Have you ever wondered how clients feel about your coaching service? Well, it’s time to stop wondering and start asking.
The importance of client feedback can’t be overstated. In this article, we’ll take you through the process of how and when to ask feedback from clients, what questions to ask, and the best practices to follow. We’ll even leave you with a feedback template to get you started.
Why should we collect client feedback?
We all know the answer to this question, but it's good to remind ourselves that client satisfaction is crucial to the long-term success of any business.
While satisfied clients are happy to keep coming back to us, unhappy ones cost us money, take a toll on our reputation, and discourage potential customers.
The average consumer has an attention span of 8 seconds while visiting a website. That’s a tiny window of opportunity to hold someone’s attention long enough that they browse our services and interact with our business.
While happy customers don’t mind letting us know they’re happy, the unhappy ones are generally reluctant to voice their complaints on their own. If a customer experience is subpar, they’ll quietly take their business to a competitor without leaving any feedback.
So it’s crucial that we investigate how our clients are doing before it’s too late.
How to ask customers for feedback
It can be daunting to request feedback if we haven’t done it before, but our clients and our business will be better for it if we do. Opening up this clear line of communication and creating a feedback loop will keep us apprised of how they’re doing.
It’s hard to increase customer satisfaction without enough relevant information. This is why we collect feedback from multiple channels, including comments on social media, reviews on sites such as Yelp, feedback forms, questionnaires sent via email, in-app or online correspondence, and even phone conversations.
Pick your source based on its effectiveness and relevance to your client; use one or multiple channels. For example, coaches could ask for feedback after every session or even mid-engagement, depending on how the client likes it.
4 feedback questions for customers
We could tailor our questions and feedback requests depending on which stage of coaching we’re currently at. Asking the right questions at the appropriate time helps our clients give us the most accurate and valuable feedback.
Consider these two different scenarios: We ask questions with different scopes and target different areas for information.
At the end of a coaching session
- What did you like the most about our session?
- What made you feel heard and understood?
- How did we meet or exceed your expectations for working toward your goal? If we didn’t, what else could we have done?
- Would you recommend us to others?
Mid-engagement feedback
- What have you gained from this session so far?
- Are there elements in our session that you’d like us to improve?
- What has been the most valuable use of your time during our sessions?
- How satisfied are you with our sessions?
These open-ended questions are a great way to get valuable feedback from clients. In addition to these personalized questions, collect more quantitative data using customer satisfaction feedback surveys.
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Best practices in asking for customer feedback
Although asking for feedback is crucial for supporting and improving our customer relationships, we should remember that we’re asking our clients for their time.
Providing feedback may be inconvenient for some clients, so ensure the process is as simple and enjoyable as possible. Here are some best practices for engaging with your clients when collecting feedback:
Ask open-ended questions
A “yes” or “no” answer can provide some information, but we’re ideally looking for concrete examples from clients to improve our service. Use the details that clients offer as a guide to identify areas of improvement. The more information we get from a client, the better we can tackle the issues at hand.
Tailor your approach
This applies to many aspects of gathering feedback. Depending on our target audience and business needs, be mindful of the timing of when we’re requesting feedback. For example, requesting feedback after a session instead of during it might be appropriate so we don’t distract our clients.
Some clients may prefer specific times and platforms for feedback. Make this process as smooth for them as possible.
Value your client’s time
Customer insights are valuable, and we should ensure our clients know we’re grateful for their time. As mentioned earlier, transparency on how the data collected will be used, and keeping the process short and efficient will minimize client frustration. This way, our clients are more likely to understand the positive impact their feedback can have on our business in exchange for a few minutes of their day.
Thank your clients
To show that you value their time, send personalized “thank you” notes to the survey respondents, or even reward customer feedback with discount coupons, gifts, or extra content resources. Going the extra mile here can help create satisfied customers and build customer loyalty over time.
Getting started
In an industry as competitive as coaching, we’re always looking to make the client experience the best one it can possibly be. By leveraging client feedback, we can grow and expand our business in a way that’s sustainable and beneficial for our clients.
Whether we get negative or positive feedback from our surveys, we can always learn from the data and use it as a guide to improve our services.
At Practice, we understand that customer support is a time-consuming but crucial part of running a coaching business. Let us help streamline your customer relationships with our all-in-one client management system.
