Part of delivering excellent client service is to solicit feedback. But this can be tricky. How do you set the stage or get busy managers, directors or VPs to take a few minutes to tell you how you’re doing? I have found this five-step process to be very helpful in effectively soliciting specific feedback so that we have happy clients, repeat business and good referrals.
- Determine your intention or goal for asking for feedback. Maybe your intention is to find out what your client values so you can look for additional opportunities to assist him or her. Perhaps you want to find out if your writing contains the right messages from your client’s perspective so you can improve over time. The first step in soliciting feedback is to think through what you want to accomplish.
- Communicate your intention and be as specific as possible in your request. For instance, you might write, “I want to continue to build our skills around writing effective press releases for your company and I am wondering if you could take a few minutes to provide me with feedback on our recent work. I have three areas of focus today. Specifically, I am interested in getting your thoughts on our technical accuracy, creativity and positioning. On a scale of 1 to 5, how do you feel we’re doing around developing creative and compelling press releases? How would you rate the technical accuracy of our materials? To what extent do you feel the right positioning was included in our materials?” From my experience, I am much more likely to get meaningful feedback when I explain why I want the feedback and provide some direction on the areas where I would find it constructive.
- Make it easy for the other party to give you feedback. Remember, if someone has an issue with something you are doing or not doing, it may not be easy for him or her to express it. Some people have difficulty being candid, or they are afraid if they are critical of work it will create tension or hurt feelings. If you think you’re dealing with a client who is reticent to be candid, you may want to address that issue by saying something gently yet direct, such as, “I know it is not always easy to give feedback, but I really want to make sure we’re meeting your needs. I am of the mindset that there are always ways to improve and am wondering if it would be helpful if we had a discussion about our presentation.”
- Consider the timing of your request. Try to put yourself in the shoes of the other person. Will he or she have time to consider your request for feedback in a thoughtful manner? Will he or she want to gather feedback from other folks? Be sensitive, but if you truly need feedback, suggest something like, ‘I know your time is at a premium with your conference looming, but we truly value your feedback. If we can squeeze this into our next conference call, we’d be grateful.”
- Ensure you understand the feedback you receive. My final recommendation is to make sure you listen carefully so you understand the feedback. This is critical so you can begin to generate possible solutions or alternatives. As you move into this phase you may also want to brainstorm with your client, develop an action plan, and make sure you have shared expectations about how you’ll address the feedback.
We have found feedback to be an essential part of our ability to continuously improve and deliver meaningful, ongoing results. Clearly, each client is unique and each of these steps needs to be tailored appropriately, but regular discussions and assessments of what is working and where we can adjust our activity to be more successful are essential.