Kick Off Your 2015 Satisfaction Survey Initiatives Best Practices for Measuring and Improving Accounting Client Experience Presented by Liz Brown, Account Manager at Inavero Copyright 2014 Inavero, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Net Promoter, NPS, and Net Promoter Score are trademarks of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company, and Fred Reichheld.
About Inavero Experts in client loyalty Work with more than 275 professional service firms Analyze surveys from more than 250,000 professional service clients each year Based in Portland, OR. 2
The Distance Between Perception and Reality is Shortening What DirecTV Says: DIRECTV is one of the world's leading providers of digital television entertainment services delivering a premium video experience through state-of-the-art technology, unmatched programming, and industry leading customer service to more than 32 million customers in the U.S. and Latin America. What Everyone Else Says: 3
What You Can Expect From This Webinar Guidance on creating a 2015 survey program for your firm that will improve retention, growth, and profitability Learn about the impact of exceptional client service Best practices to implement and pitfalls to avoid Questions 4
People Trust Experiences, Not Marketing Online Consumer Trust 5x SOURCE: 2012 Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Study 5
Professional Service Buyers Trust Experiences as Well Resources clients trust when gathering information on an accounting firm they may hire A referral from a friend or colleague 94% What Others Say About Your Firm Testimonials from their current clients Third party awards (Best Places to Work, Best of Accounting, etc.) Their affiliation with respected trade associations User-generated online reviews (Yelp, glassdoor.com, etc.) 32% 27% 22% 57% The firm s website 17% What You Say About Your Firm The firm's employees Marketing or advertising about the firm 9% 2% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% SOURCE: 2014 Survey of Accounting Firm Clients 6
World Class Service Pays Off Top 100 Firms Less than $100 Million Let s IMPROVE: 95% Retention 5% Revenue/Client Growth 15% of Clients Refer 71% Growth 75% 75% 50% 50% 27% Growth Top Top 100 100 Firms Firms Less Less than than $100 $100 Million Million Let s Assume: Let s Assume: 90% Retention 90% Retention 2.5% Revenue/Client Growth 2.5% Revenue/Client Growth 10% of Clients Refer 10% of Clients Refer 25% 25% 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 0% 0% 7
World Class Service Pays Off 75% Top 100 Firms Less than $100 Million Let s IMPROVE: 95% Retention 5% Revenue/Client Growth 15% of Clients Refer 71% Growth 50% 27% Growth Top 100 Firms Less than $100 Million Let s Assume: 90% Retention 2.5% Revenue/Client Growth 10% of Clients Refer 25% 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 0% 8
What is a Net Promoter Score? Net Promoter Score (NPS) = Satisfaction Score 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not at all likely Extremely likely NPS = % of PROMOTERS - % of DETRACTORS Net promoter, NPS, and Net Promoter Score are trademarks of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company, and Fred Reicheld. 9
Who Are These Guys? Promoter Passive Detractor Score 9 or 10 Love you! Saying great things to other people Score 7 or 8 Satisfied vs. loyal Score 6 or under In danger of losing relationship 10
Who Uses Net Promoter Score? -10 31 56 76-100 100 11
Think of Net Promoter Score as an Asset on Your Balance Sheet 12
Overcoming Common CPA Objections 1. We should already know what our clients think of us. 2. We re a service firm, nobody will complete an online survey. 3. We should be meeting with our top clients in person to ask these questions; we already do account reviews. 4. We won t get enough responses to be statistically significant. 5. A formal survey should be done by mail or by phone. 13
Pre-Survey Planning 14
Prepare Your Team for the Best Roll-out Possible Getting the push you need at the start: 1. Enlist at least one internal champion from Sr. Leadership Team. 2. Appoint one person internally to own program tactically. 3. Focus on response rate. 4. Have a follow-up plan in mind. 15
Determine Who and When to Survey How often is too often? Survey fatigue Time to respond Time to implement changes Who do I survey? Client key decision makers AND influencers Internal staff 16
