves according to Problem #1

If you work at a design firm, and especially if you manage a firm, don’t take offense. I believe that these problems were created over time and have a lot to do with the manner in which building contractors represent our work to owners. Since the perfect set of construction documents has likely never been created, contractors usually have something to complain about.

But blaming is the sport of children, so let’s find the solution to the problem.

Remember, the problem is not that clients don’t value our work; it’s that we assume that value is less than it really is. To correct an inaccurate assumption, we need more accurate information concerning our value to clients. We have to ask our clients for this information, something that most design firms avoid like the plague. Why? See Problem #1 above; it’s tough to ask for feedback when you think it’s going to be critical.

The encouraging component to this entire dilemma is that Problem #1 is stated correctly. We underestimate our value to our clients. Our software company, DesignFacilitator, provides the only Client Feedback Tool customized for architects and engineers. Our tool collects objective data regarding what clients really think. Our research shows that, on average, clients think that their design firm’s deliverables and service “exceeded expectations”. This information is based upon over 30,000 responses from clients concerning their perception of their design firm’s value.

While asking for feedback from clients must be done very carefully to produce the most accurate and actionable data, our patent-pending system utilizes state-of-the-art perception mapping to identify what clients think, and what a design firm can do to maximize their value to those clients. Client feedback will also show you which approaches create problems for clients and how to avoid them. With this information, a firm will naturally make more effective decisions concerning:

1. Setting fees relative to a client’s perception of the firm’s value

2. Addressing ’scope creep’ more quickly as an additional service

3. Identifying the most effective assignments for staff

4. Identifying the most efficient training for staff

Since a design firm’s profitability helps determine its strength, a firm becomes stronger when it knows what it can charge by understanding what its clients think. Add to the mix the ability to enhance a firm’s worth by proper staff assignments and training– both made easier by utilizing client feedback regarding the results of staff’s efforts– and you have a recipe for sustainable prosperity.

Best In Class – 2010 Fee and Rate Adjustment Poll
As the premier feedback surveying group for the professional design industry, we are offering to gather and share anonymous fee and rate setting strategies.  By taking the following poll you will have immediate access to the valuable data gathered from firms across the US to help you in your fee and rate setting for 2010.

What percentage adjustment is your firm likely to implement regarding 2010 hourly rates?

• No change planned (65%)
• +2.5% (15%)
• Plan on reducing rates (8%)
• +5% (6%)
• +15% or more (4%)
• +10% (2%)

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What percentage adjustment is your firm likely to implement regarding 2010 standard fees?

• No change planned (59%)
• Plan on reducing rates (11%)
• +2.5% (10%)
• +15% or more (4%)
• +5% (3%)
• +10% (13%)

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Feedback and strategic reports from 50 clients for $999

If you would like to enjoy the competitive advantage of Best In Class client awareness for just $999,

email answers@designfacilitator.com or call us at 866-433-7322

Client Feedback Tool, DesignFacilitator, Feedback, Industry, Polls

Version 3 Is Here!

DesignFacilitator has released Version 3 of the Client Feedback Tool. Version 3 was developed in response to your comments– your feedback– to us. You told us you wanted the Client Feedback Tool to be faster, sharper, with more consistent actions and with more flexible, powerful reports. Version 3 provides all this and more. Its enhancements include:

• Simpler navigation and sharper screen graphics.

As soon as you log in you will notice how much easier it is to move about the new crisp screens. On the left side of the screen, clicking on a subject heading displays a list of sub-headings so you can quickly select the desired action or report without waiting for the screen to refresh. In the upper-right corner of the screen, we show you where you are on the site currently.

• A new ribbon-style toolbar with standardized actions. Found at the top of most screens, the toolbar offers

- A Filters tab where you can identify what you wish to see in the report (who, when, which project, and so on).

- An Options tab where you can control how to group and sort the information (by sender, project, team, average score, etc).

- A File tab that allows you to decide what to do with the information. You have the power to download it, print it as a pdf, send it to an email address, save the report settings as a favorite report. You can even schedule it for automatic recurring delivery to your email!

• Fewer screen post-backs.

Many subscribers previously expressed concern about the time required to post back the screen every time they changed a filter. Version 3 addresses that concern by incorporating an Update button on the ribbon. This allows you to select and change multiple filter settings without waiting for the screen to repost each time. Once you have made all your filter selections, simply click the Update button– we flash it to remind you– and all your changes are applied at once.

• Successes and challenges reports

These reports were designed to help identify areas of strength and those possibly requiring additional attention in your firm. You can tailor this report to show you which clients, projects, phases or firm members have the highest or lowest average scores, extremes, percentage of change, and so on . The Client Feedback Tool even includes several standard templates under the Options tab to help get you started.

• The Feedback Quotient® report is a Client Feedback Tool exclusive.

This report applies a proprietary formula to analyze numerous  metrics such as the number of surveys sent and received in a given period, reply rates, scores, score consistency, follow-up actions, and more. The result is a relative ranking of projects, project clients, and survey senders in your firm. You will know where feedback is being effectively used, and by whom.

