BBT Architects and Rebound Physical Therapy share more than a building on Bend’s west side. They share the belief that asking their clients for feedback about how they’re doing is critical to improving their services and their bottom lines.
“Every professional service business should ask its clients for feedback because to be successful you need to know if you are meeting your clients’ needs,” said Connie Worrell-Druliner owner of Express Employment Professionals.
One of the benefits of surveying clients, in addition to determining their level of satisfaction with your services, is enhancing your relationship with them.
“The fact that you’re reaching out and involving them sends a message that you care about what they think,” said Adam Davis, founder and principal at DHM Research, a Portland-based opinion research firm. “If used wisely, opinion research is more than just a research tool; it’s a public relations tool, as well.”
There are a variety of ways to obtain opinions from your clients. BBT Architects chose to have an independent third party—this author’s business, Oxborrow Consulting—conduct one-on-one phone interviews.
Rebound uses several methods to elicit information from its clients—electronic and paper and pencil surveys—which are randomly administered by support staff following an appointment.
“Each front office person is also trained to ask at the end of each client’s appointment, ‘How did it go?’” said Mike Tompkins, a co-owner at Rebound.
According to Tompkins it is surprising how much information you can glean from just asking that question.
“Some people are excited that someone asked them,” he said, “and will talk at length about what has gone well and what they think we could improve upon.”
The kind of survey a business decides to conduct depends on the type of service it provides and its resources. For Rebound, collecting feedback frequently is important, and the electronic and paper surveys accomplish that and are less expensive than other options. For BBT, one-on-one interviews conducted every two to three years best meets its needs.
Asking for feedback from your clients should also be considered when there is a significant change in your business—when there has been a management change or a lot of staff turnover.
Focus groups are another way to collect valuable insights from your clients. Typically, focus groups are composed of 8 to 12 people who provide their opinions, beliefs and attitudes about a product, service, issue or idea. Focus groups are led by a moderator who follows a discussion guide designed to produce the information required by a client.
Each method has its benefits and associated costs. One-on-one interviews are the most expensive, but the interviewer is able to probe for further information and assure anonymity, critical to obtaining candid comments.
Having clients complete an electronic or paper survey is less costly but doesn’t offer the ability to ask additional questions and seek clarification of a response.
BBT chose personal interviews because it felt it could obtain more detailed information, plus it was a way to demonstrate to its clients that it cared about what they thought.
Renee Alexander, a principal at BBT, said when she receives an online survey, she will answer the yes-or-no questions but not respond to the open-ended questions.
“Most of the time, I won’t answer those questions because I don’t have time, but if I can talk to someone on the phone and maybe multitask at the same time, I’m glad to do it because it becomes a conversation,” she added.
Worrell-Drulinersaid her company uses a third-party survey to find out how they’re doing.
“Sometimes a third party is able to get more information than we would by asking the questions direct,” she said.
Another way Worrell-Druliner assesses how she’s doing is to invite representatives from her client companies to a “Lunch and Learn.” She facilitates the discussion during which the participants are asked to share what she can do to make the services better for them.
“We try to use these tools to say our goal at the end of the day isn’t to have you tell us how wonderful we are; rather, is there something that we can be improving on for you specifically?” said Worrell-Druliner.
BBT Architect’s mission statement is “Excellence is Everything,” and the owners wanted to know if they were achieving that with their clients and vendors.
“We wanted to make sure that what we were promising our clients and what we say we do, we were doing,” said Alexander.
The cost of the survey was money well spent, Alexander said, because BBT learned valuable information that will help it achieve even greater excellence for its clients. She said they got a lot of affirmation that they were doing a lot of things right and also some constructive criticism.
BBT has already made some changes as a result of the survey findings. One of the changes wasn’t big, but sometimes it’s the little things that matter to a client. In BBT’s case, it was something it could easily change and with little cost.
“It had to do with technology, and it was a simple little thing, but it was a simple little thing that mattered to our clients,” Alexander said. “Sometimes we worry about bigger issues and let the little things slide because we think it won’t make a big difference, but to some it does.”
BBT’s survey included questions about the architects and design staff, which the principals are sharing with them.
“We want our staff to be aware of all the great things we are doing but also some of the things that we need to work on and how they can help us accomplish that,” explained Alexander.
Alexander’s advice to other professional service businesses is not to be afraid to find out how your clients feel about you because it can only help your business improve.
Kathy Oxborrow is a consultant providing opinion research, facilitation, planning and writing services for businesses and nonprofits.
For more information contact Kathy at 541-318-5518 or Kathy@oxborrowconsulting.com.
