Obtaining Feedback from Clients

Receiving feedback is a critical element in the successful management of people and business. In spite of the obvious advantages in collecting feedback, it is seldom actively sought, especially when it comes to seeking feedback from clients.  There are several reasons why this may be the case (for example, not finding time to ask for it / lack of adequate systems to track it etc ) but the most common reason boils down to the mantra “No news is good news”.

In the extreme, suppose we lose a client to another firm. Also, let’s imagine we find out why they have chosen to move elsewhere. There may be lots of reasons, aside from us not asking for feedback for why they may have moved on.

However, which of the following two responses is most likely?

1) ‘’We were perfectly content with the services you offered until you started asking us for feedback and then we realised we could get better elsewhere.’’

2) ‘’You never ask us how we perceive the quality of the services you offer us and how things could be improved; we feel that you take us for granted and are not looking to improve or develop the services you offer.’’

Most would agree that 1 seems unlikely.

We can avoid 2 by asking for feedback.

The next question is how do we best go about receiving it? There are three main factors to consider.

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1.       Oral vs written

Sometimes the most meaningful (and therefore useful) feedback is from speaking to a client directly. They can give us their views openly without worrying about the exact wording. We can ask open and closed questions as appropriate. A good idea would be to diarise a time (perhaps as you complete an assignment or suite of services for a period) and include it as an item on a meeting agenda. The downsides of this is that the feedback can be vague ‘’everything was fine’’ and rarely quantitative and therefore analysing the feedback can be challenging.

The advantage of written feedback is that the client can think carefully about what they want to say and supply the feedback at a convenient time for them. Also, they may feel better able to give their honest feedback when not facing you directly. A downside of written feedback of course is that the onus is on the client to take the time to submit it.

2.       Ease of giving the feedback (simple and quick)

If we want to receive feedback from as many clients as possible, the ease of giving the feedback is key. If the process is protracted and complex, response rates will be low. At the end of every 3Qhub training course, we provide the participants with a QR code which they scan on their phone and which takes them to a website that asks three multiple choice questions as well as inviting them to provide further notes if they wish. Typically delegates spend between 30 seconds and two minutes completing the feedback. By asking for them to complete it there and then, we receive a high percentage of coverage.

3.       The level of detail needed

We have to weigh the merits of detail against the level of coverage. If we think detailed feedback from a small sample of our clients will be more valuable, then that steers us towards asking for ‘in person’ interviews or longer written feedback forms. We should target selected clients that we know will be happy to invest the extra time but we need to avoid biasing the sample in any way.

The above three factors will inform our decision as to the type of questions we should ask.

- Closed (eg. multiple choice) v open questions

The advantage of closed questions, aside from it being easier and quicker for clients to respond, is that it is easier to summarise the results; particularly important when we are receiving feedback from a large number of clients. At 3Qhub we offset the relative lack of detail by asking an open question at the end of the submission thereby providing an opportunity for clients to comment further.

- Multiple choice

If we choose the written multiple choice route, the design of the questions is very important. How many questions should we ask and how many answer options should we provide?

Leaving an airport or train station, we may be faced with simply hitting one button (green happy / red scowling) face. For the provision of professional services, more options seem appropriate; but how many?

· 3 options – effectively happy, unhappy or neutral.

· 4 options – forces the respondent to choose between above/ below average.

· 5 options – very common, allowing respondents two options to say whether they are happy / unhappy. The extra choice will enable them to differentiate between different questions. For example, in the case of 3Qhub,someone may opt for “happy” with course content and “very happy” with course delivery.

· 10 options – the danger of allowing people to rank each question from 1 to 10 is that people can feel daunted and are less likely to complete the feedback.

Should we simply offer a numerical scale or words? In the example above, we’ve used “happy” v “unhappy”. Alternatively we could use “good” v “poor”. Maybe we could even link the words to the clients’ expectations. There is scarcely a limit to how deep we can think about this.

What’s next?

For some people providing feedback, what we intend to do with the information is really important. We should explain whether the feedback is entirely confidential and whether or not we will act upon individual or overall results. Also, do we intend to publicise our findings (for example on our website or in public documents}? Can the client obtain a copy of the feedback on request?

Of course, if we are promising that we will follow up on feedback, it is imperative that we do so in a timely manner and that we have systems in place for monitoring and responding to feedback as appropriate. If clients feel like their feedback isn’t acted upon, they will be less likely to provide feedback in the future.

Conclusion

There’s a lot of things to consider. Perhaps the most important thing to understand is why we are asking for the feedback. All feedback is useful but if there are specific things we are hoping to be informed about, it well help influence the choices we make above.

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If you are interested in finding out how 3Qhub can help your firm improve their client feedback processes, please get in touch at info@3qhub.com.

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