Poll dancing
One firm’s quest for client hearts & minds
Part 1 of 3
Every empire has its bad days. When my revenue dipped 20%, I wanted to know if it was the Global Financial Crisis or something I’d said.
My wife suggested an online client survey. This turned out to be a very good idea.
Research
I’d heard of SurveyMonkey, but worried that some clients might not dig the name. I did a quick search for ‘free online survey’ and found SurveyBob, which looked as simple as it sounded.
Structure
Aware that most surveys have poor participation, I decided to limit mine to just one question – multiple choice.
In addition to making it ridiculously easy, I injected a bit of fun by calling it:
The Feisty Empire Brutal Feedback Survey.
My sole question was the one thing I wanted to know more than anything:
Why hasn’t The Feisty Empire done more work for you lately?
In collating a list of possible responses, I combined my worst fears with educated guesses and shots in the dark:
- You cost too much!
- I’m using someone else.
- Your work isn’t good enough.
- You never call me for a chat.
- I can’t justify the expense.
- I’m pretty quiet myself.
- I haven’t had the need.
- I heard bad things about you.
- I’ve learned to do it myself.
- The recession is killing me.
- I’m too busy with other stuff.
- You never asked me!
- I thought you’d closed.
- I thought you were doing other things.
- I hate your small business blog.
- I’m giving someone else a try.
- I’m not allowed to use you.
- I know what you did last Thursday.
- You never give me any freebies.
- I want to pay for results, not time.
- It’s odd that we’ve never met.
- Change is good. I need a change.
- I’d rather not say.
Method
I made the response options informal and friendly, as if we were chatting on the phone. I overlapped to let people take their preferred approach to sensitive issues. I added ‘soft option’ escape hatches to tempt the twitchiest participants. And I included humour to keep it light.
SurveyBob’s interface was child’s play. Though the result wasn’t spectacular, it was quick, clean, robust and free.
At that point, my wife suggested that I add an open-ended question to garner feedback, so I did. Check the picture above to see what it looked like on the screen.
Distribution
I pasted the emails of every client who hadn’t used me for three months into SurveyBob’s database.
I could have pasted my survey’s URL into my own email or website, but the online tracking functionality was too tempting.
Invitation
In my covering email, I strove to neutralise participation barriers like time, complexity, confidentiality and general ‘heaviness’:
Hello!
As the recession ends, I’m taking a critical look at my business.
I’ve created a two-question survey that will literally take you one minute.
Though you’ll be able to see the aggregate results, nobody will ever know your identity except me.
I’d be very grateful if you could please click the link below and give your frank responses.
You can tick as many boxes as you like.
With best regards and many thanks for your time.
Paul.
One thing that makes me do online surveys is the chance to see the results. By offering this to my clients, I really laid myself open. What if all of them said I cost too much, then realised they all agreed?!
I then reasoned that if price weren’t an issue, such candour could be very good for my brand. So I bit the bullet and pressed SEND.
Response
Within 48 hours, 18 of 41 clients had responded (44%).
I waited a few more days, before sending a follow up email:
Hello again.
I’m sending this a second and last time, just in case it ended up your spam folder. Please forgive me for bothering you if you’ve already seen and deleted it. If you haven’t, I’d really appreciate your response.
Best regards,
Paul.
This took the response to 24 (59%).
I viewed summary data online, then downloaded a spreadsheet to see who’d said what.
The results were fascinating, gratifying and very, very useful. Read all about them in Part 2!
Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire
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Thanks for sharing this Paul.
One question for you if they could choose a number of options how are you going to determine the key reason from others that they choose as well that may in fact not be as important?
Susan
That’s a very good point, Susan. I didn’t feel the relatively small population sample required that level of sophistication.
Especially as I was able to contact the respondents afterwards to flesh out their feedback.
Certainly it would’ve been a nice innovation. Perhaps I’ll work that into the next one I do. Many thanks for stopping by.
It is good you can contact them for greater depth.
Paul, well done for such a brave move! I love the style that you’ve done this in.
