Self Improvement Articles

Dealing with Poor Feedback

The truth is, if you’re doing a lot of business, someday someone will provide negative or poor feedback to you. It’s bound to happen. In fact, if it never happens you may not be reaching as many people as you can with your solutions. Even though it hurts to get poor feedback, it can actually help your business grow.

Don’t Get Defensive

There is no doubt that negative feedback can be upsetting and demoralizing. However, it’s imperative that you put the feedback in the right context before you let yourself get defensive. Most of the time, a defensive posture happens because you believe the feedback.

Don’t Ignore It (with One Caveat)

When you get negative feedback, you shouldn’t ignore it – with one exception. If the feedback is a spammy attack, you’re best off just deleting it (if possible) or ignoring it. But if there is any validity to the complaint at all, even if it’s not correct, don’t ignore it. Instead, use the information to improve your process.

Avoid Online Verbal Wars

It’s tempting to attack people back when they dis you online in a forum or message board – or worse, on Twitter and Facebook. But the truth is, this is not going to solve anything. Respond kindly, giving them a way to deal with you in private to resolve the situation, and let others know where they can get help if they have the same issue too.

Deal with It as Privately as Possible

If you can take the discussion privately, that’s the best option. However, remember that today, private may not stay private. Pretend you’re in public even when you’re dealing with them in private so that you can avoid any more embarrassment.

Be Open, Honest, and Transparent

Even if you’re wrong, keep it real. You don’t want to be caught hiding information that is important if a complaint has been taken public. You’ll want to admit to mistakes, show how you’re going to fix it, and then move on.

Promote Positive Images of Your Business

Meanwhile, as you are dealing with the poor feedback and if it’s public, work toward getting out more positive information and content. Blog more about successes and show a more positive side of your business so that people who are noticing the issue will also see the good that you do.

Listen Carefully

Whenever someone has feedback for you, it’s essential that you listen very carefully. If someone is upset, they tend to get more emotional and use hurtful words and phrasing. Try to let that go and listen to the meaning of the words regarding the things you have power over. If it’s written, you can take out all the words from the complaint that aren’t useful so you can focus on fixing the real issue.

Be Open to Change

If poor feedback is a one-time thing, you may not need to change anything. But if you notice more than one person complaining about the same issue, be open to changing how you are doing something in order to improve.

Dealing with poor feedback might feel intimidating sometimes, but you can get through it if you have a plan in place before it happens. Consider the types of feedback that might hurt your business and then do everything you can to avoid it happening. And if it does happen, deal with it openly, honestly, and transparently as soon as possible.

How to Stand Out amongst Other Women Entrepreneurs

As more and more of the female population decides to start a business, it gets harder to stand out amongst other women entrepreneurs. However, it can be done. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

Utilize Social Media

Social media can be used for so much more than keeping in touch with friends and family. Create pages for both yourself and your business on multiple social media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, etc.). Then, share content that shows off the things that you have to offer.

Be sure to highlight ways that you are different than your competition. For example, if you’re the only day care service in your town that also provides transportation, be sure to bring that up in your posts.

Keep Your Promises

Clients and customers alike will notice when you deliver on every aspect of a promise that you make to them. Make sure that you finish everything that you start, and that you get it done in a timely manner. People remember that you were true to your word, and keep that in mind when deciding who to do business with in the future.

Go the Extra Mile

Doing more than is expected of you when working with clients or customers is a sure way to set yourself and your business apart from competitors in your field. If you can offer an extra feature or service that your competitors don’t, that’s an excellent point to make when trying to “sell” yourself to potential customers.

Give Out Free Samples

People tend to get pretty excited about the idea of getting something for free. Consider investing in promotional objects like pens, mouse pads, t-shirts, or fridge magnets. It may not seem like much, but gifts like this with your logo on them can go a long way toward setting yourself apart from your peers.

Listen to Feedback

Even if you are successful when you launch your business, you won’t be able to keep up with the changing landscape if you aren’t able to adapt as a business owner. Take every opportunity that you can to collect feedback from customers and other businesses that you work with.

One way to do this is to provide customers with a satisfaction survey, either in person or via email. Make sure to include a section that lets the customer fill in suggestions on how you could improve your service. Not only will this give you an idea of how you can do better, it also lets your customers know that their opinion matters to you.

These are just a few ways to help to ensure that you stand out among the sea of female entrepreneurs. Yes, competition is fierce. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t be successful. With perseverance and due diligence, chances are you’ll realize continued growth along your well-deserved journey to success.