Keeping The Client Happy IS The Point
An accountancy practice is no different to any other business in a competitive marketplace. Its success depends on how well it delivers the right services to the right customers. Client satisfaction therefore is not created at the point of delivery to the client. It starts right at the beginning of the process and continues through the whole chain of production to the point of delivery and beyond. Actually, it starts even before that, since it is your sales and marketing process that creates client expectation and keeping clients happy is all about delivering beyond their expectations time and time again.
How soon in the process do you start thinking about matters from the client’s perspective? Taking our view, it should start within your sales and marketing strategy and into the client engagement process. It should then be applied through the planning for each and every assignment, through the assignment itself, into the actual delivery and then through the post-delivery. In other words, all your processes and systems, from start to finish, should be client focused.
What I will now concentrate on here is how you set about measuring client satisfaction.
Measuring Clients Satisfaction
- Standing Agenda Item
The simplest way to find out how a client feel is to ask them. Yet, how many times do we do this? Part of making your firm more effective is to ensure that all meetings have an agenda. Simply include on your agenda a couple of questions linked to performance, such as “Are you happy with the service that you have received from us on this assignment?” and “Is there anything that we can do to improve the service you receive form us?” Document and act upon the responses.
- Feedback Forms
Every assignment is an opportunity to improve your firm’s relationship with the client. You know how it’s gone at your end but what about the client’s perspective? A simple, single sheet of four to five questions will give you the answer and, importantly show that you care. Again, questions along the lines of “what did we do well?” and “What can we improve on?” A feedback form gives the client the opportunity for a more considered response than in 1. above and can be less confrontational for some. As with all client comments, it is essential that you demonstrate follow-up actions.
- Questionnaire
Questionnaires offer you the opportunity to ask wider questions of the client base and are not just focused on one particular assignment. Whilst you can cover a wider range of service topics they should still be quick and simple to fill in. Their greatest strength is that they are not assignment related and so can be filled in anonymously. This can bring greater honesty. They should use a scoring system for the answers so that the results are easier to analyse but also have space for further comment should the client so wish. Don’t expect a massive response to these, 15% is typical, but incentives to respond, reply paid envelopes, quick response emails etc will all help.
It’s a good idea to provide feedback to respondents and even the wider client base.
- Client forums
The idea of getting a group of clients in a room to talk about your firm may sound intimidating but its can be a great way to get feedback. If you’re not prepared to take criticism then don’t do it but the open nature of the forum will allow you to explore in more detail the feedback that you receive. Numbers in the forum are a matter of choice but it wants to be large enough to be representative but small enough to be manageable. Certainly no more than a dozen I’d suggest. The members should be invited on the basis that they are representative and not simply the ones most likely to say nice things about you. Minute the meetings and a summary feedback for all clients should be considered. Think also whether the forum should be chaired by an independent facilitator.
- Mystery Shopper
How do you staff come across on the phone? What are first impressions of your firm like? Are you easily understood in a meeting? Using mystery shoppers is a great way to get first hand experience of your firm. A mystery shopper is someone who pretends to be a customer but has a reporting agenda back to management. Depending on the scale of the exercise you want to run therefore you can use anyone from friend to a professional provider. Clearly the friend doesn’t work particularly well if you want to assess your own performance. You do need to use a provider who is going to give you knowledgeable and meaningful feedback and not simply a personal opinion.
Avoiding Injury (or “Don’t Shoot Yourself in the Foot!”)
Asking clients for their opinion can be challenging in terms of their response but that’s surely the whole point. There are two golden rules:
- Don’t shoot the messenger! Whether you agree or not, the views expressed are those of the client and you asked for them. Always see the responses in the context of them being from the client’s perspective and therefore relevant. Don’t argue. The feedback will invariably be either a point to take on board or an indication that communication needs to be improved. Argue and you are better to not ask in the first place.
- Don’t ignore the comments. Good or bad, it is vital that you demonstrate, in your actions and your own feedback, that you are taking note of what is being said and written. Clients are busy people. If they’ve taken the trouble to express a view then they are demonstrating that they care. Again, ignore them and you are better to not ask at all.
You don’t have to change things every time a client makes an observation. The purpose is to ensure that you fully understand your clients’ needs and expectations and understand how well you are meeting those. It’s about listening and communicating. Ultimately, how well you do both will determine how successful you are as a practice.
