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Firms operating primarily in the private sector were more inclined to have a formal feedback process. A
significant majority of these firms had a formal process. In contrast, less than a third (30%) of the
contractors with a majority of their work in the public sector had a formal feedback process.
Additionally, in the public sector the project representative was most often solicited for client feedback,
whereas in the private sector contractors more commonly solicited feedback directly from the project
owner.
Contracting method.
Contractors obtaining a majority of their work by lump sum bid were less likely to have a
formal feedback process.
Repeat business.
The amount of repeat business also influenced the contractor’s approach to client feedback.
Contractors with 75% or more of their work with repeat clients were:
More likely to have a formal feedback process, and
The president/CEO was more likely to be directly involved in obtaining client feedback.
Significant Differences of the Top Performers
In addition to means testing, the practices of firms with financial performance in the top quartile, the top performers,
were statistically compared with firms in the lower three quartiles of financial performance. The performance
categories included percentage of pretax profit based on revenue, annual revenue growth, return on investment, and
overall firm financial performance/success of the firm compared to industry averages. The comparative statistical
analysis was performed to a level of significance of .05 unless noted otherwise. The statistically significant
differences are as follows:
Percentage of pre-tax profit.
When comparing the top quartile as measured by percentage of pretax profit to
the lower quartiles the statistically significant differences include:
Top performers are more prone to share client feedback with the project team.
Client satisfaction has greater importance in the evaluation of project management team performance.
Once feedback is obtained, top performers are more likely to develop a plan to improve client satisfaction.
If poor client satisfaction is identified, the management team is more likely to respond in a timely fashion.
Additional statistically significant differences surface when evaluating the top quartile for revenue growth, return on
investment, and overall financial performance (level of significance of 0.10).
Annual revenue growth.
When comparing the top quartile as measured by annual revenue growth to the lower
quartiles, the best performers believe that client satisfaction is more important for the long-term success of the firm.
Return on investment.
Firms in the top quartile as measured by return on investment are more likely to
regularly solicit client feedback.
Overall financial performance.
Firms in the top quartile of overall financial performance submit that their
formal process for gathering client feedback is more effective than an informal process.
Summary
The top performing firms are committed to obtaining, evaluating, and reacting to client feedback. Their primary
objective is to enhance customer satisfaction relating to their services and performance. Customer satisfaction is an
organizational focus and key in the evaluation of the performance of their project team.