Feedback Loops

How What are they and why are they important for your firm?

Have you ever been curious as to what goes on in the minds of other legal practitioners? Have you ever wondered whether you measure up?

It’s only natural, after all it’s human nature to be curious about the world and the people around you – how do they do what they do?

With that in mind, join us as we investigate frequently discussed topics, with the aim of discovering innovative approaches to the practice of a law in an ever-changing and evolving world.

Take this blog’s topic – feedback loops – What are they and why are they important for your firm?

Feedback Loops

A feedback loop according to Masterclass is defined as follows –

A feedback loop is a cause-and-effect system in which the outputs of a system feedback in as inputs and prompt new cycles. This makes some feedback loops self-sustaining without an identifiable starting point and endpoint. Feedback loops exist throughout the world, from thermostat control systems to customer feedback loops in business.

Or simply put, a feedback loop is when you get feedback from a client, a staff member, about a product or regarding pricing and you then respond to that feedback. The loop can be either positive or negative, depending on the feedback received. Simple as that.

There are two main feedback loops (besides feedback received about pricing or regarding product development) that will occur at law firms –

1. Customer feedback loops – customer complaints and/or compliments can prompt a business to change or improve upon certain practices, while customer compliments or praise can inspire a business to leave some things as is. Both actions may have some kind of effect on the overall customer experience, which will trigger a new round of customer feedback and a new round of reactive adjustments. The customer feedback loop prompts both change and stasis.

2. Employee feedback loops – employee feedback loops are just as important as customer feedback loops. Just as corporations experience feedback loops in their customer satisfaction efforts, they can also encounter them when managing their own employees. Employees learn company policies and culture during an onboarding period, and they go on to embody those policies and culture during their tenure as workers. This continues the cycle for the next generation of new hires. Yet for employee retention, a company may also have to conduct employee satisfaction surveys and solicit ideas for improvement. Should the company follow up and implement such changes, the hope is that this will improve employee satisfaction and lead to greater retention. And as we all know by now retaining employees is far more cost effective in the long run than recruiting new employees. In addition, employee loyalty is a priceless commodity that can serve the company in a multitude of positive ways. And is something that should be cultivated.

What steps are taken during a feedback loop?

Well, it’s not as simple as taking the feedback and implementing the changes required.

The steps taken during a feedback loop may be –

1. First, you request feedback from your client or your employees, or in some circumstances your client or employee provides unsolicited feedback;

2. You gather as much information about that feedback as you can through secondary questions on your surveys, or through contact with the client or employee directly;

3. You then analyse the feedback to see if it mentions a one-time or ongoing positive or negative incident, and what may have caused it together with further investigation as may be required;

4. You then determine how to respond, both to the client or employee and internally to repeat the positive event or avoid repeating the negative experience – and if you can automate responses to simple issues or queries then kudos to you because then you can focus on priority cases;

5. You improve your customer experience in light of the feedback received through internal action, and

6. You notify your clients and/or employees of your planned or executed actions as a result of that feedback.

Why are feedback loops important?

Your clients are the best source of feedback about your services. They’re the ones that will be on the receiving end of them, meaning their feedback is critical for making your offering the best it can be.

The ideal customer feedback loop takes customer feedback, turns their comments and insights into improvements for your services, and inspires new positive feedback as a result. And let’s be clear about one thing, regardless of how you secured this feedback, your feedback response should be more than just “Thanks for your feedback.”

Addressing customer feedback and actively making changes, because of that feedback, is the best approach for making the most out of your customer interactions. Though a customer feedback loop traditionally involves responding to your customer, providing that feedback to your internal teams is also important to help improve your offering.

Ultimately, feedback should help you to design and improve on the customer experience you provide. The most important step is to create a customer-centric culture of action (read our Blog on Client Centric Service Delivery here), where you not only gather feedback, but turn those insights into actionable steps for improvement.

– Written by Alicia Koch on behalf of AJS

(Sources used and to whom we owe thanks: Masterclass and Qualtrics)