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REPORT CARDS Gord Marratto At ByrnesMedia we have just completed our annual exercise of having our clients grade us on our performance over the past year. We ask a dozen or so critical questions about the services we provide and one of the final questions asks the client to grade us, with 10 being the highest and 0 the lowest score. I’ll tell you later how we did but the important point here is that as service providers, we must all have the courage to ask our customers to give us their opinions on what we do for them. If you shy away from asking the questions, it’s likely because you are afraid of the answers. And if you don’t want to hear the answers, it’s quite possible that you don’t believe you are giving your customers the full pop for their money.
Asking your clients to give their opinions on your service allows you to correct any realities, perceptions or misconceptions before they turn into a cancellation. It’s much easier to make adjustments to what you are doing as a response to a questionnaire than it is to resurrect a cancelled contract, especially when apologies may no longer be accepted. As part of a radio station management team, you rely on a sales representative, copy writers, producers, talent and accountants to assist you in serving your client. Much of the time, one or more of those people is dealing directly with your client. According to Murphy’s law, at some point in your relationship with your customer, something will likely go wrong. It might not be a big enough gaffe for the client to get in touch with you immediately but if problems accumulate, they could prompt a conclusion to your relationship before you ever have the chance to correct of rectify the issues.
One of the big bonuses from asking your customers to grade you is that you are bound to find excellent testimonials from those who appreciate your service. Our clients know what to expect of us and if we continue to deliver, they are most likely to be happy with us. If we slip up we want to be made aware so we can pull up our socks. I suggest that you build a set of questions that reflect the promises you make to serve your customers. They should deal with creative writing, good production, talent, schedules and their satisfaction with relationships with station staff. Send those questionnaires out regularly…….at least twice yearly to your regular advertisers and when you receive them back, ensure that you act on the suggestions and recommendations and let them know that you are taking action. Your clients will thank you by renewing their contracts.
By the way, I’m pleased to report that we scored 8.2 out of 10 with 31 reporting radio stations. Your ByrnesMedia consultant can help you formulate your client report card. Call us anytime at 1-866-332-1331 (toll free) for more information. |
