My Biggest Regrets…
Are always the people I didn’t listen to long enough to realize they were trying to tell me something I didn’t want to hear.
When I was younger, I had this really bad habit of turning what everyone said into what I wanted to hear. If someone objected to something I did, it was 3–4 times harder to get me even to notice the fact that it was with most people.
At that point, we hadn’t even started to figure out whether I would listen. My friends called it bulldozing.
As I have begun in the last year to build an agency that helps businesses, this is a thing I see over and over again.
Businesses become tone-deaf. They stop hearing people tell them things. And then, almost instantly, people stop telling them.
So what do you do about it? It’s not as simple as sending out an email survey (which no one will see, and fewer will answer) is it?
So here are a couple or three things you can do to listen better.
1) Google Yourself
This can be painful (though I hope it isn’t). Lots of business owners I know don’t want to do this, with good reason. It can hurt!
But this will be a good start. While you’re at it, check Facebook, Yelp, anywhere someone might bother talking bad about you. If you really wanna get serious, have a look at this list by Capterra reviewing the best reputation management software out there.
You might consider using a trial or investing in one of those. The hours you could spend trying to dig your name out of the web will vanish as you enter your info in one single search bar and it crawls the net looking for dings on your spit-shined rep.
I hope you don’t find any. But also, I kinda hope you find one. Because reaching out to that person is gonna do some good for you (see below!).
2) Try a Different Place
Everybody knows those surveys aren’t getting read anymore. But that’s because they get sent where no one is anymore. Google chucks ’em over into that Promotions tab, where only hopeful marketers dare to tread, from time to time, looking for a good idea.
Try posting them on social media, and see if you do better. My hunch is you will. Even if the only person following your business is your mom, just go into local FB groups, start up conversations with the admins, and when you’re pretty sure you’ve got a group you can ask the question in without getting tossed, ask.
Be specific. Restaurant owner? Don’t ask about the food. Ask about the gravy on the mashed potatoes and whether the server got it to them quick enough to still be hot.
You might be swimming in feedback before long. And this is not a bad thing!
3) Tell Conversion Stories
In my more headstrong days, I would occasionally do something really stupid and bump my head. I’d go out with a girl I had no business going out with, cut a corner at the coffee shop I worked at, tell a white lie to a friend.
Once I dated a girl for over a year that everyone but me could see was no good for me.
When it crashed and burned, I asked friends: “why didn’t you say anything?”
Their answer, to a person: “you wouldn’t have listened!”
The number one reason your customers aren’t giving you feedback is because they think, rightly or wrongly, you’re not listening.
So, if I were you? I’d tell on myself! I mean it!
Make it a part of your communications with customers that you’ve goofed at times. When a customer brings something to your attention, fix the problem and then offer a special on it named after the customer who brought it up.
Make them heroes in your brand community. Because they are.
As you earn trust, you’ll soon be drowning in feedback. Which is awesome, because it means your customers are telling you how to beat the guys who are racing you to their wallets.
Make it clear you’re listening, and then celebrate those who speak. And then, even your mistakes will build your brand.
What are your biggest brand regrets? What brands have you tried to give feedback to, either positively or negatively?
Feel free to comment here or hit me up on Twitter. Can’t wait to chat with you guys!