Can I send a feedback survey on behalf of someone else?

Introduction

In our travels and workshops, we have seen that many professions share common difficulties. One widespread limitation many firms experience is that their members simply do not request feedback frequently enough. When we ask the firm members why they don’t send more surveys, the responses range from “I forget to send them.” to “I don’t have time— can’t my administrative assistant or accounting people do this for me, perhaps when they send invoices?”

The Client Feedback Tool Solution

Fortunately, DesignFacilitator’s Client Feedback Tool solves these problems with its ‘Send-on-behalf-of’ feature.  With this feature, a firm manager can designate one or more firm members to send surveys on behalf of other firm members. For example, let’s say your firm manager has designated Al, an administrative assistant, to send surveys for you and other firm members. Acting as a proxy sender, Al creates a survey invitation in your name. All emails, responses and reports associated with this survey invitation will identify you as the sender. In fact, once Al sends the survey invitation, he cannot even see the answer report or modify the survey– but you can.

How it works

To begin, the firm manager designates proxy sender(s):

1. Log in to www.DesignFacilitator.com
2. Click My Firm in the left navigation pane, and then click Manage Firm Members in the right pane.
3. In the 4th column, “Send On Behalf”, select the firm member(s) who will send surveys on behalf of other firm members.

In order to send a feedback request, a proxy sender must know which survey template to send, when to send it, to whom, what project it regards, and so on. The Client Feedback Tool provides a convenient PDF form for this purpose. In the example above, you would probably fill in the form and give it to Al, because Al is sending the survey on your behalf . To obtain the form, log in to www.DesignFacilitator.com, click Other Resources in the left navigation pane, and then click Feedback Collection Information Request Form. Simply print the form and write in the data.

Proxy senders follow the normal procedure for requesting feedback:

1. Log in to www.DesignFacilitator.com
2. Click My Feedback in the left navigation pane, then click ASK on the cycle graphic. Select Send a feedback survey
3. Proxy senders (only) see a Send Survey on Behalf of: selection box at the top of the screen. There, they select which firm member to designate as the sender; that is, whose name will show in the invitation emails, the survey, the reports, and so on.

Note:    The Client Feedback Tool identifies the proxy sender in only two places: the Answer Report and the Modify Survey Edit screen.

You probably want to know if someone sends a survey using your name. So if your firm will designate proxy senders, we recommend that you visit your Set Preferences page in www.DesignFacilitator.com and make sure the first checkbox, “Survey sent on my behalf” is selected.

With the Client Feedback Tool’s ‘Send-on-behalf-of’ feature, even the busiest professional in your organization can enjoy the many benefits of client feedback by delegating the survey-send task to an administrative or accounting assistant.

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.

The results are in…. You need feedback!

How often do you meet your clients’ expectations?  Or perhaps more importantly, how often to you fall short of their expectations?

DesignFacilitator has been helping subscribers exceed their clients’ expectations since 2004.  Even so, a recent strategic partnership with PSMJ Resources, Inc. has provided an entirely new look at how firms measure up to clients’ expectations.

Typically, a DesignFacilitator subscriber uses the Client Feedback Tool on an ongoing basis, regularly requesting feedback from his firm’s clients.  These subscribers belong to firms whose philosophies include a commitment to collecting feedback; and they use the Client Feedback Tool to enhance their relationships and delivery of services.  In the last two years, looking across all data collected, these firms have received scores below “Met Expectations” only three percent of the time.  We see then, that engaging clients to find out what they really want from you allows firms to best meet their clients’ needs.  These firms ultimately keep more of their clients, and build the healthiest, most prosperous relationships.

Unfortunately, many of you have not yet realized the prosperity and satisfaction resulting from client feedback collection. DesignFacilitator has collaborated with PSMJ Resources to offer you a unique opportunity to gather client feedback. Simply participate in PSMJ’s Premier Award for Client Satisfaction Award, and you can send a one-time feedback survey to as many as 40 clients. This simple, cost effective process can actually pay for itself— but more on that later.  The data collection period ends October 30, 2009. DesignFacilitator will then compile the data and PSMJ will present awards to those firms that have demonstrated the greatest success from their clients’ perspective.

Although the Premier Award participation period is still open, early results have already provided significant findings.  Notably, firms that have no history of regular feedback collection receive “Below Expectations” ratings over ten percent of the time! This is more than three times higher than firms who use feedback on a regular basis!

What this reveals is that most firms do not know what their clients need and expect. Moreover, the only way to correct that blind spot is to ASK for feedback as soon as possible – before your clients become someone else’s clients.   Additionally, collecting feedback does far more than just increase the health of your professional relationships and keep you aware of your clients’ expectations. It also reduces liability risk, staff turnover, and burned-out project managers.  In fact, DesignFacilitator has worked with professional liability insurers who determined that feedback collection is so important that they provide 10% premium credits to firms who consistently collect it. Often these savings alone more than pay for the cost of the Client Feedback Tool.

The quickest way to get client feedback is to sign up for PSMJ’s Premier Award right away.  Through the end of the year, firms that buy the $495 Premier Award package from PSMJ receive a full credit towards a one-year Client Feedback Tool subscription with DesignFacilitator.  With the combination of these two services, you will quickly understand where you stand with 40 of your most trusted clients and how your client satisfaction measures up to the profession overall. You will even be able to collect feedback for the next 12 months from all your clients, partners, consultants, vendors, and anyone else whose relationship you value.

