The professional services market is a rapidly changing and evolving space. As soon as you may think your firm understands clients’ needs, their preferences can quickly change. Flexibility, responsiveness and developing a feedback culture of continuous improvement are key attributes for success.
Organisations that monitor customer feedback consistently will be the most well-prepared to adapt to changes. They are always on the lookout for new, better ways to meet clients’ needs with their service offerings.
This article explains how Beaton Debrief can help you build a virtuous cycle of improvement while enjoying the benefits of feedback culture at work.
What is continuous improvement?
Continuous improvement is a specific culture that many businesses work hard to develop. In fact, “CI culture” has in recent years become a buzz term across professions from health to airlines to professional services.
It refers to a mindset and having processes that prioritise ongoing efforts to be better. Enhancing processes, products and overall client service is all part of continuous improvement culture. For B2B professional services organisations, such a strategy requires careful attention to the client experience.
How to build continuous improvement culture
A key characteristic of firms with continuous improvement is their client-centric focus. The best firms acutely understand clients’ needs, then meet and exceed their expectations. This kind of culture can greatly enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.
However, continuous improvement also requires regular communication and opportunities for clients to provide feedback on a regular basis. This is where many busy organisations fall short, there is simply not enough time in their week to ask clients for feedback.
Beaton Debrief was developed to increase, coordinate, and systematize client feedback opportunities. It sends regular surveys at time-based or service-based interval periods of your choice, offering your clients regular chances to comment on and score your services based on their experiences.
As Kate Mortlock, Client Relationship Advisor at Harrison Grierson commented:
“Effective communication is an ongoing process and our current focus for the Debrief is working with our teams on improving their communication with clients by actively listening to and acknowledging the feedback from the surveys. We want our clients to be confident that their voices are heard and valued.”
Passing on feedback to your wider team
Debrief reduces the time cost and workload to firms by collecting feedback in an easy-to-navigate dashboard. Specific feedback can be allocated to team members to respond to and check off once the feedback loop is closed. This helps create culture change across the organisation.
Kim Trajer, the Chief Operating Officer of our client McCullough Robertson, told us her firm’s use of Debrief was crucial in:
“Helping us instil a culture where we are always thinking about what we can do to make things easier for our clients, and focusing on what our clients care about most.”
Engineering firm Harrison Grierson, also using Debrief, said:
“[We have noticed a] change of approach to client listening more broadly, and greater understanding of the benefits of obtaining feedback,” a built and natural environment consulting firm using Debrief has told us.
“More partners are more willing to ask for feedback (in a variety of ways) and act on that.”
The benefits of continuous improvement through feedback
A culture of continuous improvement brings a variety of benefits for B2B professional services firms. Here are some key advantages Debrief can help provide:
- Greater accountability: as more team members are aware of and notified of client feedback, there is a greater impetus on everyone to improve service.
- Better communication with clients: Regular NPS surveys that Debrief sends offers a chance for firms to improve regular communication with clients, even in busy periods.
- Improved client relationship: Beaton research shows regular communication can lead to more satisfied clients who are more willing to reinvest and spend more with your firm.
- Clients feel valued: Firms using Debrief tell us that clients acknowledge and value their efforts in building a culture that is client-centric.
- Greater client understanding: The information that feedback surveys gather through Debrief can be vital in understanding your clients’ needs and expectations.
- Future work opportunities: Feedback provided through NPS surveys can also offer valuable information about what clients want, when pitching for new work.
- Aid staff development: The feedback Debrief provides can be used by any team member to help them guide and improve how they serve clients.
- Identify innovation areas: Areas of service that may be receiving lower scores are prime for innovation and change to improve.
What firms tell us about using Debrief for continuous improvement
Here are some real quotes from law firm McCullough Robertson about how Debrief has helped foster a culture of continual improvement.
“[We are] using the data to help drive change through sharing our clients’ voice i.e. ‘our clients care about this so we need to as well’, or ‘our clients have told us this, we need to listen’.
Partners trusting the value of the data and asking for it to support particular activities and initiatives in their groups, and seeing how this data strengthens the partnership we have with our clients.
Using the information as client intelligence when pitching for new work.
Helping us instil a culture where we are always thinking about what we can do to make things easier for our clients, and focusing on what our clients care about most.”
Encouraging a continuous improvement culture in an organization offers numerous benefits that can contribute to its long-term success. The Beaton team is committed to helping you leverage these benefits via our feedback platform Beaton Debrief.
We can set up a specific Debrief solution to meet your unique needs. Receive regular insights on your clients’ satisfaction via the online dashboard, and pinpoint ways to improve by tracking feedback and NPS with Debrief.
Try the platform here for free. Or, contact our knowledgeable team to understand more.
Regular client feedback at your fingertips
Use our platform, Beaton Debrief, to collect client feedback and act on it in real-time with our interactive dashboard. Sign up for a free trial today.
