It’s that time of year again: airports are filling up, frozen turkeys are on sale at the supermarket, and writers are searching for a seasonal hook for their articles.
So, right.
Most people don’t like getting negative customer feedback. But getting a bad survey from a customer is actually something to be thankful for (see what I did there?). Here are three reasons why:
- Negative Feedback Helps You Improve: Can you imagine a basketball coach who gives nothing but positive feedback to his players? I can’t, and if such a person existed, I doubt he would be very effective. Of course, everyone would rather hear the good news than the bad news, but it’s the negative feedback which gives us the ability to improve. So if you want to improve your customer experience, a customer who gives negative feedback is like a coach. Sometimes coaches are angry, rude, insulting, and hard to listen to. But without that coach to point out your mistakes, you’re simply not going to get any better.
- Negative Feedback is More Honest: Not only would most people rather hear positive feedback, most people would also rather give positive feedback. It’s uncomfortable to criticize other people (even through a faceless web page), and that’s why so many customers give top scores on surveys. So when a customer makes the effort to criticize instead of just saying things were fine, you’re probably getting the straight dope.
- Negative Feedback Keeps you Grounded: The Dunning-Kruger Effect is a big problem in the customer experience world: many many companies think they provide an above-average experience when in truth they stink. A healthy dose of criticism from your own customers is one way to keep your self-perceptions grounded in reality.
So next time a survey comes back with bad scores and withering criticism, don’t get upset or defensive.
Instead, take a deep breath and be thankful that you have customers willing to help you in this way.
And pass the cranberry sauce.
