Client srvey questions...

[Niresangwa]

Good evening all

So, I'm in the process of developing a questionnaire for past clients. Ill be delivering it via Surveymonkey. I have a decent amount of experience in qualitative research, so will be fine structuring my questions appropriately.

So.. the questions. That's where hopefully you come in. It's only fair after all, because it was a thread on this subforum that made me think of doing this.

I have a bunch I want to ask, but would appreciate any suggestions you may have; If you could ask your clients a couple of questions what would they be? If you're not a photographer with a client base, what would you like to give your photographer feedback on?

I'm generally looking for feedback from them in order to streamline how I'm doing things, guage their level of satisfaction vs expectations, how easy it was to work with me etc, but would very much like to get suggestions fro anyone willing to offer them up...

thanks in advance!

[Ambrosia76]

Keep it as simply as possible. If you ask too many questions they may quit in the middle, I have done this when I go to do a survey for a business and and it is like 3+ pages of questions. I would ask maybe 10 general questions and then have a place for their own comments.

Also if you are going to be emailing them to the client let them know ahead of time and let them know you appreciate any feedback they give.

[mokka]

The ultimate questions to gauge your success with your clients are things like 'would you hire me again?' or 'would you recommend me to a friend who needs a (whatever kind of photographer you are)'?' If the answers to these are yes then you know you're doing well, so definitely ask them.

And remember to make asking these questions part of your general after-sales service... so you aren't just sending them a questionnaire, but checking back with them that they are happy with your service and then also asking if they could complete your questionnaire.

[andyw]

Originally Posted by Niresangwa

Good evening all

I'm generally looking for feedback from them in order to streamline how I'm doing things, guage their level of satisfaction vs expectations, how easy it was to work with me etc, but would very much like to get suggestions fro anyone willing to offer them up...

thanks in advance!

Personally I don't actually see why you would be doing this at all.

Maybe I am being a bit thick here (would not be the first time), but
how could your customers feedback help you "streamline" how you are doing things?
You can't really streamline how you take the shots.
Also how would "how easy it was to work with" you help you getting new customers really?
Yes, sure if they say you were a total pain in the A.. to work with then maybe you could change your personality a bit but unless you are relying mainly on return customers then again it does not really help you get new clients if you are told by old clients that you are a pain in the A..

All I want to know is if the customers are happy with the end product.
You already know if it was delivered in time and you already know how long it takes you to do job x y or z and deliver it.

Expectations are based on the work you show initially to get the job and discussions about the job.


I never fill in questionaires like this from vendors. If I am happy with the work they get paid and if they do an exceptional job I tell them then and there (or write a note to them). If they do a bad job then believe me they are told about it.

That is what I expect my clients to be like.

[Niresangwa]

Originally Posted by Ambrosia76

Keep it as simply as possible. If you ask too many questions they may quit in the middle, I have done this when I go to do a survey for a business and and it is like 3+ pages of questions. I would ask maybe 10 general questions and then have a place for their own comments.

Also if you are going to be emailing them to the client let them know ahead of time and let them know you appreciate any feedback they give.

This is all taken care of. 20 question, 5-point likert, email invitation with link, so a preamble will easily set it up. As I mentioned, my background is in academic research, so it's not a big deal. Thanks

Originally Posted by mokka

The ultimate questions to gauge your success with your clients are things like 'would you hire me again?' or 'would you recommend me to a friend who needs a (whatever kind of photographer you are)'?' If the answers to these are yes then you know you're doing well, so definitely ask them.

And remember to make asking these questions part of your general after-sales service... so you aren't just sending them a questionnaire, but checking back with them that they are happy with your service and then also asking if they could complete your questionnaire.

The issue with doing it as a follow up is that I'm more interested in the anonymous response and ability to distill the feedback, rather than an individual conversations. Those happen as a matter of course, and the information I'm partially interested in doesn't fit into that methodology.

Originally Posted by andyw

Personally I don't actually see why you would be doing this at all.

Why? It's free to do, doesn't take long and can give me information from my client base that I can use to sharpen my business model. If no one responds, no big deal, I wasted an hour setting it up. If they do, I can evaluate the thoughts and consider how that fits into what I have in mind, but don't want to implement without feedback.

Originally Posted by andyw

Maybe I am being a bit thick here (would not be the first time), but how could your customers feedback help you "streamline" how you are doing things?
You can't really streamline how you take the shots.

Nothing to do with the shooting itself, that's not up for debate, but in other areas. One example would be that I provide web-sized images along with hi-res files, for sharing. I don't know to what extent these are being used, as I don't always add my clients on FB, and obviously don't know if they use them for email etc. If I cut out the export of the portfolio it will save me time. If the majority of clients appreciate their addition, I'll keep them...

Originally Posted by andyw

Also how would "how easy it was to work with" you help you getting new customers really?

If they felt I was easy to deal with, how helpful I was with suggestions, how I came across to family or guests on the day, how accessible I was, pretty much any contributor to their perception weighs almost as heavily into their likelihood to recommend me afterwards.

Originally Posted by andyw

All I want to know is if the customers are happy with the end product. You already know if it was delivered in time and you already know how long it takes you to do job x y or z and deliver it.

Exactly, I do know these things, however I want to know why they're happy with them. Not only does it reinforce my approach, but also helps to highlight certain aspects that can help with marketing and selling to prospective clients.

My delivery time is always well within expectations, however, if I can find ways to trim the fat and speed up my post workflow, it will help alleviate work I have to get done.

[andyw]

Fairenuff, thanks for explaining your reasoning behind it.

Still something I would not be inclined to bother with or answer if I was given one.

But if you believe it will be helpful to you then thats great.
Good luck with it.

[slugger]

Sounds like you pretty much know what you want out of this survey.
I rarely, if ever, am there when my clients see their images for the first time, and I'm on pins and needles until they respond back to me.....I'm always curious as to what their first thoughts were after looking at them for the first time. I guess that would be more of a comment section question though.