The F word: why feedback feels broken

Not many people would line up to get feedback. For lawyers the queue is even shorter.

Rightly or wrongly, when people hear the word feedback they think criticism. Even if the feedback they personally give is more praise than improvements, they assume others will only focus on what wasn’t good enough.

And yet high performance can’t be achieved without feedback. Elite performers across sport, entertainment and business live in constant feedback loops. Even million dollar actors are getting feedback from directors, producers and even other cast members.

When you stop listening, you stop learning and eventually stop performing.

Professional football is littered with stories of young players with ‘the world at their feet’ who then disappeared into obscurity. Once they thought they’d ‘made it’ they stopped listening to how they could improve. Their standards, and eventually their performance, dropped.

Feedback has an image problem

The word feedback has become misunderstood. 

It’s become entangled with the phrase ‘constructive feedback’. The assumption is that the person giving the feedback is criticising, judging, rather than trying to help the person do better.

So if high performance requires feedback loops, why do so many people seeking high performance fear it?

From Feedback Town to Signals City

The perception of feedback came up during the webinar I ran last week.

Our recent ‘Future of Client Insights’ report has revealed how client listening is evolving from a narrow research focus to a broad signals focus. This shift is a lot about process and little about language.

That’s because the road from Research Town to Signals City runs through Feedback Central.

You have to start somewhere, but those still living in Research Town are getting left behind. A periodic snapshot of selected clients is not enough to fuel the growing demand for evidence-based decision-making. Can you imagine if sales or budget numbers were only updated every two years?!

In a bid to get a more regular flow of data, firms start asking for feedback. But as we’ve already seen, Feedback Central is an amazing, wild and misunderstood place to be. In some districts people are flourishing, in others they’re hiding.

That’s what makes the onward journey to Signals City so interesting. 

When you start looking for signals, rather than just feedback, you see them everywhere. You just need to give your eyes time to adjust, like looking for stars in the night sky.

Clients are constantly sharing signals about their needs, expectations and experiences. They make informal comments in emails, conversations and events, as well as in more formal processes like complaints, directories and reviews.

Operational data can give signals too. Have you looked at how quickly certain clients or prospects respond to information requests, pay bills or share testimonials?

All of these signals can sit alongside more traditional data sources like surveys, interviews and feedback forms. 

But even these formats are evolving - yes feedback methods are responding to feedback! Surveys are getting shorter and more timely, strengthening relationships by focusing on specific moments in the client journey.

The impact of language on client listening

This shift has a language benefit too.

As Laurence mentioned during the webinar, seeking out client signals sounds less confronting than gathering feedback. 

Signals are about information gathering, so the firm can learn in aggregate. 

Signals feel easier to apply to clients who haven’t yet shared anything themselves. 

Signals don’t feel as personal.

From fearing feedback to seeking signals

Our research highlighted that: 

• 60% of firms are gathering client insights periodically (e.g. annually) 
• 63% are gathering client insights once a matter or project is complete
• 69% only share the resulting feedback with the relevant partner or team

Research Town is hard to leave. When you only measure what happened, and review the results in isolation, it’s easy to argue for maintaining the status quo. 

But some firms are looking forwards. They are departing for Signals City and making the move to always-on listening.

• 28% collect client insights during a matter or project - when they still have time to act on it
• 31% share feedback across teams so that it can prompt wider action
• 12% are sharing these insights in real-time, or at least weekly/monthly
• 73% now have 5 or more different sources of client voice - interviews, emails and meeting notes were the most common

So where are you on the road from Research Town to Signals City?

Sometimes this road can feel more like driving behind a caravan on a country road, rather than breezing down an open motorway. That’s ok, the important thing is having a plan to keep moving forwards.

#ListenDifferently #Feedback #ClientListening

MyCustomerLens | always-on listening