A Letter to Your Firm

Introducing the Client Feedback Tool to your firm is an important part of beginning your feedback collection process.  Your firm members will be looking for leadership to endorse the feedback collection process, and they also will want to know what it is, how it works, and what will be expected of them.  Below is one method you might try, delivered via email:

Dear Firm Member,

As you know, we value our client relationships very highly.  The root of our firm’s prosperity comes from clients who trust us to do their work.  It is important to continuously improve our ability to meet their specific needs.

Every client is different, so we need to identify what processes work best for each of them.  While our firm standards create a good baseline for successful project delivery, we may need to adjust on a case by case basis for each client, and often for each unique project.

Shortly, you will receive an email invitation from The Client Feedback Tool, to join our firm as a participant in this online feedback management system.  We will also soon be scheduling training to teach you how to use this simple system to collect feedback quickly, easily, and consistently from your clients and others.  The Client Feedback Tool is easy to use, and takes only two minutes to solicit feedback using the built-in templates.

We are excited at this opportunity for each of us to grow personally;  and as a firm, corporately improve our client relationships to create real, lasting value.

Thank you in advance for your participation.

You may also be interested in introducing your clients to The Client Feedback Tool.  Please see this post for suggestions.

A Letter to Your Clients

One of our most common questions when first beginning to use our Client Feedback Tool is “How do we let our clients know what we’re doing?” followed by “Do you have an email I can use to send to them?”

After being asked this several times, we are pleased to offer you this template email.  Use this (or something similar) to let your clients know what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and how.  You can send this email immediately before sending a client a survey for the first time.

For additional suggestions on improving your response rate, check out our previous posts.

Dear Client,

Thank you for trusting us with your business.  It is a pleasure and privilege to help you with your [service type] needs.

You hire us to perform this work for you, expecting us to provide great service.  That is our goal,  but we know we can always do better.  We will begin seeking your feedback more often, in a more systematic manner.

We would like to collect feedback from you in very short, 1-2 minute doses.  If it’s okay with you, we would like to do so on a more regular basis.  Please look for an email or emails coming from us soon.  Each will come from the person you have been working with directly, and will identify which project, phase, and service is being evaluated.  Should you click on the link to respond, you will be brought to a survey that typically has fewer than 10 questions, and usually takes only a few minutes to complete.

Each time you respond, the appropriate people in our company will be notified, so we can immediately attend to your comments.  This is not a once-yearly marketing survey – but rather a personal request for feedback so we can customize our approach specifically for you.  Your participation is critical for our improvement to occur.
Thank you for your consideration, and we are eager to become your expert at [service type].

You may also want to introduce The Client Feedback Tool to members of your firm.  If so, please see this post.

Improving Your Response Rate – Part II

Client Feedback Tool subscribers often ask what they can do to get people to respond to feedback requests. In this article, I offer some tips you can use to improve your response rate. In Part I, I addressed what you could do to prepare the recipient before you send the feedback request. In Part II, I will discuss techniques you can apply while creating and following up on the survey.

Many factors affect the likelihood of a recipient responding to your feedback requests. The factors include, but are not limited to, the recipient’s

·    Quantity of received email
·    Reaction to the email subject line
·    Perception of the time and effort required to reply
·    Perceived benefits of answering your request (Will it really make a difference?)
·    Ability to remember to complete the survey later if it cannot be finished now

Sending the Survey

·    Pick the right time

You might have looked at the list above and thought, “I cannot control the quantity of email my client receives.”  That is true; but you can control when your survey invitation arrives. Consider how much email, especially spam, you receive between Friday afternoon and Monday morning. On a busy Monday morning, is one of your priorities answering feedback requests in your inbox? Our most experienced and successful Client Feedback Tool subscribers confirm that although it is often easiest to send surveys on a Friday afternoon, surveys sent between Monday afternoon and Thursday morning result in significantly higher response rates.  We recommend sending surveys about 10 AM local time on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.

