Turning negative feedback into a positive to get ahead in business

No matter what point of your career that you’re at, receiving negative feedback can be a painful experience. However, many veteran business owners can tell you that the way you take negative feedback and what you do with it can actually benefit your business.

 Ask for feedback instead

You’re going to receive negative feedback at some point or another, whether you’re asking for it or not. So why not get ahead of the game and ask for feedback? There are many reasons to ask for feedback. Consider this:

• Better prepare yourself for feedback – You know you’re going to get feedback, and some of it may not be great. It is far easier to accept feedback when it isn’t coming out of the blue. Therefore, you will be able to approach and manage the feedback with fewer emotional side effects when you’re proactive about asking for it.
• Customers appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback: Whether feedback is good or bad, customers want a way to communicate with you. By providing them a place to leave feedback, you’re able to prompt positive feedback too. You’re also given an opportunity to manage bad feedback as soon as it occurs.
• Improve your average star rating – Unfortunately, people are more likely to write a review after a negative experience than a positive one on their own, but most people are also willing to write a review when asked. Simply by asking proactively for reviews from all of your customers, you’ll improve your average star rating on review sites and get more positive reviews.

Ways negative feedback can improve your business

Once you have the negative feedback, how does it actually improve your business?

• Adds credibility – Businesses with only positive reviews often strike consumers as fake. No matter what a business does, it can’t please everyone. By showing all sides of your business, you’re demonstrating that your business is real. Additionally, anyone researching your business will be able to compare the great reviews with the negative reviews to understand the greater picture of your business.
• Demonstrates customer care – The way businesses handle feedback can help to increase sales and attract new customers. When customers are researching your business, they may want to see how you will handle an error. By posting negative reviews, and then quickly and professionally responding to and resolving them, you can attract new customers who will understand that you are always there to improve their experience. You may even win back the customer who was unhappy in the first place.
• Directing business development – Discerning what you need to improve in your business year over year can be difficult. Luckily, negative feedback can help you understand where you need to grow and what you need to focus on to continue to develop your business in the future.

How to solicit feedback

Feedback can be found in a variety of places, and by promoting feedback, you can ensure that it is published in places you can control. Consider garnering feedback in the following areas:

• Digital surveys via email or on your website.
• Printed survey cards available at checkout.
• Enabling reviews on your website through a reviews widget.
• Requesting feedback face-to-face from customers.
• Creating profiles on third-party review sites, such as Top Rated Local®, Yelp and Google.

Make certain to track all of the locations you open up for feedback. This will allow you to understand your customers’ mindset towards your business, and give you an opportunity to respond to new reviews — negative or positive — in a timely manner.

Negative feedback happens, but like most things in life, it’s how you handle it that really matters.

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Originally published on 7/19/17