Getting feedback after engaging with a client or even after an introductory meeting with a prospect is important. A couple of survey tools that we use are iContact and Survey Monkey. They are easy to use and low cost. Survey Monkey has some nice templates. The survey tools are useful when you want to ask the same fixed set of questions of several dozen to several hundred folks at once.
Here are our basic feedback survey questions:
To help us calibrate and improve our engagement model and the quality of our advice, please take a few minutes and answer three questions for us. Looking back on our conversation and e-mail exchange could you outline briefly (can be just one phrase or sentence)
- The three most useful concepts or suggestions that you took away from our conversation or subsequent e-mail
- The three least useful (or even worthless or counter-productive) concepts or suggestions that you heard in the interaction.
- Up to three specific changes that you have made in your strategy or engagement process as a result of our interaction (again can just be a phrase or one sentence).
If we don’t get an answer we will typically have someone who had little or no involvement in the project call and follow up to ask the questions over the phone. Because they had little involvement in the project it’s unlikely that client will be dissatisfied with them personally and more likely to share feedback. In general the combination of a personal e-mail and a personal phone call will get you the most information.