Tuesday 21st May

The Pulse

Feedback to the Future

Written by
Paul Hassing

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14
May

blog_compass I often say criticism is the surest, shortest path to excellence. I always ask clients for feedback when delivering work, but I only realised on my weekend away that I seldom seek it afterwards via follow up. I now see that I’m doing my clients a disservice. I may even be thwarting income and growth. Here’s why.

As a childless couple, our pets are very important to us. So we spent our weekend in ‘doggie friendly’ accommodation. The cottage was immaculate and thoroughly geared to make us all comfortable. Unfortunately, on the last night, one dog found a gap in the garden fence and headed for the hills. Recapture was arduous and the dog’s subsequent confinement inside defeated the garden’s purpose.

The cottage had no feedback form, so I resolved to ring the owner to prevent future guest distress. But when I got home, work backlog drove this thought from my mind. I’ll ring today (barring acts of God). Had there been a feedback form, or had the owner called to see if we’d enjoyed our stay, the fence would already be fixed.

Last month I gained a valuable new client via this blog. Her first project was a brochure, done just in time for an industry expo. Though I wished her well then, I only asked this morning if the brochure did what she’d expected. I’m yet to hear. If it was a dud, she’s had four weeks to complain to others. If it was a success, I could’ve earned another testimonial and we could be working on a second, larger project.

Feedback is scary: it could be bad. We may have to refund money or fix something. But by avoiding the bad, we miss the good. And let the bad get worse.

Consider my plumber. The first $700 of work he did was so good, I commissioned another $1300. Instead of doing it himself, however, he sent his barely formed underling. Lacking the tools and training to bend metal, this calloused youth bludgeoned it instead. His handiwork has since admitted rain, leaves and a possum that disturbs us every night.

If my plumber rang for feedback, I’d surely vent and demand recompense. However, if he apologised, fixed the problem and promised to do subsequent work himself, I’d happily accept. This is because (A) I have lots of plumbing work left and (B) I’ve since discovered that with tradespeople, the devil you know is better. And if he did the same great work as initially, I’d pay cash on the spot and praise him here.

I also often say fortune favours the brave. So I’m bravely going to follow up clients to see if my ‘fighting words’ are doing just that. I sense that in going back, I may ensure my future.

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, www.thefeistyempire.com

customer relations, customer service

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What others are saying

Author

Paul Hassing

May 14, 2009 at 9:52 am

I can post comments (with a long delay) but I still don’t have email access.
So I can’t send the Naming Rights post to my ISP. Yet.
I just rang the cottage owner. She was very grateful.
Apparently they once lost a chihuahua under the cottage for several hours.
She has promised to find the gap and plug it with chicken wire.
Stay tuned!

Reply
Author

Stephen G

May 14, 2009 at 10:49 am

Mate! Ya don’t ‘email’ stuff to your ISP when your having problems…they just think you’re problems can’t be that bad if you sent them an email!…Print the whole bluddy thing out, put it in a large box and put it in a cab (or other courier)… :- P

Cheers

Stephen G

PS Some people reckon Chihuahua’s don’t actually ‘breath’…they just exhale…atmospheric pressure fills them up :- P. So I suppose one couldn’t really say ‘Chihuaha’s suck”? :- P

PPSS Actually, there may be opportunity there for an enterprising Chihuaha lover. A ‘Commando Chihuaha Squad’, specially trained to detect escape route’s in animal enclosures, yards, cottages & plumbers…

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Author

Paul Hassing

May 14, 2009 at 10:55 am

Good point, Stephen. However, I read (yea, was quoted in) Joanna Maxwell’s ace article in The Australian Financial Review’s BOSS Magazine. I’m trusting that Web 2.0 will amplify my righteous grievance such that even the behemoths in the ziggurat will give heed. I have therefore sent them the link to our long discussion. Stand. By. For. ACTION!

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Author

Stephen G

May 14, 2009 at 11:02 am

Yeeeehaaa! Hang-on! I’ll grab me ‘Drizabone’, me frog and me cat…’them-thar’ pesky moths and rats won’t have a chance :- )

Cheers

Stephen G

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Author

SpikeTheLobster

May 14, 2009 at 8:04 pm

Feedback. Hmmm. It’s a difficult thing. I haven’t really had to deal with this much, since I’ve only been freelancing since November and only really doing any work recently. Previously, when I had my own company, I was employed under contract so had a manager – feedback was immediate.

I’m all for constructive criticism and providing feedback. Definitely. What I don’t like is a system where one side is muted. The sites through which I find work all have double-blind systems: that is, both sides get to provide feedback, but neither is released until both are complete. That way they’re not dependant on each other. That’s good. The only down-side is that a negative feedback can have a massive effect: you may have all 10-star reports previously, but a single “1″ really puts a dent in the reputation and – because of the double-blind system – you can’t do anything about it.

