Feedback, Trust, and Anonymity

One of my guilty pleasures is making sure I catch Scott Adams’ Dilbert cartoon every morning.  Today’s is genius (at least, for those of us in the business of feedback).  In three panes, Adams succinctly captures the challenges and pitfalls of so many efforts to collect feedback.

Anonymous surveys that collect demographic or statistical information can be very useful.  However, surveys collecting feedback – particularly when that feedback about a service – are challenged greatly when attempted anonymously.

Fundamentally, the goal of collecting feedback is to understand his unique preferences and adjust your processes to fit his style accordingly.  Feedback of this nature is inherently personal and unique.  Providing a service (whether it be managing employees like the Pointy Haired Boss, or providing engineering expertise to a client) is not just a technical proposition.  Services are provided by people to people.  And since we’re all different and have individual preferences and approaches, there is no one-size-fits-all methodology.

Understanding this concept unveils the first challenge of anonymous feedback.  When no name is attached to the feedback, it can’t directly benefit the respondent.   When you receive anonymous feedback, and 99 out of 100 people love the way you do something, how much effect does the one dissenter have on your approach?  You aren’t going to change everything for one person.  However, if you knew who that one person was, you could adjust the process just for him (assuming it made business sense to do so).

Secondly, anonymous feedback demonstrates real challenges with trust.  The respondent can’t trust you to actually do anything about the feedback given (because, after all, you don’t know who gave it).  Or, he doesn’t trust the actual anonymity of the feedback.  With all the tracking and tricks of technology today, how often do you really believe your anonymous feedback is truly a secret?  Worse, what if you ask for feedback anonymously, and (without trying to) you figure out who gave challenging information.  Now, you really want to respond, and fix the problem – but doing so is going to violate the “trust” you offered the client by offering an anonymous survey in the first place.

But what about the good anonymity provides?  Won’t my clients be more honest?

Actually, you can get great, honest feedback, and get more of it – if the right person asks the right questions – to the right person at the right time.  Therein lies the challenge of building a great feedback process.  The most important aspect of collecting feedback from clients is to be sure the feedback is about the client – not about you.  If you collect feedback  in a manner that unveils the client’s preferences, and you respond by specifically helping the client more according to his expectations, trust is created.  When you prove to the client that feedback matters, and that you act upon it, there is no need for anonymity to get honest feedback.

That is the paradigm where the healthiest relationships are developed and were lasting client loyalty is built.

Incoming! It’s a Feedback Grenade!

I had my car in for some work last week.  The shop, as innovative and forward-thinking as they are, actually have a feedback system in place.  I was delighted to see a service business taking feedback seriously.  I was so impressed, I even took a picture of their system!

Is this what your feedback program looks like?

How does this make you feel as a client?

More importantly, is this the message you give to your clients when they provide feedback?  Research indicates the overwhelming majority of professional services firms (architects, engineers, lawyers, etc) do not solicit feedback from their clients.   And yet, feedback is critical to your ability to serve, keep, and profit from your clients.

Some clients are bold enough to provide feedback, at least once, even if you don’t ask for it.  Your response, though, will dictate exactly how much more feedback you will get from them.  When you get feedback, are you the grenade?  Do you get defensive and start spreading blame like shrapnel in all directions?  If lodging a complaint (or even giving constructive criticism)  feels like pulling the pin on this example to the right, how many clients are going to keep on complaining?

While we all want our clients to stop complaining or criticizing, making them afraid to do so will only further the speed at which they take their projects (and corresponding fees) somewhere else.  Rather, we want more feedback – in the form of praise!  Now you can turn clients into allies – loyal consumers of your services, and champions of yours when referrals are requested.

Here are three fairly basic approaches to help you become adept at avoiding shrapnel, and encourage your clients to give you more feedback.

1. Respond without reacting.  When criticism comes in, realize it’s not personal, but really just information.  Your client is training you to help him better.  I know it sometimes feels like an attack on you, your character, and your self-worth.  It’s not.  Feedback is always more about who’s giving the feedback than who it’s about.  Understand what your client is trying to accomplish with this information.   He’s got a problem, he hired you to help him with it, and now there’s another problem to deal with.  Instead of trying to explain how it’s not your fault, be very interested in his problem, and how you can fix it.  ”Oh, wow.  That does sound like a problem.  How can I help you fix that?  Is there anything else we can do to avoid going down this road again?”  If there are other people involved, and you are the one that takes this approach, you’ve just risen above the crowd and earned a huge dose of respect from the client (and probably your peers too).
2. Focus on the process not the people. People don’t intend to screw up.  When stuff goes awry, look at the process used.  If you focus on the people involved, the conversation turns to blame.  The best that can happen here is someone else gets to “pay” for the problem.   This builds conflict between you, your team, and your client.  Conflict is not healthy when trying to build effective processes.  If instead, talk about the process that resulted in the undesirable outcome, and cement your role as the leader steering the team (regardless of what your business card title says).  By pointing fingers at a process – which is emotionless and easy to adjust, you don’t have to try to change people.  A process can be documented, explained, understood, and modified on the fly to produce different results.  Draw the process on a white board with everyone involved.  Act as the recorder, asking which processes work best for each person, and build consensus on a client-focused plan.  If the client designs the process, he will take more ownership of the results.  More importantly, you’ve again been trained as his expert – worth a premium price so he doesn’t have to deal with this again with someone else.
3. Ask for feedback often!  When your clients see you as a grenade, ready to explode, they are less likely to train you to expert status.  But, asking for feedback in a soft, friendly, comfortable manner will diffuse challenging situations before they get big.  You will create a feedback habit with your clients, and they will be much more engaged in helping you help them.  It’s their process now too, so they want it to succeed.  Follow up to check on how changes to your service are working, measure the results, and adjust your course when needed.

Over time, you will build a level of trust, loyalty, and expertise with your clients that no other professional will be able to match.  Now you can be “the guy” he goes to.  You can charge a fee that’s great for you, for a service that’s great for him.  Even better, no one has to pick shrapnel out of their hides.

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.

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!