Hello everyone, I've not been as active on this forum lately; however, I do pop in on occasion. I would like your feedback on an idea I have been tossing around.

I have been working with my newest client now for several months and things are running quite smoothly. We have an open line of communication and have reached the point where I am able to anticipate things before they are assigned to me.

I am creating a "client survey" form and will be forwarding it to my client for completion. I am still fine-tuning the questions but am asking questions about their experience working with a VA (being me); do they see the benefit of utilizing a VA in other areas of their business; do they need help in transitioning tasks and projects to a VA; would they recommend working with a VA to their colleagues; etc.

My idea behind this is not only to get them to open up about their experience but to use it as an "open-door" to show how delegating other tasks and projects could be a plus for them. Plus I would like to know where I am succeeding and where I may need to improve in my services to them. Not that I don't feel we could openly discuss, but sometimes doing things on "paper" encourages more thought and honesty.

Has anyone else done or considered doing this?

Thank you all in advance for your input.

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Anita Virtual Assistant Services

Hi Anita, yes absolutely, this is something I've done repeatedly with clients (at least once a year). I usually include some small incentive for the clients to fill it in, like a $10 credit on their next invoice if they return the questions by such-and-such a date...

I usually ask them various questions about the specific services we provide and try to get general feedback about how they feel about the relationship, if they are learning things since working with me, if there are things they wish to learn more about (this is a great way to start to bring in new services to the relationship). I ask how they feel about the financial aspect of our working together (are they getting a good value for their money). I ask about their feelings about my availability, turnaround time, invoicing processes, etc.

Whatever might be applicable and/or of concern to me or the client at the time.

I close the questionnaire (which I try to keep to ten questions or less) with an invitation to share any other thoughts or concerns with me and leave a paragraph sized section open for them to add anything else that wasn't brought up.

I used to send these out every six months or so and would ask different questions each time. Now, I send them out about once a year, mainly because I work very closely with fewer clients.

I hope that helps!

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Thank you Tess, I appreciate your input. Yes, I agree that limiting the questions to no more than 10 is the way to go. I never thought about offering an incentive for timely completion, I like that idea.

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Anita Virtual Assistant Services

Hi Anita. It's always a pleasure to see you on the forum!

I've sent out customer satisfaction surveys using surveymonkey (free for up to 10 questions). I agree that allowing clients to give feedback in their own time allows them to give more honest and precise responses rather than just a general "everything's awesome" over the phone. I am also mindful of keeping the survey reasonably short as my goal is to save my clients time not create more work for them.

I sent mine for many of the same reasons. I wanted to know how I was doing, what's working, where I could improve, and other ways that I could help them. It's great to get their perspective on how everything's going.

I've played around with including a request for a testimonial and referrals on the customer satisfaction survey and also sending it separately at a later date. Both worked well with some great responses.

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Linda
Clockwise Virtual Assistance

Hello Linda, thank you.

I didn't think about using SurveyMonkey, great idea! Yes, requesting testimonials and referrals are two good reasons why I plan on doing this.

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Anita Virtual Assistant Services