Often when I work with clients I hear “We don’t have enough client data to inform decision making” but often we find that most organisations have more than enough data, they are most of the time struggling to make sense of it all. In this article, I share six different ways you can uncover client feedback within your organisation.
Tap into Your Frontline Staff
Your frontline staff are often an untapped resource when it comes to client feedback. They're the ones having daily interactions and hearing firsthand what's working well and where the pain points lie.
The trick is to create a structured process to regularly capture this feedback. There are some people within an organisation who are very confident at putting forward what they're hearing, and they're quite often good at being very persistent until they're heard. But there are often other people across the organisation who have a really unique viewpoint that unless you seek them out and specifically ask them, you're not as likely to hear from them.
Uncover Insights in Your Data
Many organisations are already gathering important data and insights, but often that information remains isolated in different departments or systems.
If you can gather that data together, it will allow you to take a fresh look at your existing information. And sometimes it won't tell you the whole story in that one report, but pulling several data points together into one picture, may show you something different.
Listen to Online Reviews
In today's digital world, your clients are already sharing their experiences online. You might want to check if people are talking about your organisation on social media. Are people leaving Google reviews about what it's like to work with your organisation?
While online reviews can sometimes reflect extreme opinions, they can also provide valuable nuggets of feedback. It often just gives you some really good insight to what it's like to experience your organisation from your client's perspective.
Measure Your "Real-Life Net Promoter Score”
We’re all familiar with net promoter scores, but I like to take it a step further by looking at what I call the “real-life” net promoter score. What that means is, did they actually recommend you?
When new clients come on board, I make it a point to ask them how they heard about us. This simple question can reveal some really powerful insights into which of our services or programs are truly making an impact and resonating with the community. It’s a great way to measure real-world advocacy.
Proactively Seek Feedback
While capturing existing feedback is important, there may be gaps that require you to go out and actively seek input from your clients. This could involve running workshops, conducting surveys, or even having leaders go out and speak to clients directly.
I’ve found that when leaders engage directly with clients, they gain invaluable insights that you just don’t get from standard reports or online forms. This proactive approach doesn’t just fill in the blanks, it transforms how we view our impact.
Organise Your Insights with a Journey Map
Once you've gathered feedback from these various sources, I recommend creating a client journey map to help you make sense of it all. It gives you a way to have a look at what this data might look like across your clients' entire experience with you.
A journey map allows you to visualise the client experience, identify gaps, and prioritise areas for improvement. It also enables you to use your resources where they're going to get the best bang for buck.
Armed with a deeper understanding of your clients' needs and pain points, you can start to identify opportunities for innovation and improvement. Perhaps there's a particular step in your service delivery that consistently frustrates clients, or an unmet need that you could address with a new program.
By putting the client experience at the heart of your decision-making, you'll be able to make more informed, impactful choices. And the benefits extend beyond just your clients. Getting a client feedback process can also strengthen collaboration within your organisation. So don't let valuable client insights slip through the cracks.
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