Perhaps to address Susan’s question, you could have included just one more question .. make your first one “What’s the main reason The Feisty Empire hasn’t done more work for you lately”? and single select, then something like “OK, what else is wrong”? with a multi-select?
I experienced great customer service at a major toy retailer this week from two different staff members .. then at the checkout the staff member highlighted on my receipt a website address to complete a customer service survey they are running for the next two weeks! I’d get a $5 voucher for my time if I completed the survey, but I can’t help that feeling in their case the results will be influenced by the fact that the staff KNOW they are being tested. Let’s see what their service reverts to post-survey time.
-Sonia
Nice one, Sonia! That is a very elegant enhancement you described. Next time for sure!
I read about the Hawthowne Effect at uni and that could well be the case with the toy people. As you say, time will tell.
Thank you, as always, for your ace contribution.
Paul – nice move! Always love to find stories of people brave enough to ask for feedback. There’s nothing better you can do.
I’ve blogged about some feedback techniques you might find helpful, such as focusing on the PROCESS (not the person) with your questions; checking performance compared to expectations; and even the Hawthorne Effect and how feedback plays a part.
But you were right on keeping the survey short (the key to a good response rate) and keeping the question easy to answer. Also, laying the feedback out for all to see is a very positive step. They key to getting feedback is that there be something in it for the respondent. In your case, being able to see the others’ results was a draw, and brought them to the survey.
I’ll check back and see if you blog more about the results, and what came of it. Exciting stuff!
blog.designfacilitator.com
Great to meet you, Ryan. Thanks you for your wise words. That’s quite a nifty poll in the article behind your link. Amazing how many people plan to keep prices steady in 2010.
I really appreciate your feedback, as it certainly sounds like you know what you’re talking about. Parts 2 and 3 will appear tomorrow (Thursday) and next Tuesday. It’d be great to get your take on the results and what I plan to do with them. Best regards, Paul.
I think this is powerful for many reasons. You bared your “business soul” and you will learn more about what you need to deliver and what your clients want.
But there is one more powerful thing you have done: you have created a marketing system that helps you communicate with your customers. That is worth “money in the bank”. You have demonstrated the systematic nature – you have created a process. Now the challenge is to repeat and develop the process. If you can document the process, repeat it in the future and demonstrate the enhanced value it creates it will make your business more attractive.
I am just collating a report now on a survey I conducted recently, looking at whether now was a good time to sell a business or not. The results were surprising – but reinforced the power of developing a system. Among other things I found that over half the businesses surveyed had received an offer for their business in the LAST 12 MONTHS!!!! A full report will be released in the next week.
Good on you, Mike. I love it when we get the benefit of your expert perspective!
Your systems idea tracks very well with Michael Gerber’s E Myth. If I were to do another survey, when would you suggest I do it? And what should I ask? And how could I be sure I wasn’t ‘burning out’ my audience with repetition?
Do please drop back with the link to your report next week. I’m sure I won’t be the only one eager to read it.
I’ve always maintained there’s no such thing as too much feedback. The trick is to keep it simple each time. Most clients are far more willing to answer a 1 minute survey 5 times, than a single 5 minute survey. If you keep your questions short, the surveys shorter, and your style consistent, then your clients will know what to expect, and will be more likely to respond.
Keep something in it for them (i.e., the ability to see the results, as you did; or better, personal follow-up that actually gives them something they were looking for) and you’ll consistently get good feedback.
Firms using our Client Feedback Tool often get feedback from the same clients weekly, depending on the number of ongoing projects, milestones reached, etc.
And, even if your clients DON’T respond – that’s still feedback.
We have addressed the two key points here:
1. What to ask:
http://blog.designfacilitator.com/2009/04/17/deliverables-relationships/
2. How to ask:
http://blog.designfacilitator.com/2009/08/07/great-expectations-theory-of-a-feedback-scale/
While we focus on feedback in the architecture/engineering community, any professional service firm will tend to follow the same rules.
Looking forward to the next few posts!
Golly, Ryan; you really have gone into this with a fine-toothed comb, haven’t you?!
That second article of yours is a ripper. So much fascinating info.
