Waiting for consensus. There will always be a few outliers on the team, with concerns like “It’s not right for my clients,” “I never answer those surveys” or “We will do it face-to-face.” The truth is no matter what these skeptics say, online surveys are highly effective.
Procrastinating. There’s no perfect time for implementing an NPS program. But starting sooner is always better than starting later. The client experience will always matter — and it will always impact your client retention rates, your referrals, and your revenues (i.e., your entire bottom line!).
Failing to appoint an internal champion. A good NPS program is a team effort, but there has to be a point person — someone championing the program and keeping it on track. This is a key component to any successful customer feedback initiative.
Making your survey too long. NPS surveys should only include a handful of questions (people are busy). The longer and more daunting your survey is, the less likely your clients will fill it out — and that means fewer opportunities to understand the client experience, improve on it and leverage it with prospective buyers.
Settling for a low response rate. While it’s true that B2B surveys only have a 18% response rate, ClearlyRated NPS surveys have a 34% response rate on average so higher rates can (and should) be achieved. Personalize your emails, send them from a strong, spam-free server, make sure they’re mobile-optimized, and send follow-ups. Follow these best practices and you should see an increased response rate.
B2B surveys only have a 18% response rate, ClearlyRated NPS surveys have a 34% response rate on average
Failing to take action. You need an action plan for how you will follow up on the results from your NPS survey. Detractors take the highest priority, as they give you a lifeline to fix potentially revenue-shattering problems. With your Passives, you have the opportunity to work towards improvements and act on feedback for how to improve their experience. Finally, look towards Promoters as your firm’s engine for growth. Ask them to help tell your story of service excellence (through referrals, testimonials, and online ratings) and work towards replicating their experience across your entire client base.
Not communicating enough internally. Your NPS results should be circulated internally after every client survey. The entire organization needs visibility into the client experience, and they also need to be held accountable for their roles in it — whether the outcomes were good or bad. Recognize wins and have an action plan in place for service losses.
Surveying too infrequently. At the very least, you should survey your customers once per year. With that said, we’ve found that shorter, more frequent surveys perform better — particularly with accounting firm clients. If it’s within the scope of reason, we recommend building a survey initiative that asks for client feedback at the end of every engagement, so you can better gauge performance as well as tie feedback to more specific moments in the client experience.
Failing to leverage loyal customers. Leveraging your Promoters is crucial. According to our surveys, 90% of buyers who are referred to a firm will still engage in additional research on them — and that’s where strong reviews, ratings, and testimonials can play a major role in influencing their decision to work with your firm.
Being selective about who you survey. With an NPS initiative, it doesn’t pay to be selective. Your goal is 100% visibility into your clients’ experience with your firm, and cherry-picking your survey participants will cause far more harm than good. Always seek to survey a sample that reflects your entire client base, and please - we can’t say this enough - do not exclude certain clients because you’re worried they will provide negative feedback. Remember: Detractors are your lifeline. Turn towards them rather than away from them and you will no doubt see returns to your firm’s bottom line.
The fear of negative feedback. Collecting feedback from your clients or customers can be daunting, but don't let the fear or negative responses hinder you from surveying. This is your chance to win back customers and turn them from detractors and passives to promotors.
