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Asking For Feedback From Clients: How and Why It’s Vital

April 2, 2013 by Rosemary Leave a Comment

By Jennifer Escalona Dunn

Every business owner likes to think that his or her business is great and is operating at 100% efficiency. If your clients haven’t complained and your bank account is fine it’s easy to pretend that nothing is wrong. However, you could be setting yourself up for huge problems down the line if you maintain this illusion.

Undoubtedly, one or more of your clients has something to say about the services you’re providing. Whether or not they’ve told you personally is irrelevant; sometimes people don’t like to upset the apple cart and won’t tell you what you think…unless you ask!

Why Feedback is Important

This isn’t to say that your business is falling apart at the seams. It’s only natural that a problem might crop up from time to time.

However, one problem that occurs all the time may end up harming your business in the long run. Wouldn’t it be terrible if some little thing you could have easily taken care of irreparably damaged the work you’ve done over the years?

It may seem like you’re tempting fate by bringing these issues up in the first place. After all, if you’re asking about the problems people have, doesn’t this give them a chance to focus on what’s wrong?

This may be true, but you want these problems coming up when you can control them rather than out of the blue. If your problem is being late with assignments, one or two won’t kill you – a whole year of it, though, certainly won’t help your bottom line.

How to Get Feedback

Feedback is pretty important to the long-term health of your business, but how do you go about getting it? Is it as simple as just asking each client or should you use other methods?

Ideally you want as wide a sample as possible. As stated before, some clients may not be very receptive to freely giving out their opinions. Their ideas are still valid, though, so you need to provide an avenue for these people as well.

One idea is to make an anonymous survey on Facebook or a service like SurveyMonkey. This way all clients can provide their opinions without fear of backlash from you. Not that you would yell at them, but some may have trouble getting over their hesitation. Of course you can always email clients individually. In the email you can provide a link to the survey or they can just reply to your message.

One helpful tip is to have specific questions in mind. If you have concerns about your timeliness, for example, ask questions about this. Focusing your efforts can yield better results as it concentrates clients’ energy on that issue rather than fumbling around trying to figure out what might be wrong with your business.

Also remember: not every piece of advice you get is going to make perfect sense. In fact, you may receive flat out terrible advice from clients. Don’t immediately discount it, though. Try to figure out what they’re really saying and get to the root of the problem. It may end up helping you in the long run.

Have you ever received negative feedback from clients? Were you surprised? How did you rectify the situation?

Author’s Bio: Jennifer Escalona Dunn is the owner of Social Street Media where she writes about small business, tech and finance for sites like WePay and Outright. You can find her on Twitter @jennescalona.

Filed Under: Blog Comments, Customer Think, Strategy/Analysis, Successful Blog Tagged With: advice, bc, customer-service, surveys

3 Avenues to Safe, Reputable Business Advice

April 26, 2012 by Liz 2 Comments

Safe Advice for Smart Business Decisions

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If you already have your own small business you probably know that finding sturdy, credible business advice can be a tricky task. If you’re just looking to start a business, beware, for there is an endless sea of websites and business “professionals,” willing to give you the “latest and greatest” advice on how to start and run your company. The following tips should help lead you to some safe advice, or at least get you started down the path of making smart business decisions.

Personal, Real-life Advice

Although this can be a bit more expensive than the do-it-yourself route, the quality, personal poignancy, and accuracy afforded by this option is often well worth it. Hiring or meeting with a personal life coach or business coach is an effective way to get good personal business advice without wasting your own precious time searching high and low for it. These professionals will take the time to sit down with you and go over virtually any business concerns or questions you may have. They’ll make sure that the advice they offer is specific to your personal needs and take much of the guesswork out of the equation.

Good Websites

Much like the site you find yourself on now, there are plenty of trust-worthy business sites out there offering quality information. Finding them in the midst of all the clutter now on the net is the tough part. Here is a link to a helpful website offering a top 20 list of the best business websites for Entrepreneurs and CEOs in 2010. The list is still quite relevant for us here in 2012.

Friends and Relatives

If you know any personal friends or family members who’ve started their own successful (or unsuccessful) business ventures in the past, absolutely solicit some advice from them. This is as good an option as any, and one that usually casts a safety net over any intellectual property and personal business ideas depending on your level of trust with said acquaintance. People are usually very willing and often eager to discuss their personal models for success and business experiences with a fellow entrepreneur, especially one they already know. Don’t overlook the enormous potential that your personal connections may hold.

In this dog-eat-dog world, which currently hangs loosely in the balance of a delicate economy, sound advice can be the difference between a successful idea coming to fruition, or fading back into the ethos for someone else to find and successfully develop. Make sure you take the necessary time to research before embarking on any financial endeavors. You never know when or where that last missing link may be hiding. Using the right tools, in any case, surely gives you a better chance of finding it.

—-
Author’s Bio:
Alex Brown: Alex is a prolific writer with specialization on various aspects of financial finance. His articles on debt, mortgage industry and personal finance are offer valuable guidelines to the readers.

Thank you, Alex!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Buy the Insider’s Guide to Online Conversation.

