I Suck and I Love It!

5 July, 2007 - General Business - 3 Comments

I know what you’re thinking… Jamie went all sex on you again. First I asked what turns you on, and now I tell you I suck and I love it. Well, you’ll be pleased to hear I haven’t gone *all* sex on you. Sex sells, so my slightly dodgy headlines tend to grab the attention they deserve. :D

Gathering feedback from your customers is one of the best ways to positively impact your business. It may be a great way to improve your business, but that certainly doesn’t mean the feedback you receive has to be positive. In fact, negative feedback from your customers tends to have a much better impact than positive feedback. So, just how do you handle negative feedback?

First and foremost, you must have a love for people who tell you that your business sucks. When somebody tells you you’re doing something wrong or your customer services stinks, you must love and cherish that comment! The worst thing you can do is jump on your high horse and get annoyed. However, that is exactly what one person did a couple of weeks ago when I gave him feedback.

The Story

This person, who will be named only as Joe, conducted an audio interview with the owner of a forum that I frequent. Now, Joe has never really liked the forum all that much, but that didn’t appear to be a problem in the interview at all. Naturally, being a forum, there was soon a thread that was talking about the interview. Some liked it. Many didn’t. Many gave some great feedback that Joe should have kissed and loved with all his heart. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. Joe saw the thread and jumped straight on his high horse. He disregarded all the quality feedback I and others had given him (feedback we had taken time out of our day to write) and he started ranting about the negative comments. On his blog where he conducted the interview, he even went as far as calling everybody on the forum “rejects”. Of course, I didn’t appreciate the verbal abuse when I had taken time out of my day to give my positive and negative feedback and I let Joe know he had made a huge mistake in the way he had dealt with the feedback.

That’s just one example where a business owner could have made the most of the feedback and improved his blog, but instead he decided to rant and throw abuse. Take negative feedback to heart in a caring way, rather than a personal vendetta way!

Dealing with the feedback!

So, just how do you deal with negative feedback? Here are my recommendations.

  • Smile! - A smile doesn’t have to be seen to be felt. If you’re replying via email to negative feedback, make sure you type with a smile.
  • Thanks! - Thank people for taking the time out of their day to provide the feedback.
  • Ask for a Solution! - Often, negative feedback will be given without a solution. That’s the hardest feedback to take with a smile. “Your customer service sucks, and here is why and here is how to fix it” is far better than “Your customer service sucks!”. If a reason and solution isn’t provided, ask for one. You’re not going to know how to improve unless you know what needs improving.
  • Act on the Feedback! - The people who give you negative feedback can often become very valued customers. Acting on their feedback and then following up to tell them you acted on it is a fantastic way to pull in business.

Love, not loathe, negative feedback!

How do you handle negative feedback? What was the response when you gave negative feedback? Let us know!

This post was part two of my customer feedback series.

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Posted on 5 July, 2007 by Jamie Harrop
Filed Under General Business |

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3 Comments»

 
Comment by chrisblogging.com
2007-07-06 19:10:41

I love the title of this post! Titles are important and this one got my attention!

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Comment by Jamie Harrop
2007-07-06 19:19:13

Thanks Chris. :D

Now… do you love it when you suck? :lol:

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