I’m now slightly frightened of presenting my results, given specialists like you and Mike are watching!
Fear is a common reaction when approaching feedback – but really, it works in a variety of ways. We’ve spent the last five years researching, studying, and refining a client feedback tool – it’s what we do. We’ve learned some things along the way, and it’s fun to give back to the community.
What you did is very different in many ways than what we do – but there’s a lot that’s GREAT about it. Not wrong, just different.
When you start looking at how feedback works in a 50-500 person architectural firm, and how to manage the results in a sane way, you really have to dig in to the tiniest details to make a smooth system work. It’s surprisingly hard to make a feedback process look easy.
The results, though, are worth it. It’s a noble cause, to take care of your clients. Too many people have lost sight of that. We do seminars all over the country, and we often ask “What’s your biggest problem?” – the answer, inevitably and almost unanimously, is “the clients!” What a sad notion that the people we’re hired to take care of are called problems, rather than celebrated as the source of all our prosperity.
Kudos to you for being much more sensitive to who and what your clients are.
Thank you, Ryan. Sounds like I was lucky enough to wing it this time. I’ll be reading your stuff very carefully before my next foray!
I love it when I, the ‘Master Blogger’ end up learning ten times more than I impart with my posts. The expertise of our readers is always a joy to behold.
Glad you like the blog. We get hundreds of page views each week, but rarely any comments. Please feel free to sprinkle some around – we’d love to get this kind of conversation going on our site!
And I don’t think you were lucky – you put thought, care, and purpose into what you did. You did it just right. You had a goal in mind, and shaped the feedback towards that end.
Man, I just got ideas for 2 or 3 more blog posts out of this thread! Time to start blogging, thanks!
Thank you, Ryan. You’ve just about made my day!
I’ve left three comments on the blog. Are you on Twitter? If so, I’ll follow you and help spread the word about your new posts.
[Megan, do we have any spare teddy bears lying around? I want to send one to Ryan for saying such nice things about my survey!
]
You can follow us on Twitter @desfac. We don’t tweet as much as we should, but we do tweet out new blog posts.
Meanwhile, I’ll keep an eye on your community – this is a great place!
Righto, Ryan; I’ve got you. Just told my 8,611 closest friends how cluey you are.
Glad you like our community. I couldn’t be prouder of the kind, clever vibe we’ve created in here. Our readers truly are bulk ace folk.
I am also humbled by the expertise of Ryan and his group – I too will be informing my colleagues.
To answer your questions with my plans – I intend to extend my survey next year to new contacts. I have found it a useful tool to not only interact with clients but also prospects – without overtly selling, and offering information they can use in their own planning.
I agree about the importance of short questions – although the contacts that responded were happy to provide information, once they realised it was of interest to them.
In your case you could change the focus of the questions slightly and send the survey to prospects who don’t know you, or ones that do know you and never used you. You could ask questions like
“if you were to use someone that offers services such as mine, what key aspects would discourage you from contacting me?”
Then you are building into the survey the capacity to connect with people in a low-key sales approach that has their needs as the focus.
My suggestion is to not do this to your clients more than twice per year, but the number of times you do it to new prospects can be quarterly or more – because you are exploring new prospects.
I would be interested in Ryan’s feedback on this approach?
Great topic and great replies by all
Mike –
GREAT idea using feedback with potential new clients. We’ve developed surveys focused on that, particularly to follow up after a proposal is sent. Asking for feedback before they are a client lets them know you are flexible and can adapt to their needs.
Regarding what to ask, we always try to let the questions establish your value. We avoid questions in the negative for that reason. Instead, ask questions that get them thinking about the VALUE you could provide, particularly if it’s something their current vendor isn’t doing.
Per my link above, you can begin systematically with something like:
“Compared to your expectations, rate your current XYZ service provider’s helpfulness.” Repeat this for other key service areas (responsiveness, quality, accuracy, schedule, budget, scope and fees).
This will weed out who’s committed to their current vendor, so you can target the “shoppers.”
If you follow-up with them with a solution-selling model, you can establish a sense of value, before any work has begun.