Additional new functions of the Client Feedback Tool:

You can save and recall your favorite report configurations and settings.

You can create, save and send batch reports to yourself and others.

You can schedule your favorite reports for recurring delivery to your email… or others’.

You can send most reports as PDF files via email.

You can now view feedback on a mobile device.

Version 3 does not require any software changes on your part, as the Client Feedback Tool is a web-based service. Please let us know if you need help or want to schedule additional training for your team.

Please contact us if you have questions:
866-433-7322
919-573-1730
(M-F 9am – 6pm EST)
Or email answers@designfacilitator.com.

Johari Window, Part II

I blogged about the Johari Window a few months ago here. In summary, the Johari Window is a very simple and quick exercise that any two (or more) people can engage to give and receive feedback quickly, simply, and openly.  I’ve recently come across two online implementations that are fun and easy to use.

For those social media fans out there, you can use the Facebook application to share feedback with your friends and associates.  What you might learn about yourself is worth the effort.

If you don’t do the Facebook thing, you can use a stand-alone web version.  No registration or hoops required, but it takes a bit more work to invite others to participate.

If you haven’t already, experiment with the Johari Window with some friends, family, and/or coworkers.  After filling out the form and comparing notes, a discussion to understand the results may prove even more enlightening.

Ask for and give feedback daily!

Keeping your eye on the ball…

Those that know me, know about my obsession with the game of baseball. While I was always a lousy player as a kid, I decided to try again, two decades removed from playing my last game in Little League.

I found that my fear of the ball has not magically grown out of me. Stationed at second base for the first time in my life, ground balls hit my way really throw me for a loop. While I know intellectually that I should keep my eye on the ball, watch it into the glove, and then catch it cleanly; instead I flinch – afraid of taking a ball in the face.

Saturday, at practice, I flinched yet again, and took a screamer off the knee. I learned this weekend that catching a ball with the kneecap is much more painful than catching it in the glove. So, in thinking to myself about this experience, I realized I have a behavioral tendency to flinch when the ball is hit sharply in my direction. That (very natural) tendency leads to failure, pain, and embarrassment. The only way to change the RESULT is to change the TENDENCY that causes it. In short, I need to practice, practice, practice until I no longer flinch and instead confidently and smoothly field the ball naturally and without thought.

Now let’s get off the ball field (thanks for going along though) and think about your behavioral tendencies when dealing with criticism from a client. What is your initial reaction? Do you flinch? Does it hurt? Do you get defensive and try to justify your actions? Passive aggression? Cry? Whatever your reaction is – it’s just that – a natural tendency to respond in a predisposed way.

Look back at the results of your tendencies. Does your typical reaction really get you the results you want? What most people want is ultimately to have strong healthy relationships with the people around them – both personally and professionally. In the business world, effective relationships with your clients are the key to prosperity. Even the most talented designer will sometimes deliver a design that doesn’t suit the client’s taste or specific needs. Is your reaction to feedback negative, so that the client is afraid to criticize your work? What do you think will happen if your client can’t openly express his needs, preferences, and expectations – don’t you think he’ll look for another designer he can talk to?

It doesn’t matter what kind of work you do for your clients – if they don’t feel able to tell you what they need – and when you missed the ball – you will lose clients.

The good news is there is a cure! Just like me on the ball field, you need to practice. Start asking for feedback frequently. Realize that is it just information – a tool for you to use to get the results you ultimately want. It’s not personal – it doesn’t have to hurt or be scary – it’s just information. Keep asking for feedback using a comfortable method (like our Client Feedback Tool) that gives you some time and distance to process and measure your reaction. Over time, with practice and experience, you can make receiving feedback – even the critical type – an easy and natural process; and your response – your behavioral tendency – can be positive, open, and engender even more communication with your clients.

When clients realize that you are open for discussion, and that you respond to their concerns positively, you will build amazing relationships that will last for years. When these clients keep coming back for more work, and refer peers to you, you can realize sustained growth and real, lasting prosperity.

Great Expectations – Theory of a Feedback Scale

Surely you’ve taken a survey at some point in life with the feedback scale everyone seems to love.  It goes something like this:

Please rate my peformance:

1. Very Dissatisfied
2. Dissatisfied
3. Neutral
4. Satisfied
5. Very Satisfied

You’ve also seen variations (Very Poor/Poor/Neutral/Good/Very Good).  It seems that this scale is what everyone uses.  But why?  When we started our Client Feedback Tool back in 2004, we figured someone much smarter than us must have devised that system, so we used it too.  We quickly discovered why NOT to use such a scoring method.

In our first year, 96% of the feedback we collected arrived at the top level.  While this sounds like a good thing – you then must remember that the purpose of feedback is improvement.  If your answer scale eliminates any room for improvement 96% of the time, you will never be able to fine-tune or tweak your processes.

