To fix a problem, you need to start off by acknowledging you actually have a problem.
I was thinking about this earlier, when I decided to stop spending money with a provider, who has apparently lost a lot of customers recently. In short, the quality of service went from just above average when they launched it, to way below par, after 6 months.
The reason for this post, is that the owner of that business shared something in common with many low quality service providers: Whenever you brought a problem to his attention, his automatic response was always to deny there was a problem. He would brush off all negative feedback, ignoring it completely.
The challenge with that approach, is that you can’t fix a problem unless you believe you have one.
The value of feedback
Yes, some customers or clients will voice concerns, that are more to do with them than with you or your service, but all feedback needs to be noted. For example, if people are telling you that they can’t find something when they visit your website or walk into your store, the solution is not to assume your customers are fools. The solution is to fix the UI (user interface) or redesign the layout of your store, so that people can find things easily.
It’s always good to keep an open mind, when you receive feedback. No, you don’t need to act on everything everyone says, but unless you listen to what the marketplace is telling you, you can never be much better than average.