Do not wait.  The numbers are in.  Ten percent of your clients may be considering taking their business elsewhere.  Can you afford to lose them?

Visit http://www.psmj.com/surveys/products.aspx?v=item&i=1443 or contact DesignFacilitator at 866-4-DES-FAC for more information.

If You Already Know the Answer, Don’t Ask the Question

I’ve already written once about the survey methods of the car dealerships/manufacturers (see Blog Entry “What Did You Expect?“) but I have to bring it up again. To keep from distracting you with my particular choice in a car, let’s just call it a Yugo.

This time, the manufacturer sent me an email with a subject line “Please share your thoughts on your new Yugo GV.” This subject shows that the sender knows exactly who I am and what I have purchased. Yet, they proceeded to ask which features I have on the vehicle, what type of vehicle it is, the cost of the vehicle, and how I financed it. They also asked me for the total number of men, women and children in the household. After I selected “1″ the survey still asked me to indicate the number of: children under 6, children 6-12, and children 13-17. Didn’t I just answer that?

My point is not just to rant (though I do enjoy ranting), but to point out that people collecting feedback sometimes ask questions that they already know the answer to. This comes across to clients as though you do not value their time and you don’t care enough to consider the information you already have before asking more questions. Let your clients know that their time and feedback is important to you by asking only relevant, specific questions.  Ideally, their answers will provide valuable new information you can use to improve your service to that very client.  Isn’t that why we ask for feedback in the first place?

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

Client Feedback Tool – New Features

On June 28th, 2009 over 50 new features, enhancements, and fixes were released to our Client Feedback Tool.  All subscribers have immediate access to the following features, and more:

• You can now schedule batches of reports to be generated and delivered to you via email, automatically.  Look for this in the “Set Preferences” page.
• Survey recipients can now reply on a mobile device, including iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and more.
• The Bar Graph report was enhanced, offering a variety of new charting options.  You can now create a bar graph by Project, Project Type, Project Team, Phase, Category, Question, Sender, Sender Team, Respondent, Company, Client, or Company Type.
• When sending a survey, you can select a project from a project list, rather than perform a search.
• You can now leave a follow-up comment to any feedback request, even if no one has responded to the survey.  This allows you to log why a survey remains unanswered, or to summarize an off-line conversation that replaced the survey.
• The answers report can now be printed “anonymously” – so you can print results and share them with others without revealing who gave the feedback.
• Downloadable batch reports have a new, enhanced date selector simplifying use.

For questions or help with any of these features, please contact us at support@designfacilitator.com or 866-4-DES-FAC.

Likewise, if you have any features YOU want added, please let us know!

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.

Client Feedback Tool – New Features Added

We are pleased to announce that over 80 new features, enhancements, and fixes have been released to our online Client Feedback Tool. Some key new features include:

• Reports now include your branding / logo when printing
• New report that highlights high scores to more easily identify your successes
• New report that gathers all written feedback comments, to collect testamonials for marketing
• Optimized report printing process to make 50% faster
• Added an address book feature, to more easily select survey recipients
• Added a “contact import” feature to quickly import a list of survey recipients
• Added a new “Bar Graph” report, offering a visually rich display of your feedback

PSMJ’s Premier Award for Client Satisfaction

DesignFacilitator is pleased to announce a partnership with PSMJ for their Premier Award for Client Satisfaction!

PSMJ has partnered with DesignFacilitator, creators of the only feedback tool designed specifically for the architecture and engineering community, to operate feedback collection for PSMJ’s Premier Award for Client Satisfaction.  The program uses feedback from design firms’ clients to identify some of the best A/E/C firms across the nation.  You can enroll to participate ($495) here.   For a limited time, participants can receive the entire cost of their entry fee back if they subscribe to our Client Feedback Tool.

Upon joining the program, PSMJ will send participants a link to the participation form at DesignFacilitator’s website.

Participants will enter their contact details and the names/emails of the clients they would like surveyed.

The DesignFacilitator team will contact participants with further details and instructions including guidance on how to introduce the survey to your clients, with strategies to maximize your return rate.

A week later, the survey will be sent using DesignFacilitator’s Client Feedback Tool.  Those who would like to receive a sample of the survey may request one by emailing PSMJ@designfacilitator.com.

The results will be collected over 30 days.  Within two weeks of completion, participants will receive a copy of the results, both a summary and detailed responses.   Participants’ results will only be collated and delivered to PSMJ for purpose of the award rankings, and will not be published in any way to anyone else.

When the results from all participants are in and the program is over, awards will be determined based on the quantity and quality of feedback received, using DesignFacilitator’s “Feedback Quotient” formula.  The 2009 award winners will be announced in February 2010 and featured at PSMJ’s Circle of Excellence Conference in March 2010.

All participants will also be entitled to a $495 discount on subscriptions to DesignFacilitator’s Client Feedback Tool purchased within 60 days of program completion.  For more details contact us at 866-4-DES-FAC or answers@designfacilitator.com.

The Best Questions to Ask – Deliverables and Relationships