“What are the key business problems you’re trying to solve with XYZ services?”
“What could someone do to help you better solve these problems?”
“What would happen in your business if someone did what you suggest?”
Now you know who is looking for help, and what they need help with. Whether you’re providing architectural services, technical writing, legal counsel – what you’re really doing is helping the client solve a problem. Stay focused on their problem (not your service) and they will tend to value you highly.
High value = prosperity. You have now earned loyalty, respect, and the ability to charge based on value.
This is a long one… Sorry!
Regarding when to ask for feedback, you want to get it BEFORE the work is done. In any kind of project, get feedback shortly after start to check on your approach and process. Better to find out sooner rather than later if you’re off track. Then, after each key milestone check again, for course correction. Feedback that only happens after a project is frustrating to a client – they know it’s too late to do anything about it, so why bother?
Of course, sending an online survey to a client every week may be too much. But there are lots of ways to check in and get feedback. Online tools are just that – a tool to support your process and help organize and add consistency. But don’t let the tool limit when and how you get feedback. A blend of formalized surveys, ad-hoc emails, phone calls, and face-to-face conversations is really best to create open communication.
What do you guys think? We get asked this all the time – how much is too much feedback? If you are a client, working with a valued vendor – how often would you be willing to respond to a 1-2 minute survey, particularly if it came after each deliverable/milestone was complete and was specific to that one item?
Many thanks for your suggestions, Mike. Surveying prospects: there’s an idea! I just wrote to Survey Bob inviting them (him?) to join us. While on the website, I read that it’s possible to send out surveys via Twitter.
Immediately I was seized with the desire to poll all my followers, plus the many thousands of other followers just a few strategic retweets would let me reach. But I realise I’d better think this through properly before acting hastily. You only get once chance at a first impression.
Man, Ryan; that was a guest post right there! I could’ve taken Christmas off!
Long after my 9-week, $90K home renovation catastrophised into a 9-month, $130K night terror, my builder sent me a one-question survey. It asked ‘WHERE’S MY MONEY?!’
I would’ve happily answered multi-page surveys after the banging of every nail, if doing so would’ve ensured a happier outcome.
So I totally get what you’re saying.
Paul, this is Aaron, one of the founders of SurveyBob.com. I’m glad you found us! I love the approach you took with your survey, and you are right, simple and direct surveys can really help focus your strategy. It’s the feedback and “brutal” critique from our own users that has helped us make so many improvements to the site over time.
Some feedback on your survey. You had a great idea to follow your multiple choice question with a field for additional comments. However, I would recommend the Essay question type rather than the Short Answer question type so that respondents have more space for entering feedback. Responses to open-ended comment questions can be pure gold. They provide you with specific and sometimes unanticipated feedback that you never would have gotten through multiple choice questions alone, and you don’t want to limit response space too much.
You raise the issue of response rates. Some surveys need a little help. I like that you used BobMail and sent out reminders after a few days; definitely a great method for getting a higher response rate. Since efforts like yours are actually effective marketing efforts (did the survey result in new business for you?), they may be worth a little investment. As a woman suggested in an earlier post, some companies offer “bribes” such as Amazon gift certificates for each respondent, or for randomly selected survey respondents.
Lastly, your screen shots indicate that you may still be using IE6 as your browser. Most sites (including SurveyBob.com) look and function better in browsers built in the last 5 years that are more web-standards compliant, such as IE7 or 8, or Firefox, etc. If you are still on IE6, upgrade already!
I look forward to your next 2 entries.
Cheers,
Aaron Smith
Owner, SurveyBob.com
Dear Aaron, I’m thrilled to bits that you made it to our forum. Thank you for such a considered and comprehensive response.
I’m sure our readers will agree with me that your suggestions are very helpful. Don’t be surprised if you see a flurry of surveys firing in 2010.
This has been a fascinating and enjoyable exercise for me. And to have you weigh in is a great bonus. Part 2 goes up in about 1.5 hours. I think you’ll be pleased to see that many of the benefits you described were indeed borne out. Best regards and thanks again!