Are client satisfaction surveys worthwhile for agencies?

Does your agency regularly survey your clients to see how happy they are with the services that they are receiving and how likely they are to recommend you to someone else?

Is it even worth doing these surveys? That’s the question that Chip and Gini explore in this week’s episode.

Spoiler alert: they’re not big fans of formal surveys, so they offer some alternative approaches. For those who still insist on sending questions to clients, they do have some practical advice on how to make the approach more effective.

Key takeaways

* Gini Dietrich: “Because of the work that we do, we should know whether or not clients are happy.”

* Chip Griffin: “You’re not likely to find out much from these surveys that you don’t already know unless you’ve got a bigger problem to begin with.”

* Gini Dietrich: “We don’t have hundreds of clients. We should know what’s going on every single day.”

* Chip Griffin: “Ask yourself, what do you actually think that you’re going to gain from this? And if it truly is just that you want to find out how happy they are, why don’t you just ask them that question?”

View Transcript

The following is a computer-generated transcript. Please listen to the audio to confirm accuracy.

Chip Griffin: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast. I’m Chip Griffin.

Gini Dietrich: And I’m Gini Dietrich.

Chip Griffin: Gini, I’ve, I’ve got a little survey for you. I need to find out how satisfied you are with this podcast and how we record it, and how we edit it, and all of that,

Gini Dietrich: how you are as a co-host.

Chip Griffin: Sure.

That too. Okay. I think I know the answer to that one though, right after this.

How likely are you to recommend my intros on this podcast to a friend?

Gini Dietrich: Oh, highly I highly recommend. Highly, highly recommend. Yes. I think they’re the best part of the whole podcast.

Chip Griffin: It’s all downhill from there.

Gini Dietrich: It is.

Chip Griffin: Listen to those first 15 seconds and after that Yeah, it’s fine. From our stats standpoint, you’ve downloaded it at that point, so I don’t care.

Gini Dietrich: Right, exactly. It’s all good. We can count it.

Chip Griffin: So, in all seriousness, we are gonna talk about client satisfaction surveys today because this is a question that comes up on a regular basis. Should I be surveying my clients? What should I be asking them? What does it mean? What’s your answer to that, Gini?

Gini Dietrich: Well, if you’re on video, you can see I have a guest who is making me lose my train of thought.

Chip Griffin: I, I prefer to think of it as having a summer intern, my summer intern. You’re in that season.

Gini Dietrich: Yes, we are. I actually don’t believe in client survey satisfaction surveys for agencies. And the reason being is that because of the work that we do, you should know whether or not clients are happy.

Because you’re having weekly meetings with them, one would presume they’re giving you feedback. You’re providing feedback. There should be a relationship there built with your clients where you know whether or ...