Further, the tone of the words used is rather uncomfortable.  The scale sets up a pass/fail scenario, and most people feel uncomfortable giving a score less than “Very Satisfied.”  Likewise, receiving feedback on the mid-range feels merely mediocre.  People giving feedback then tend to give higher scores than they would otherwise, just to avoid confrontation and/or hurt feelings.  Rather than a bell-curve distribution of scores, we saw a small cluster of “Very Dissatisfied” responses, a huge quantity of “Very Satisfied” responses, and very little in between.  Yes/No questions reveal the same problems.

Also, the scale says nothing about your clients‘ perspective and their perceived value of what was delivered.  Every good or service consumed is measured against a perceived value gained.  If you aren’t measuring against that value, the measurement is inherently inaccurate.  I may not be very satisfied with the quality of a $3 fast-food burger, but I still chose to order it, and will do so again.  Likewise, I may get the best steak ever at a classy restaurant – but never go back.  Why?  It all comes down to understanding my value expectations. (more…)

Axium Webinar featuring Mike Phillips – Client Feedback

On April 9, 2009 Mike Phillips presented industry best practices webinar for Axium entitled Client Feedback: Learn Simple Ways to Enhance Your Firm.  This program illustrated how a design firm can create a simple system to collect and incorporate client feedback. View a preview clip of the presentation below:

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To view the webinar in its entirety, visit Axium’s Resource Center http://www.axiumae.com/resources/webinars/industry-webinar.aspx?id=61127

It’s Just Not Fair!

I had an interesting conversation this morning, arriving at work and walking into the break room for my morning caffeine.  Some coworkers were discussing injustices from early in life (playground bullying, unfair parental punishment, etc).  Even those these events were trivial, and took place three decades ago, the memory (and emotion) has stuck around through the years.

What causes “unfair” experiences to remain so powerful in our experience?  I’m no psychologist, so I won’t try to answer that question.  However, it’s important to be aware that memories of unfairness and injustice last a long time.  It’s even more important to understand the behavioral effects on those who feel they were treated unfairly.

Economists and psychologists have studied a phenomenon called “strong reciprocity,” classically observed in “The Ultimate Game.”   In this game, two strangers are brought together.  Stranger A is given a sum of money , and instructed to divide it however he sees fit between them.  Stranger B can accept the money, or reject it.  If Stranger B rejects the money, Stranger A loses his money as well.

In a purely rational sense, if Stranger A starts with $100 and keeps $99 (giving $1 to Stranger B), Stranger B should still accept the offer – after all, $1 is more than he had to start with.  However, since this isn’t perceived as “fair” Stranger B will almost always reject that offer, costing both players any winnings.  In fact, any time Stranger A attempts to keep more than 1/2 of the money, Stranger B becomes increasingly likely to reject the offer, to the point that over half of observed real-world subjects rejected offers where the balance exceeded 70/30.

According to James Surowiecki at the New Yorker:

“Essentially, people are willing to pay to punish those they think are free-riding or acting unfairly, even when doing so brings them no material benefits.”

Even though in EVERY case both parties win, the feeling of injustice causes the majority of people to cause a lose-lose outcome when the scales are balanced too far in someone else’s favor.  Unfortunately, the same ineffective behavior is seen professionally.

In delivering a service (for a fee), the client expects a certain value.  That value is based on their perception of how effectively the service was performed, and how well the service fulfilled a need.  At times, the balance of perceived value between cost of the service and the actual service delivered shifts too far in favor of the service provider.  When this happens, strong reciprocity by your client (where he will take a loss to penalize you for being unfair) can unmake the profits from your job  - and even become punitive to a broader degree.  Usually, this behavior isn’t even malicious in intent, but rather a natural behavioral response to a perceived injustice.

John Timmer at Ars Technica says this:

“Within this perspective, the snap judgment is that an offer is unfair. Sometimes, we can engage the post-hoc rationalization, in this case involving the economics of the situation, and override our ethical calculations. But, in a substantial fraction of the cases, we never get the chance, as we act on our snap decisions before that process can occur.”

Basically, as soon as a situation is perceived as unfair, unjust, or in some other way disadvantageous, the natural and immediate tendency is to reciprocate an injustice with injustice.  This is why feedback is so critical to get early in any service relationship.  As soon as a client perceives the balance of value going too far in favor of the provider, he has the opportunity to make his feelings known.  Whether his perceptions are valid will be for you to decide – but being aware of the imbalance lets you adjust, react, and manage the situation towards a win-win.   Without this crucial information, you may find yourself with a client committing resources and increasing his losses simply to make sure you feel the pain too.  Whether this pain is an unpaid invoice, loss of a client, or even a liability claim, it’s often too late to find the win-win.

Remember that kid in 2nd grade that ate two cupcakes at the school party, so you got none?   People don’t forget an injustice, and your clients won’t either.   A client lost tends to stay lost, forever skewed against you and your organization.

Ultimately, no one wants to lose.  Ask for feedback early and often,  adjust when needed to foster a fair outcome, and win-win outcomes are virtually assured.