Amazon delivered my new mechanical keyboard and mouse. Everything is good. I’m a happy camper.
I got an email from the company that fulfilled the order for the mouse. Did everything arrive in good shape? Any issues?
They provided me with a link where I could give feedback, report issues, and provide a review.
Did I click the link and tell them I was happy? Did I leave a review?
I did not.
Sorry, busy here. I’ve got a blog post to write.
The thing is, when everything is okay, your clients won’t tell you, either. Even when you ask them to and make it easy, like this email.
If something is wrong, on the other hand, you’re going to hear about it, right? You’ll get an earful from the client and a bad review on Yelp.
Not necessarily.
Unless things are really bad, most dissatisfied clients quietly go away, never to hire you again. They don’t complain, they just leave.
But you want them to complain. If they are dissatisfied with your work, if they think you offended them, you want to know about it, so you can fix the problem and make amends.
You need to ask for their feedback, not once, but continually.
Through email, online surveys, and especially when you speak to them.
Encourage them to be open with you about everything. Let them know you won’t be hurt if they aren’t happy about something, you’ll be glad they told you so you can do something about it.
Tell them that they are doing you (and all of your other clients) a favor by being honest with you, because they are.
Ask your clients for feedback, and ask often. Put a link in every email. Give them a form every time they come into the office. Bring up the subject when you have them on the phone.
Let your clients be your “quality assurance” department. You’ll find out about problems so you can fix them, and. . . you’ll also get more testimonials.
