They are better than nothing and worse than almost everything else. A one-way survey tells you a client is unhappy weeks or months after the morning that made them unhappy, which is too late to fix it. By the time the score comes in, the client has already tried another agency. Track the things that predict unhappiness instead, week by week, and ask one or two questions after each order while the answer can still change something.
The problem with one-way surveys
They are late. The survey goes out quarterly. The bad morning was in week two. The client has been quietly unhappy for nine weeks and is now talking to your competitor.
They are vague. "How satisfied are you, 1 to 5?" A three tells you something is wrong and nothing about what.
Few people answer. The happy clients do not bother. The furious ones already called. The quietly disappointed ones, the ones you most need to hear from, skip it.
Nobody owns the result. A score lands on a dashboard. No order changes.
What to track instead, every week
These numbers move before a client's mood does. Track them per client.
- First submittal accepted. Did the client want to meet the first person you sent?
- Submittals sent back. How many came back with "not what we asked for"?
- No-shows and first-week drop-offs. How many placements did not hold?
- Response time. How long from the client's email to your answer?
- Repeat orders. Did the next order come without a sales call?
When submittals sent back and no-shows rise for one client, you do not need a survey. You need a call this week.
The two-question check-in
After each order closes, one email, two questions.
- "Did the person we sent match what you asked for?"
- "Anything we should do differently next time?"
Two questions get answered. The answers are specific. And they arrive while the next order is still yours to get right.
For owners: what to do with the numbers
Look at the weekly numbers by client and by recruiter. A client whose numbers slip gets a call. A recruiter whose numbers slip gets coaching on the submittal, not a lecture about attitude. The survey, if you keep one, becomes a once-a-year confirmation of what the weekly numbers already told you.
Where M-Tracker fits
The weekly numbers come from the work itself. M-Tracker checks each submittal and confirmation against the client's order before it goes out, so submittals that would come back get caught first, and managers see which orders got accepted work the first time. The survey score stops being the first sign of a problem.
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Questions people ask
Should I drop the survey entirely?
Keep it if clients expect one. Just stop treating it as the early warning. It is the late warning.
How do I get clients to answer two questions?
Send them from a person, not a system, the day the order closes. Short, specific, personal emails get answered.
What is a good first-submittal-accepted rate?
Higher than last month's. Track your own before comparing with anyone else.
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