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360°Reach™ - Frequently Asked Questions

This version of 360°Reach is FREE with the purchase of the book, Career Distinction, and as such, customer support is limited. The authors reserve the right to limit the number of complimentary passwords for 360°Reach.

What is 360°Reach?

360°Reach is a personal brand assessment that provides you with the external insights that are essential to success. Developed by behavioral psychologists and branding experts at Reach (the global leader in personal branding), it gives you a focused portrait of your professional reputation – one that is invaluable for ongoing professional and personal development.

Who is 360°Reach for?

If you fall into any of the categories below, you can benefit tremendously from a 360°Reach Assessment:

career-minded professionals who want to develop themselves professionally
people who are looking to change jobs
people who are currently in job search mode
executives who need to understand how they are really perceived externally
independent consultants, entrepreneurs and small business owners who need external feedback to help guide their businesses
sales people and consultants who want to increase their visibility, presence and effectiveness
people who want to develop themselves personally and professionally
teams of people working inside companies

How does it work?

Registered users (Requestors) are provided login details. Using any standard web browser, they log into the system and enter the email addresses of all of those from whom they would like input. By clicking 'send' they notify all of these respondents that they would like some feedback. Respondents enter the system using uniquely assigned passwords and provide their input. When they hit 'send,' the data is sent to the Requestor, without the email address or name of the Respondent. This ensures that Respondents provide candid responses. Requestors receive an email every time someone has completed the assessment, but they do not know from whom the feedback was sent.

Requestors have a link on the main menu of the system that enables them to send the summary data to their coach for analysis. With special Career Distinction access, requestors can continue to send requests to an unlimited number of respondents for a 15-day period.

To whom should I send requests for feedback?

You can request feedback from anyone with an email address. You should select people who know you fairly well. Those who are just casual acquaintances may provide questionable feedback and could make your results less reliable. It's best to include people from all aspects of your life (colleagues, managers, employees, clients, business partners, networking contacts, friends, family, etc.). This will give you a true 360-degree view of how you are perceived.

What kind of feedback does it provide?

360°Reach enables those people you select (Respondents) to provide input about your rational and emotional attributes, your greatest strength and greatest weakness, your skills, the team role that most suits you, etc. It also provides your Respondents with the opportunity to provide any additional comments they want to share. It includes two projective exercises to validate data and enable you to gain richer insights into what those around you think about you.

How is 360°Reach different from other 360-degree assessments?

360-degree assessments done inside the corporation are often focused on specific goals and objectives and do not provide bigger picture data about the participant's strengths, weakness, rational and emotional attributes, etc. They usually include people from only inside the company and ignore critical feedback from external constituencies (like customers, business partners, etc.).

The feedback from 360-degree assessments conducted internally is often hard to rely on because respondents are not always 100% honest in their responses. According to a study published in the Harvard Management Review, "The majority of managers filling out 360-degree feedback reports hesitate to criticize any aspect of their peer's performance, particularly when raises and promotions may be on the line. Some also worry that negative feedback would strain their relationship with colleagues if it ever came out who had provided which ratings."

Here's what makes 360°Reach more effective and more valuable:

it enables you to obtain feedback from anyone with an email address. That means people from both inside the company and externally can participate.
it is administered by a third party. The data is not held inside the company, so respondents can be assured that they remain anonymous. No one other than you and your coach (if you want) see the feedback.
it allows for an unlimited number of respondents, providing a larger sample of data.
it takes just a few minutes for respondents to complete, making it more likely that they will respond.
it can be used by individual consultants, solopreneurs and small business owners who otherwise don't have access to 360-degree assessments.
it is high value for money. Because we have a large volume of users, we can offer it to you at a low cost.

How many people should I send it to?

With 360°Reach, you can send requests for feedback to an unlimited number of peers, managers, employees, clients, family members, etc. Having a minimum of 12-15 responses will provide you with actionable data. The average response rate (number of respondents who complete the questionnaire) is 40%. So, sending it to 38 people would ensure valid results. Caution: It is best to send it to people who know you well. Those who are just casual acquaintances may provide questionable feedback and could make your results less reliable.

How will I know when someone has responded?

Each time someone completes the questionnaire, you will receive an email. It will not contain the respondent's name or email address. That ensures their anonymity so that they provide truly candid feedback. At any time (and as often as you would like) within your subscription period, you can go into the system and retrieve the summary of all feedback received to date. The summary consolidates all the input.

Will Reach use the email addresses I put into the system?

Never. We will not rent, sell, or otherwise use the email addresses you enter into 360°Reach. We take privacy very seriously at Reach. If a respondent checks the box requesting our newsletter, we will send them the newsletter and nothing else. If they do not check the box, we will not contact them in any way.

How do I get started?

360°Reach is very easy to use. Just go to www.careerdistinction.com/360Reach to register and follow the instructions. You will be emailed your password. It will come from 360Reach@reachcc.com so be sure to add this email address to your approved list of senders. If you do not receive your password, please check your spam/junk mail folders. To make the most of your free subscription period, have the email addresses ready to go for the people from whom you'll be requesting feedback before initiating your access to 360°Reach.

For how long can I look at my response summary?

You have unlimited use of the product for 15 days. You can check the consolidated summary as often as you would like within your subscription period. Please print out your summary before your 15-day subscription expires.

How often should I conduct a 360°Reach assessment?

We recommend annually. You will want to track your progress to see if the consistency of results increases and to verify that the visibility of your strengths and positive attributes are increasing while negative attributes and weaknesses are decreasing?

Why haven't I received any responses to my request for feedback?

You may not have sent them. After you enter your respondent's email addresses, you have to go to Step 4. At the menu at Step 4, you must click 'send'.

How do I analyze the results I receive?

For best results, wait until all of your feedback has come in before beginning analysis. You have three options:

Perform the analysis yourself (here are some helpful tips.)
Follow the easy to use PDF ebook, The Complete 360°View (just $14.95.) It takes you through the 6-step analysis process.
Contact one of analysts who has been certified by Reach to provide the analysis, coaching and a detailed, personalized 40-page report. This is the option we recommend to ensure that you get the most value from the feedback you receive.

If you are a coach, career counselor, HR Manager or Executive Recruiter, become certified to perform a detailed analysis of 360°Reach feedback.