Your client survey results are a gift, if you know how to use them, that will:
- Boost your marketing
- Improve your business
- Underpin your referral and recommendation strategy.
So, here are 10 things you should do after you’ve run your survey and analysed the results.
1. Pick up the phone to clients who provide critical feedback
Last month, I completed a survey for my local gym. I gave some honest feedback about broken equipment, lockers that didn’t lock (that’s the minimum you’d expect them to do, right?) and dirty changing rooms.
Have I heard from them since? No. And as a result, I feel they’ve wasted my time and I’m much less likely to complete one of their surveys in the future.
To avoid falling into the same trap, if you have any clients who give critical feedback, pick up the phone and chat with them. In multi-adviser/planner firms, we recommend going one step further and a senior member of the team, perhaps even the managing director, speaking to unhappy clients.
The combination of:
- Running the survey (which shows you’re listening)
- Picking up the phone (which shows you want to address their issue)
- Taking action (which shows you mean what you say)
is incredibly powerful and will help turn a potential detractor into an advocate.
2. Share the results with your clients
The experience I had with my gym (and others) shows the effect of businesses not sharing the results of their surveys with the people who completed them.
Far better to send a follow-up communication which:
- Explains the high-level results
- Acknowledges areas where you’ve been asked to improve
- Updates your clients on what you’re going to do to address any issues.
By doing this, you’ll close an open loop, stand out from the crowd, and show your clients (including those who didn’t complete the survey) that you’re listening.
3. Share the results with your team
By sharing the survey results with your team, you will:
- Boost morale and show them that their hard work is appreciated by celebrating successes
- Identify areas for improvement and get their input on the actions you need to take
- Build trust and transparency.
We recommend that you’re upfront, sharing all the results, including criticism. However, focus on the most important findings. Don’t overload your team with too much information. Instead, concentrate on the findings that are most relevant to their work.
4. Put their answers on each client’s file
We recommend putting a copy of each client’s answers in their file, so they can be discussed at the next review meeting.
Again, this demonstrates the importance of the survey, that you’re listening, and you take their opinions seriously.
5. Update your website
We all know that showing the value of working with you always beats telling people.
Your client survey results, along with online reviews and client videos, all help to show potential clients the benefits of working with you and confirm your high standards to existing clients.
The absolute minimum you should do with your results is to update your website.
Specifically, that means:
- Adding key results to the most popular pages of your site
- Publishing the client follow-up communication as a blog.
6. Create an infographic
Your survey results will naturally be data-heavy, which means an infographic is the perfect way to show them off in a visually appealing way.
Plus, if you get the design of the infographic right, you can then turn the sections into a series of graphics to use on social media.
Click here to see the infographic we developed for our client, Expert Wealth Management (scroll down the page to see it in all its glory!).
7. Create an animation
Infographics are great but, by nature, they are static. An animation solves that problem.
Once complete, the animation should be:
- Used in social media posts
- Added to your website on the most popular pages
- Included in the proposals you send to new prospects.
Click here to visit the Berry & Oak website, then scroll down their homepage to see the animation we created for them.
8. Use the data when you enter awards
Every claim you make in your award entries should be supported by evidence and proof.
I wonder where you could get that from. Perhaps your client survey?
The fact you’ve run the survey will immediately impress the judges because most firms never ask their clients about the service they receive. And if you ask the right questions, your survey will produce a wealth of evidence you can use in your entries to support your claims and further impress the judges.
9. Start conversations with clients about referrals and recommendations
We always recommend including three questions in surveys which focus on referrals and recommendations. The first two are:
- Would you recommend us to other people?
- Have you recommended us in the past 12 months?
The first question establishes who your advocates are (and hopefully provides an impressive stat to use in your marketing). The second identifies your active advocates.
Advisers/planners should then use the answers to these questions in a conversation with your advocate clients about referrals and recommendations.
10. Deal with the issues stopping clients from recommending you
The third question is: “What stops you from recommending us to other people?”.
That’s always an open question and we ask clients to write a response. When you see their answers, you can deal with them individually or through other methods, for example, blog posts.
PS. 3 ways we can help with your client surveys
If you run the project well, a client survey will help to improve your business, boost your marketing, and increase the number of referrals/recommendations you receive. There are three key parts to the project, and we can help with each:
- Running the survey itself
Working collaboratively with you, we’ll agree on the questions, build the survey, and send it to your clients.
- Analysing the results
Once the results are in, we’ll analyse them before presenting them to you, showing you how you compare to other firms. We’ll also help you build a to-do list of follow-up actions.
- Helping you capitalise on the results
Some of the follow-up actions will be your responsibility – for example, discussing the results with your clients. However, others, such as using the reviews to boost your marketing, you can leave to us.
If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you with a client survey project please email phil@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 8965 300.
