don’t assume you know how they feel.
by sandi leyva
why ask for your clients’ feedback?
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there are a couple of main objectives:
- to find out how you are doing so you can correct any service issues
- to help you innovate the services you offer so you can be even more relevant to your clients
client satisfaction
your accounting clients are always the final judges in the value you provide them. after i recently returned an enterprise rental car, the employee asked me, “is there anything we could have done to increase your satisfaction?” ask your clients the same question, and listen well.
continuing to provide high-quality value to your clients will help your revenues stay smooth even in tough times.
there are several ways to get your clients’ feedback on the job you are doing. you can ask a direct question to one client at a time as described above. if the direct way is a little too intimidating (and it could be for both of you), you can send a survey to all your clients. here are some things you can ask:
overall, how satisfied or unsatisfied are you with our services?
- very unsatisfied
- unsatisfied
- neutral
- satisfied
- very satisfied
how satisfied or unsatisfied are you with our email support? (phone support?) (in-person support?)
- very unsatisfied
- unsatisfied
- neutral
- satisfied
- very satisfied
how satisfied or unsatisfied are you with our bookkeeping services? (tax services?) (quickbooks services?)
- very unsatisfied
- unsatisfied
- neutral
- satisfied
- very satisfied
how satisfied or unsatisfied are you with our client welcome process?
- very unsatisfied
- unsatisfied
- neutral
- satisfied
- very satisfied
how satisfied or unsatisfied are you with our billing process?
- very unsatisfied
- unsatisfied
- neutral
- satisfied
- very satisfied
please list suggestions for improvement on any of the above:
______________________________________________
is there anything you would like to see more of?
- more quick tips
- more handouts or cheat sheets
- more videos
- more shortcuts
- no, nothing
- other – please list __________________________
regarding communications between us, what frequency do you prefer?
- much less often
- less often
- the same
- more often
- much more often
how likely are you to refer others to us?
- very unlikely
- unlikely
- neutral
- likely
- very likely
if you have specific feedback that we need to correct, please list your name below so we can reach out to you and rectify the situation:
name ________________________________________
the above questions should give you a good start when putting together your client satisfaction survey.
tools
an easy way to send out your survey is surveymonkey. it’s free as long as you keep your survey to 10 questions or fewer and have less than 100 responses. even if you need a subscription, it’s only $24 per month and i believe you can cancel anytime. check them out at www.surveymonkey.com.
netpromoter
it’s worth mentioning netpromoter, which is a client loyalty and satisfaction score you can compute from clients’ answers to the following question, “how likely is it that you would recommend [your company] to a friend or colleague?” the answer is based on a 10-point scale, where the higher the rank, the better the score. you can find out more here: www.netpromoter.com
be sure to include some version of this question in your survey.