A follow-up strategy is crucial to the success of your feedback program. Send an email communication to everyone who received your original survey and tell everyone what you learned from their feedback and what you plan to change. This will help those who responded AND those who didn’t respond to understand that you take feedback seriously, you are listening, and you are making changes in order to be better. Over time, your clients will trust and rely on your survey as a means to improve their relationship with you.

1. Personalize the Message: I received a survey request the other day from a phone conferencing service that I haven’t used in two years. When I opened it, it was addressed “Dear Valued Client”. Nothing tells me faster that I’m not a valued client, then an email that starts “Dear Valued Client”. It was a good reminder as to why I left them. No personalization in their service, and none in their email. Personalize the email message by including the name of the person you are sending it to and electronically sign it with the name of someone at your organization they will recognize (account rep, regional manager, etc.). We’ve seen response rates nearly double simply by making this change.
2. Shorten the Survey: When we move from a traditional customer satisfaction survey to a shortened Net Promoter-based survey of 10 questions or less, our clients’ average response rate jumps from just over 20% to nearly 35%. Make it known in your email message the number of questions in the survey. Researchers have broken the trust on telling respondents a survey will take “less than 10 minutes of their time”. It is more credible to be able to tell clients you want them to answer 7 questions about their recent experiences.
3. Turn Follow-Up Into A Game: We recommend following up by phone to those clients who haven’t responded and asking them personally if they would like to participate. Most will say yes, and it is a great excuse to talk with clients about something other than the next order. You can even turn it into a game. One of our clients conducts a 7 question NPS-based survey and recently offered an extra half day of PTO for the business units who had the highest response rate and the largest increase in responses. Their response rate jumped from 25% to nearly 40% and they had engagement from all levels of the organization.

When our days get jammed packed full of to-dos, sometimes we forget to look up and realize we are dealing with people every day. People just like you and I and we all want the same things in the service we receive. Spend some time with your team brainstorming and create a plan on how your team can sincerely communicate with your clients during the sales process.

• Send hand written thank you cards
• Take note of birthdays, anniversaries, and child births and send a card/gift to congratulate
• If your client is having a tough day, surprise them movie tickets or a gift card for a cup of coffee
• Welcome them back after vacation
• Respond to them within 2 hours of receiving their email or phone call (even if it’s just to let them know you need a little more time)

We arrived inside and quickly realized the eco-tour bus we saw parked across the street had just unloaded its riders at Hopworks. Shoulder to shoulder we stood in the bar waiting for our turn to sit down when one of the servers (who we have gotten to know since we are always there), said, “Tracy/Ben – turn around. I reserved the small table in the back for you. This place is crazy.” One of the tables in her section had just opened, she saw us walk in, and put a reserved sign on the table for us. We are forever loyal. It doesn’t take much. Look for opportunities to take care of your customers and surprise them with extraordinary service. They will never leave you and will tell everyone about you.

I’m sure you can see where this is going already…. we sat down at a new spot and ended up receiving awful service and food. Bummer! The drink order came pretty quickly (and they were good!), but the rest of the experience was very poor. I had to get up to find our server to take our order after 20 minutes, the food was gross, and then I had to get up again and ask for the check. I stood next to her register as she handed me the check. She asked me, “How was everything?” I thought, “Whatever… I’m not talking to you, I just want to get out of here.” I didn’t give her any feedback since I was so annoyed. I told her it was fine, we paid, and on we went with our night. But, I’ve told everyone I know how bad it was.

This happens to people all the time. And, it likely happens to your clients. This is exactly why online feedback surveys are so powerful. Clients are not always ready to give respectful feedback at the exact moment they are mad. But receiving an online survey after the fact provides your clients a safe environment to express their thoughts and give feedback to help you improve.

Back to the normal watering hole!

We tried a new hotel called Inn of the White Salmon that we selected from Yelp reviews. As much as I love dogs, I don’t love yappy barking dogs outside my hotel room. There was a house next to the hotel with dogs that just ran around crazy all day barking at the wind. I asked the hotel if they had a different room on the other side of the hotel, but they were totally booked. Boo! I was bummed, but there wasn’t much we could do about it.

Ben and I headed out from breakfast and spent most of the day shifting through antique shops. When we returned to our room just before dinner, the hotel owner had left us a gift certificate in our room for two glasses of wine down the street, along with a short note apologizing for the noise. We were so surprised and very excited to enjoy the wine! It was clear the owner couldn’t do anything about the barking dog, but he was very empathetic. It meant the world to us at the time. The dogs still barked like crazy the next morning, but our tolerance had shifted. It doesn’t take much to make a huge impact on someone’s experience with your company even if you don’t have complete control over the situation at hand. You just have to be open to identifying the opportunities when they arise.

I was annoyed and convinced I wouldn’t come back since I couldn’t rely on them to be on time. A couple minutes later I was taken back to the dentist’s chair. The dental assistant was super sweet and never made me feel like she was completely rushing. We got done and finished on time. I was very pleased! I went to check out and again the receptionist apologized for being late and then she handed me a $25 gift card for my troubles. Wow, it made my day! I’ve told everyone about it.

This experience could have gone really sour and I could be telling you all the reasons why I would never go back there, but they recovered amazingly. We are human and aren’t robots. We are going to make mistakes and people expect that. The most important part is that we are empowered to identify when there is a moment to recover and take the steps to provide over-the-top service. I tell everyone about my $25 gift card… forget that they made me a bit antsy and annoyed. It just doesn’t matter anymore.

I’m going on year #2 with Inavero and as I sit here soaking in the tunes of Green Day over the office speakers… four key things come to mind that make Inavero different and better. Give’em a try.

1. Trust:  Hire people you believe are smart and will do their best, and let them.
2. Respect:  Treat your employees the way you want them to treat your clients. The reflection is transparent.
3. Listen:  Be open for innovation from all tiers of your company.
4. Have fun! Tour the Street of Dream, have Beer + Strategy sessions each week, and celebrate birthdays with SkinnyDip Ice Cream!