One of the master skills for business success, is understanding how feedback works – why people say what they do.
It’s all about the lenses they use, to view the world around them.
The lenses people use
We each see the world through a unique lens. Our lens is created from our lifetime of experiences. It’s created from what we know and how we feel about what we know. So, when we look at the feedback we get from clients or prospective clients, it’s important to consider the lens through which that feedback is being delivered.
A great example of this is the feedback you receive, when you talk to a prospective client about your fees.
Let’s assume you charge a little above average, for the services you provide:
- If a prospective client looks at life through a lens, which tells them that ‘cheap’ is the same as great value, it’s likely that your fee will be too expensive.
- Similarly, if they look at life through a lens, which says value is all about great quality, they will be far less fee sensitive.
Your fee is the same in both instances. All that changed was the lens each person used, to look at your fee.
Everyone says it’s going to fail
Some years ago, a friend of mine decided he was going to start a business. When he told his colleagues about his decision, every one of them told him he would fail. He went home and told his wife what happened and that he was now reconsidering the decision to become his own boss.
His wife said something extremely powerful, which gave him the courage to start what was to become a multimillion dollar business. ‘Well of course they think you will fail, honey. None of them are entrepreneurs. They only see the risk.’
Check the lens before you take the advice
Whenever you get feedback from anyone regarding your business or your plans, always, always take their lens into account.
Even when people are being completely sincere with their feedback, check their lens. Don’t confuse sincerity with truth. It’s possible to be sincerely wrong.