What Questions to Ask An NPS, 3 question survey will double the number of people who answer the open-ended questions and increase the length of each response by 58% on average. THE INAVERO APPROACH: Your Logo Nearly 100% of people who start a survey complete it. Respondents are not promised anonymity in this survey, allowing follow-up and analysis (though anonymity opt-out is available.) 17
Non-Anonymous Survey Feedback In order to make individualized account level improvements, you must have a clear understanding of who has said what. 18
Fielding the Survey 19
Email Invitation for the Survey TO: [email] FROM: [XYZ Company] SUBJECT: [XYZ Company] 3 Question Survey XYZ Company XYZ Company 3 Question Survey 20
Personalized Message That Delivers Your Brand s Voice Hi [fname], Your opinion is important to us. Please help us by providing your feedback on recent experiences with our firm and complete a short, three-question survey. The survey is very concise and should take only a few minutes to complete. Please click the following link now to begin the survey: [link] (Note: If you have trouble opening the link above, you may also copy the entire URL and paste it into the address bar of your Web browser.) For your time, you will be entered into a drawing for a $300 donation to a charity of your choice upon submitting the online survey. If you are unable to accept a corporate gift, please let us know by emailing survey@inavero.com so we may remove you from the drawing. We believe that measurement leads to improvement and will ask you for your feedback from time to time during our working relationship. By taking time to share a few thoughts with us on our performance, you are directly impacting the quality of the service we are able to provide to you. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. Sincerely, [email_signature_name] [email_signature_title] 21
How to Handle Detractors Have a plan in place: Decide who should respond. Don t make a bad situation worse. Make the recovery memorable. 22
Hold Your CPAs Accountable for Resolving Issues THE INAVERO APPROACH: Who responds says as much as what the response is. Focus on the long-term value of the client. 23
Analyzing the Data 24
Avoid Analysis Paralysis and ACT! THE INAVERO APPROACH: Data isn t important, information is. 25
Take account-level, as well as firmlevel action. THE INAVERO APPROACH: Clients don t operate in the world of averages Determine accountlevel changes to service delivery. Identify firm-level service mantras. Keep the service values simple and consistent. 26
Analyze differences by key segment within your firm THE INAVERO APPROACH: One survey response may apply to multiple practice areas or shareholders. Break out key clients from the rest to help prepare for account reviews. 27
Post-Survey Wrap-Up 28
Communicate results to clients and internal staff THE INAVERO APPROACH: Most under-utilized aspects of NPS: Communicate Results Internally Externally Operation Initiatives Training Operations process Strategic direction Marketing/Business Development Testimonials Differentiate 29
Leverage the Love of Your Most Loyal Clients Promoters (9 s & 10 s) want to tell your story. Help them. Just 3% of clients are asked to provide testimonials, and only 7% have been asked for a referral. THE INAVERO APPROACH: 30
Creating a Culture of WOW! How to Get Them Talking: 1. Identify those who love you help them tell their story. 2. Do something surprising worth talking about. 3. Give them a reason to be proud of being in the community. 4. Make it valuable for the person referring AND the person receiving. 5. Help them understand how you ve helped them. 31
Be Transparent Inavero s NPS Since 2009 1,460 Completed Surveys 84% 9 s & 10 s Over half give 10 s 82.3% NPS Average score: 9.4 32
Parting Thoughts Your only long-term competitive advantage is the experience you provide. Clients have more access to what that experience actually is than ever before. How you deliver your service is as important as the service itself in terms of creating loyal clients. 33
Thank You! Questions? Thank you for the opportunity to present. We look forward to potentially partnering with you. Liz Brown Inavero Account Manager 503-542-3343 Liz.brown@inavero.com 34
Copyright 2014 Inavero, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Net Promoter, NPS, and Net Promoter Score are trademarks of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company, and Fred Reichheld.