·    Make it stand out

Your survey invitation subject line should be simple and clearly identify that this is important information. One very effective technique is to start the subject line with the name of the project. Few people will trash an unopened email if the subject is one of their projects.  The Client Feedback Tool makes this easy for you by automatically inserting the project name into the subject line of the survey invitation.

·    Make it personal

By default, The Client Feedback Tool’s survey invitation email states that the feedback is important. Of course, this cannot match the sincerity of a short personal statement from you explaining why the recipient’s feedback is important to you— that it really does matter. You might also mention that the survey only takes about two minutes to complete.

Follow up!

·    If the recipient does not reply

There are many reasons why a recipient may not initially reply. Misdirected mail, time constraints, forgetfulness, apprehension, the list goes on. What can you do about it? Follow Up! Let him know that his feedback really is important. Call or email him; or send him a reminder through the Client Feedback Tool. Chances are that after the first time, he will realize that his feedback really is an important part of your process.

·    If the recipient does reply

Ironically, the correct action if the recipient does reply is the same as above— Follow Up! Let him know that you appreciate his response. If his response identified an issue or concern, that is OK— you have learned how to improve your process and his perception of it. If the response praised your efforts, thank him for the feedback. In either case, you have reinforced to the recipient just how important the feedback was to you.

Conclusion

We all understand that an open, bidirectional flow of information is in your best interest and that of your clients. The Client Feedback Tool is an essential conduit through which that information flows. In order to enjoy the most successful exchange of information through that conduit, consider employing the tips we presented:

Prepare your recipient. Before you send the survey, explain to him  it that it will help you help him.
Send your feedback invitation mid-week. Use the project name in the subject line. Add a personal note.
Always follow up! This reinforces your sincerity, increases the likelihood of future responses, and most importantly, it helps you become his most understanding service provider.

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.

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.

Improving Your Response Rate – Part I

Introduction

DesignFacilitator subscribers often ask what they can do to get people to respond to feedback requests. Many factors affect the likelihood of a recipient responding to your feedback requests. The factors include, but are not limited to, the recipient’s

• Quantity of email in the inboxes
• Email service and manager’s spam settings
• Reaction to the email’s subject line
• Perception of the time and effort required to reply
• Discomfort answering questions they may think are about you personally
• Perceived benefits of answering your request (Will it really make a difference?)
• Ability to remember to complete the survey later if it cannot be finished now

In this article, I will offer some tips you can use to improve your response rate. First, I will address what you can do before you send the feedback request. In Part II, I will discuss principles you can apply while creating and following up on the survey.

Prepare the Recipient

Your client comes in Monday morning and the phone is already ringing. She answers the phone and pulls up her emails. Twelve new emails and another 23 in the junk mail (possible spam). She quickly scans the spam and almost instinctively asks: Does it appear safe? Did I expect it? Does it have a believable benefit? Do I want to see this? If the answer to any question is “No”, she deletes the message.

What if one of those discarded emails was your feedback request? To prevent your survey from winding up in the Trash folder, talk to your recipient before sending the request!

• Regardless whether you talk face-to-face, by telephone or via email; preparation or ‘pre-notification’ is critical. Use whichever format you desire, but be sure to let them know the survey is coming. That way, even if it was misdirected to their junk mail box, they will recognize it as valid business mail.

• People are often just as uncomfortable giving personal feedback as they are asking for it. That is why DesignFacilitator’s surveys are about your process, not about you. Explain this to your recipient ahead of time to help ease any apprehension he may have about telling you about you.

• Your recipient may have experienced surveys that branched to more questions, or said they contained five questions and in actuality, each question contained multiple questions. DesignFacilitator’s surveys typically take 2 – 3 minutes to answer. They do not ‘branch’ to additional questions. A question is one question, period. Your recipient will always know the number of questions up-front.

• You might explain that this is NOT a sampling survey sent to thousands of people. It is a specific request to evaluate the services you provided to that person so that you can fine-tune your process to best satisfy his needs. Although you cannot pay for his response or offer a chance to win $5,000, the incentive you offer is even more valuable: a designer or consultant whose process is tailored to the client’s needs.

In Part II, we will discuss concepts and actions you can apply while sending and following up on the feedback request.

