Articles/Publications
Survey your clients…and glean info!
By Judith Nitsch, PE
"You're going to talk to my clients?! And not about our projects?!" I can hear the project managers' reactions already. Wary, hesitant, apprehensive, nonsupportive, worried…you pick the adjective. But – what a novel thought – firms should be talking to clients to learn what they are thinking, whether it's about your firm's performance or about the outlook for their industry. After all, most unhappy clients don't tell you they're dissatisfied – they just call another firm for their next project. Get their feedback before that happens! And the happy ones are more than pleased to tell you why they are satisfied and share what you might have thought was "inside" information.
Client surveys come in a variety of forms, including satisfaction surveys, image surveys, perception surveys, and market research surveys. Each serves a different purpose, depending on whether or not you want feedback on your firm's performance, your clients' opinion of your firm in the marketplace and as compared to your competitors, or your clients' outlook on project opportunities during the coming year.
Performing client satisfaction surveys is not an activity for the faint of heart. You will hear (and learn) all kinds of information about your firm, and that data should inform your activities for the months and years to come. Clients know more about us than we realize…and our perceptions of our firms had better align with our clients' views. The one caveat to performing client surveys is that if you learn about problems and then don't acknowledge or correct them, you've probably done more damage than if you had never performed the survey.
Learning how your firm is perceived in the marketplace among your competitors can be both enlightening and disheartening. After all, there are many highly qualified firms in our industry in general and within our specific areas of expertise within the industry. The nuances that differentiate your firm from others are what will help you form your firm's future. Although Arthur D. Little did prove that one can turn a sow's ear into a silk purse, the subtleties that make our firms unique are what flavor our clients' impressions of us. Many are surprisingly good and some we know we need to fix; the balance are the eye-openers which, if identified and fixed, can jump-start your firm's projection from "doing fine" to "stellar' performance. And who wouldn't want their firm to be known as a stellar performer?
Published in ACEC Insights, December 2002