Within the professional service environment, clients make a conscious decision about their willingness to participate in your client satisfaction survey. The equation, in my experience, is simply the ratio of perceived value (enhanced service, etc.) to the perceived amount of time spent (cost). I use the term perceived multiple times for a reason. The perception is truly reality here and there are things you can do to improve the perception of value (pre-survey description of the client program, follow-up letter describing what was learned, etc.) and the perception of time spent (our subject lines often include the actual number of questions, such as “two questions about your recent experience with us). If you have designed a brief survey, do everything in your power to get the benefit of that in your response rate.

Finally, the most important mistake that professional service firms make with their surveys is assuming they need to come up with 3 action items and implement them across the firm, and across multiple offices. While there may be a few “global” changes that come from survey findings, the most important step (often overlooked) is to get the information to the people who can change it. If Jane feels like she doesn’t get a quick enough response, Jane’s professional contact in the firm should a) know that, b) act on that, and c) be held accountable for improving Jane’s perception. It is that simple, it is that direct, and it is that important.

This is my attempt to do that for professional service firms.  Each week I will scour the online and offline world for content I think you may benefit from or find interesting, add my .02 to the mix and give you the link to the rest of the information.  If you find links you think should be included, please don’t hesitate to email them to me at egregg@inavero.com.  This is, after all, an open conversation.

• An interesting Inc magazine article about the staffing industry.  Two things stick out to me in this article.  First – it is nice for the industry to get some much deserved press in a positive light as a legitimate and strategic sourcing solution.  Second, this drives home a point I continually try to make with professional service firms – you have to be different in a way easily visualized by those outside of your organization to stand out.  The staffing firms in this article are – and they benefit from the press.
• A great post from Kevin O’Keefe’s Real Lawyers Have Blogs on blogging in the legal profession.  His findings show that 1 in 4 law firms in the AMLaw 200 have a blog, some with more than one.  In the research we have done, we consistently find that newsletters from professional service firms are one of the least valued “services” provided, what is to make the blog different?  My take on it is this: if more than 1 in 10 blogs reports “firm news” you are likely falling into the common newsletter trap of assuming that those outside the firm care about what happens inside the firm.  Blogs should be relevant and informative to your audience – write what is important to THEM, not what is important to YOU.
• An interesting article from Larry Bodine’s Law Marketing Blog (a great read if you get the chance) regarding the marketer to attorney ratio at law firms.  Roughly 27 to 1 on average.  Doing some very rough back of the envelope calculations utilizing findings from a study released by Altman Weil, we know that the revenue per lawyer is roughly $420,000.  That means the revenue per marketing professional for law firms is more than $11 million/marketer.  Seems high, doesn’t it?
• The Duct Tape Marketing Blog has an interesting take (and podcast) on branding “You”.  Professional service firms face a similar challenge professional sports teams do; should you market the team or the individual?  What resonates more with your clients?  There are challenges and advantages to both sides of the argument, but at some level, whether it is the firm or the individual – there is a brand “You” and it is important to understand what that means and how to leverage it.
• Knowledge@Wharton shares an article written by faculty that addresses the use (and misuse) of statistics.  In our field, I see this ALL THE TIME.  People like statistics.  They tend to believe statistics, and I am certainly not suggesting there isn’t significant value in many statistics you see quoted today.  What I am saying is….if you are quoting research or statistics, make sure you have done your homework and understand the sources and methodology.  Though as research professionals we should be judicious in what we allow to be printed, many aren’t.  “Four out of five dentists agree……” means a lot more if 1,000 dentists voted than if 5 did, not to mention questions about how the question was worded, how these agreeable dentists were picked, and the list goes on.
• And while we’re on the subject…..don’t quote a number if you won’t stand behind it.  Starbucks boasts offering 87,000 different drink combinations.  The Wall Street Journal’s “Numbers Guy” calls B.S. A little hint….if you don’t have solid math behind a number you quote publicly, at least try to throw the number geeks off your trail and pick a number that SOUNDS computed (86,597, for example).