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Client surveys: A valuable way to analyse your business

“A customer talking about their experience with you is worth ten times that which you write or say about yourself.“ David J. Greer, Wind In Your Sails

All business owners would like to believe the service delivered to clients is the best it can possibly be. Likewise everyone wants their clients to be satisfied and to stay with the business for a long time. Building a trusting relationship with clients is fundamental to this and for them to recommend the service to their friends and family.

However, what we want may be different to what our clients want. What they value and what we believe they value may be poles apart. If this is the case then we are storing up problems for the future, or simply heading in the wrong direction for potential improvements.

A tried and tested way of finding out what your clients think of your service is to actually ask them. This may seem a risky proposition. What if they say we can do better in areas we have already improved on? What if they tell us they are thinking of leaving?

Whatever they tell you, it is better to hear it from them whilst they remain your clients and there is the opportunity for improvement, rather than to suddenly find out they have gone to one of your competitors without a word explaining why.

Feedback from clients is priceless for a professional services business, which provides an intangible service, such as financial planning. While the proof is in the pudding in the results achieved through the investment management and financial planning, success also depends upon the quality and professionalism of the personal service which differentiates your business from the others in the sector.

It may be difficult for a client to specify exactly what makes them happy with a personal service, but they know what it is when they receive it and can identify when they are not getting what they need. One factor will be the level of attention and contact they get from the business and the value of that.

A carefully constructed client survey can identify what aspects of their service a business is getting right and those where they can improve. Lowes Financial Management conducts a biennial survey of all clients to get feedback to help continually improve their service offering.

In the most recent survey (May 2015), Lowes had well in excess of 1200 respondents with over 96% rating the firm as “good” or “very good” on Investment Advice, Approachability, Professionalism, Depth of Knowledge, Staff Helpfulness, Staff Friendliness and Ethics.

Even though these figures suggest that they are achieving high levels of client satisfaction Lowes are not taking anything for granted. The biennial surveys have been conducted religiously since 1991 and feedback acted upon to improve the service over the years.

In the latest survey, 200 clients took the time to give suggestions for improvement and these will be considered very carefully.

Conducting client surveys is a valuable way to find out what your clients really think about your business. Checking whether your assumptions and expectations of what you’re trying to achieve are actually met in reality is the path to business improvement and success.

You may be pleasantly surprised by the results, but areas for improvement will surface and you will know what to change and why. However, remember one survey is not enough. There needs to be a commitment to act on the results, make improvements and conduct similar surveys regularly to track progress and confirm you are heading in the right direction.

Missed our last column for Bdaily? Check it out: Tapping into the businesses of the future

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lowes Financial Management .