Mistakes and making bad decisions are a part of life and business. Entrepreneurs commit several of them during the course of their career. Most manage to catch mistakes early on and correct them before they completely ruin their business. However, there are several mistakes that can be avoided if an entrepreneur is aware of them. Many of these mistakes are centred on how you handle feedback from your clients and customers.
You Ignore It
Today, the world of business is very much customer oriented. There are many things you can learn from good feedback from your customers. A well-informed and rational customer’s feedback, even if it’s negative, can help you learn more about your own product or service. It’ll help you improve your product and that could lead to an improvement in sales.
One of the worst things you can do is disregard your client’s feedback entirely. Sometimes, you get feedback from your clients that helps you understand the current market and customer expectations better. That can also give you an edge over your competitors and propel your forward.
Not Hiring a Professional
You’re very attached to your product and service and believe in what you provide. This attachment can colour your view and alter how your perceive feedback and what you learn from it. Leaving the analysis and interpretation of the feedback to your experts ensures that you get an honest report that’s not coloured by personal bias, feelings and experiences.
If you’re not hiring a professional, you can discuss client feedback with your colleagues, partners, employees or even friends. That way, you have a different perspective on the feedback as well.
Taking it Personally
One of the worst things you can do is letting the client feedback (whether good or bad), go to your head. Some people take the feedback too personally and get offended if a customer offers a negative review or get too excited if they get positive feedback.
Client feedback is just a tool for you to use to improve yourself and your business. It’s a great way to understand the current market and customer needs and requirements.
If you find yourself getting too offended by a negative review, take a step back and see it as an opportunity to improve. If you’re too pleased with yourself in response to a positive review, start thinking about the number of people who helped you achieve that success.
Trying to Justify yourself
Sometimes, feedback can expose a mistake or a defect in the product that’s most likely caused by your own lack of experience or knowledge. While most entrepreneurs recognize and handle the situation calmly by improving themselves, there are some who’re not so sanguine and start to defend their mistake or make excuses.
When you start making excuses, you stop improving. Negative feedback should push you to improve your quality of service. If you become defensive, you’re not learning from your mistakes. When you don’t learn from your mistakes, your business stops growing. That can eventually lead to failure.