Filed Under: Strategy/Analysis, Successful Blog Tagged With: advice, bc, growth, LinkedIn, small business

The Most Important Question to Ask a Social Media Advisor – Bar None

August 2, 2011 by Liz Leave a Comment

It’s More Than Knowing the Tools

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My first four years in publishing I learned everything I could about making books. I could write, edit, proof, keyline, set type, layout a page, plan a bookmap, develop a prototype, and conceive ideas for books, series, programs that were unique and loaded with value.

Until I was responsible for growing the business, I never fully understood that some great ideas aren’t actually so great.

Take, for example, what makes a great business website …

A coder has one definition of a great website.
A designer has another.
A writer defines great in yet another way.
An editor has still another.
A marketer will point to yet another.
Yet if customers or clients are looking for something other, then none of those definitions count.

A great book isn’t great if no one wants to read it.
A great game isn’t great if no one wants to play it.
A great business website isn’t so great if customers don’t participate and buy from it.

If our strategies and tactics don’t align with our customers’ missions and goals, then businesses close and people lose jobs.

So understanding the tools and tactics of social media is critical – you wouldn’t want an advisor who didn’t. Understanding the strategy and culture is crucial too – don’t take advice from someone who can’t explain the why as well as the what and the how. But experience is a key component to expertise in any field. And if growing your business is what you want to use social media to do, the most important question you can ask a social media advisor — bar none — is …

Have you ever been in a position where people would lose their jobs based on decisions you made?

Because you really want your social media advisor to be able to tell a great idea from a great idea that isn’t so great.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Buy the Insider’s Guide to Online Conversation.

Filed Under: Business Life, Marketing /Sales / Social Media, Successful Blog Tagged With: advice, bc, LinkedIn, social-media

Would You Help Me Answer this Man Who Has a Dream?

October 1, 2008 by Liz Leave a Comment

The Comment and the Dream

Personal Identity logo

In January, 2008, I wrote a strategy called How to Make Your Dream Come True — Thought, Strategy, Action. The article included these steps (abbreviated here).

  1. Define the dream.
  2. Define where you sit.
  3. Plot your strategy.
  4. Detail your needs.
  5. Determine your commitment.
  6. Enlist support and advocates.
  7. Write the story.
  8. Know how you’ll ask.
  9. Define yourself by the dream.

Yesterday. September 30, 2008, a man wrote two comments in response. I bring them forward here unedited.

September 30th, 2008 at 4:28 pm e
Pama said Hello,
I’m writing because I have nothing to lose except to not fulling my dream. I cannot allow my dream to just remain only my dream. I must make it into reality. About five years before 9-11-01 I had a thought, a way I could earn a living, travel and help our US Military families and our fallen hero families. I had defined my dream, worked up my plan of action, worked with success to make it all happen. Then as I was almost to seeing my dream to into reality two things happened to set me back lightyears. I was hit hard but not yet down. Rebuilt, regrouped and moved forward again. Life was helping me realize my dream again. Then like a bad storm, 2005 hit me slap in the face. Left with very little and a buring dream still not fulfilled. Its been years, stories, hopes, hard work and I am in my later fifties now. I have not giving up but the endless goals to reach my dream are showing its toll on me and my money stream. I have never once asked for money, nor have I asked for help from others out side of my mother (in her 80s now). I want to see my dream through to its highest potential. Any advise would be much needed and applied to my goal of realizing my dream. Thank you for your blog site and I have enjoyed your wisdom. Pama

September 30th, 2008 at 4:41 pm e
Pama said Please forgive me for all the misselled words and bad grammer, half thoughts. I was typing straight from my heart, not my mind. I knew if I stopped long enough to make the needed corrections I would chicken out and never hit the send Submit Button. Hope you understand, writing here is a huge step for me. Thanks again, Pama

military rose_from_geek_philosopher

Dear Pama,

I sit staring at the months-old blog post where you left this comment yesterday. I wish I knew more about your situation. I have many questions. I’ll simply respond this sentence that implies whether you should keep going on.

I have not giving up but the endless goals to reach my dream are showing its toll on me and my money stream.

Be certain that you’re not moving forward because you don’t want to give up. It’s human to hold onto a losing battle because we don’t want to think we lost. We put our head down and end up losing more because we don’t see that we’ve changed, the game has changed, and so has the world. So reevaluate before you keep go for that dream. Stop. Go somewhere. Sit on the side of a mountain. Think of life without it. Then if you go again, start from the beginning and know exactly what dream you’re going for.

That way you’ll be certain the dream is still out there. After all, once upon a time a boy could dream of leading a caravan across the desert. That choice has gone.

You’ve never asked for help. . . . why not?

Seeking knowledge and requesting someone’s aid in moving something forward is willingness to show a commitment to your dream and to yourself. Asking for help can be an investment in a relationship. It also allows the giver a chance to be generous and to contribute what they do far better than you ever will be able to do. Mostly importantly, it elevates your cause by allowing others to be part.

Asking for help is a sign of trust. Is your dream big enough to share? Can you trust folks to be part of your dream?

Those are my thoughts. I hope they’re even close to where you are.
I wish you hope, energy, and the wisdom you need.

Liz

If You’re Reading . . .

Please help me answer this man who has a dream. Add to my response or correct what I’ve gotten wrong.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Get your best voice in the conversation. Buy my eBook.

Filed Under: Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: advice, bc, Dreams, goals, wishes

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