Old news: Client satisfaction is the key to more work at better rates with clients you love.  Newer news: The ways you have traditionally thought about client satisfaction aren’t going to cut it any more.  There’s some new research and new thinking in town that will forever change your outlook, your actions, and your results. 

You already know that client satisfaction is important because you recognize the traits of clients who are satisfied to the point of being passionate about the work you do together.  Passionate clients are clients who:

• Pay you what you're worth
• Call you (not your competition) when a new problem or opportunity comes up
• Engage you in work that is more and more strategic and satisfying
• Go out of their way to help you – including unsolicited, enthusiastic referrals
• Are a lot of fun to work with
• May even become lifelong friends.

The question is this: are you currently making the right investments to figure out how passionately your clients feel about you?  Maybe.  Maybe not. 

A lot of consulting organizations invest a lot of money in client satisfaction surveys. Surveys, by and large, aren’t bad.  In fact, survey data can be very helpful.  The data can also be misleading – even worthless – unless you are absolutely sure you are asking the right questions, in the right ways, of the right people.  Consider the following:

1. Most survey instruments only measure rational client satisfaction.  Rationally satisfied clients experience your value from a logical and analytical perspective – for example, the extent to which you deliver on time and within budget. But if you really want to influence client loyalty and spending patterns, going for rational satisfaction isn’t enough. According to recent Gallup research[1], rationally satisfied clients behave a lot like dissatisfied clients – meaning they are no more loyal and spend no more money than those who are unhappy, even though they are technically “satisfied!” Gallup studies show that the real pay dirt comes from clients who feel an emotional connection to you. At BossaNova, we take this theory one step further because we know that clients who also experience a sense of meaning and purpose in the work they do with you – personal and/or professional – are the ones who are most likely to be truly passionate about your business relationship. 
   
   What to do: “Grade” your latest client survey. Categorize each question as measuring one of the following: rational satisfaction, emotional connection, or a deeper sense of meaning and purpose. How did you do? Look hard at what your clients aren’t telling you because you aren’t asking. Then craft some new questions that will not only get the data you really need, but focus your attention on a bigger brass ring.
   
   
2. It’s easy to avoid the face-to-face.  Who wants to have a hard conversation with a client about the ways you’ve been less than stellar, and the ways they haven’t met your expectations?  No one. Which makes it tempting to collect survey results and stop there, or to conclude that clients are OK based on informal feedback or assumptions made. Here’s the problem: client passion grows out of a feeling of connection with you, and face-to-face encounters are a huge opportunity to further your relationship. Real time, heart-to-heart conversations, whether one-on-one or in a group, are an invaluable way to be sure your clients are more than just rationally satisfied. 
   
   What to do: Talk to your clients.  Put the status reports and issue tracking lists and Gantt charts aside for a moment.  Find out how your clients are really feeling about working with you. If you’re worried it might get heated, become unproductive, or that you won’t be able to get them to talk, then bring in a neutral party to facilitate the process.
   
   
3. “Local” feedback is the only really useful feedback.  Your clients’ experience may be dramatically different from project to project.  So statistically averaged responses from a representative sample of clients won’t tell you a whole lot and leaves you at risk of miscalculating the investments you need to make to improve your results.
   
   What to do: Assess locally and act locally.  Take a hard look at all the client teams you’ve deployed in the past year.  Which ones have delivered the most remarkable results?  Which ones have been asked back by their clients? Which ones have struggled to results and/or follow-on? Pull a series of focus groups together to explore the projects from all angles. Talk about how you can replicate what’s working well and shift what isn’t. Define specific action steps and reconvene frequently to check your results.
   
   
4. The majority of your consultants are probably neutral about their work – at best.   Sad, but true. Gallup Poll data tells us that only 29% of members of the U.S. workforce are energized and committed at work, and informal polls taken within the professional services industry confirm this to be true for consultants. What are the chances that your dispassionate consultants are going to ignite passion in your clients? Slim to none.  Passionate employees are employees who:
   
   • Want to make a difference
   • Apply creativity and innovation to achieve greater results
   • Stay longer (and make unsolicited and enthusiastic referrals)
   • Inspire others – including clients – to do all of the above
   
   What to do: Apply points 1 through 3 to your consulting staff, not just your clients.  Leave them with no doubt that their passion is as important to you as your clients’.

For more information about how your organization can win more work at better rates with clients you love, write to info@bossanovaconsulting.com. 

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