Getting Started with a Feedback Initiative

Regardless of how you collect feedback – almost everyone agrees it is important to do so.  Organizing your client feedback efforts into a systematic approach will ensure that you actually get the results you need.

The WickerPark Group, which focuses on client service interviews and client growth programs in the legal industry, authors a great blog, and a recent post highlights some good advice for getting started on a feedback regimen:

The success of client feedback programs requires leadership buy in and top down support. When asking for feedback and opinions from clients, the firm is making a promise that it will respond to the feedback – both good and bad.

Effective feedback doesn’t just happen – like anything else it takes some effort, guided by a purpose, to maximize the potential benefits.  When the impetus for improving client relationships through feedback comes from the top, with support down the command chain, the results can be quick and extraordinary.

Each client requires a different service strategy.

This simple statement captures the entire essence of why feedback is critical.  Every client is a little bit different – and each person you interact with has his or her own set of personal preferences, needs, cares, concerns, and personalities.

Your process might be great in general, but needs subtle tweaking to maximize the relationship potential for each interaction.  Helping your staff understand this, and that feedback during the project is the only way to identify adjustments, will drive use of any feedback systems you put in place.

Is the firm willing to respond to the feedback and take action? How?

This may seem like an obvious question, but the answer will decide your success with a feedback program.  Prompt, effective, and helpful follow-up, focused on the client who gave you feedback, will create new opportunities and positive relationships.  When those engaging in feedback activities begin to see these results, they will naturally tend to continue collecting feedback.

From the very beginning, start with the end in mind – the goal of getting feedback is to follow-up with a response to the benefit of the client.  Start off with great responses, and your feedback program will grow quickly and sustainably.

Feedback About Me is Really About You…

We’ve spent over five years focused on feedback, and along the way, we’ve participated in every feedback program we come across.  We’ve taken every survey, fielded every call, and attended interviews.  In almost every case, the same mistake is made.  The feedback I’m giving to you, shouldn’t be about you – it should be about me.

Let me say it again:

When you ask me for feedback, the focus should be me.

The most common mistake we see in feedback programs is that the person asking for feedback mistakenly acts as though HE is more important than the client he’s surveying.   The feedback programs are very ego-centric, rather than client-focused.

Feedback requests should be primarily for the benefit of the person giving feedback.  If there’s nothing in it for them, you won’t get much feedback, and what you do get will not be of good quality.  You also miss a HUGE opportunity to build lasting loyalty and commitment from your client.

So, how does one ask for feedback for the benefit of the person you’re asking?

1. Keep it SHORT. You are taking time from your clients when you ask for feedback.  Show them that you respect their time by not wasting any.  Ask only what you need.  If some feedback collected suggests further attention is required, THEN you can take some more time to discover and respond.  Ask no more than 5-7 questions.  Take no more than 2 minutes.  Respect their time as if it’s your own.
2. Don’t wait until the END. If you collect feedback at the end of a project / service, how is the client helped?  Get feedback EARLY and OFTEN, before the work is done.  The client will know you have a chance to respond, adjust, and deliver the final product in a better way, before it’s too late.
3. Stay FOCUSED. Their feedback tells you about their needs and expectations – so ask questions that bring this to light.  Avoid questions to which the answer gives them no benefit.  ”How do I compare to competitor XYZ” would be a good example of a bad question.  There’s no way to answer in a way that helps me.  Questions such as “How did my responsiveness match your expectations?” lets the client provide course correction – or praise – so you can adjust your responsiveness to a more fitting style, customized for that client.
4. Follow Up. If you ask, and they respond, do something about it.  Let them know how their feedback is going to help you help them.  Responding in a way that returns immediate results will create an ecosystem of constant feedback, adjustment, communication – and long term loyalty.

“So what about me?” you may be asking.  That’s where a system for collecting feedback becomes critical.  Collect feedback in a consistent way, in short doses – but get a LOT of it.  Over time you will build a vast history of performance and effectiveness, from which you can glean countless insights into you, your staff, and your company.

If you want to be client-focused, be sure your client feedback sends the same message!