Just recently, I’ve even seen a couple of people offering freelance work to actually go out on the web and try to rebuild reputation for companies who have been dented in this fashion.

For online workers and companies, I have one thing to say: set up a Google Alert for your name. Keep track of what people are saying that way. Then you can respond if you get bad press – that’s how Guru.com ended up on my blog and were able to prove how cool they are. They have a little program that watches for people saying stuff about them – and I guess if it’s good, it makes for nice quotes on their promo materials.

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Author

Paul Hassing

May 15, 2009 at 8:38 am

Thank you, Spike; I really must get back to your site pronto! That Google Alert sounds like a tremendous idea. I like the idea of two-way feedback, though I’ve seen it create some very unhappy campers on ebay. Thanks for coming back to us!

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Author

Sonia Cuff

May 15, 2009 at 12:13 pm

Paul, I love this topic.
We have a web-based system for tracking jobs, which generates ‘follow-up appointments’ in a calender. Our virtual secretary logs into this system onces a week, views the appointments and makes the follow-up phone calls for us. She has a careful, detailed script to follow about what to say and what to do if positive/negative/downright threatening feedback is received or even what msg to leave if she gets an answerphone and what to do if there is no answer to her call. She also has a stack of thank-you cards that she posts to the customer after she has talked to them and confirmed that all is well. We do a ‘one week’ and ‘one month’ follow-up, and the script includes telling customers we have a regular monthly newsletter with easy to understand hints and tips and would they like to be on our email list.

If this sounds like nirvana, it’s actually really easy to implement, once you’ve nutted out what you want doing and how you are going to get your job info to your virtual secretary. It’s extremely inexpensive to outsource and you have the peace of mind knowing that it’s happening and you dont have to find the time to do it!

Major plug here for Leanne Stephens http://www.secretaryforhire.com.au/index.htm

-Sonia

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Author

Paul Hassing

May 15, 2009 at 12:35 pm

Good on you, Sonia; this is great stuff! It’s totally in line with Michael Gerber’s fabulous E-Myth book, which notes that superior businesses stem from strong systems and scripts. Thanks for your insight and useful link!

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Author

Stephen G

May 17, 2009 at 10:25 am

I for one, as you may have gathered :- P, don’t mind putting-in my ’2 Bobs worth’. However, if I feel that my ‘feedback’ will not be treated as meaningful and/or will not amount to any meaningful action, whether for an immediate issue that is personal to me, or for the ‘greater good’, then I won’t bother.

It seems to me that such ‘community caring’ and planet saving’ practices as ‘Planned Obeselesence’ employed by enterprises that have been exponentially increasing in number since about 1946, may have resulted in an exponentially decreasing size of windows of opportunity to obtain meaningful feedback (if they actually want it), and to act on it.

One could well ‘turbo-charge’ the above observations with the advent of the World Wide Web and subsequent ‘Internet Marketing’ technologies which has catapulted the capacity for businesses of almost any size to track & analyse how many times their web users/customers go to loo each day and what brand of toilet paper they use. Does this not constitute feedback, and does this diminish the reliance on ‘human’/'personal’ feedback?

In light of the above, and such fundamental (& often strategically ignored), maxims as ‘economies of scale’ (http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/ec/Economies_of_scale), the ‘law of diminishing returns’ (http://www.economyprofessor.com/economictheories/law-of-diminishing-returns.php), & ‘for every action there is an equal & opposite reaction’ (http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/newton3.html), then it would seem reasonable, if not pallatable, that as a matter of logistics alone, leveraging ‘feedback’ in a manner that is meaningful & timely to both enterprise and customer may have become a challenge akin to the ‘The Prisoner’s Dilemma’ (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/prisoner-dilemma/)’.

Cheers

Stephen G

PS Sonia – if I may be so bold as to offer a tad of constructive feedback for Leanne’s website? It may seem pedantic but this is one of my pet annoyances with websites. On Leanne’s homepage (about 2/3 of the way down the page), it says – “We are a locally owned and operated business designed to support you and your business.” LOCAL TO WHERE??? It’s a simple little thing, but it is annoying to have go searching elsewhere on the website, to find out where ‘Local’ actually is. May I suggest that she add something like “Located in sunny Redcliffe North (Queensland, Australia), our locally owned and operated business is equipped to provide professional support to you & your business no matter where you are…”

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Author

Paul Hassing

May 18, 2009 at 11:20 am

Sorry for tardy reply, Stephen. We’re into endgame with the new site and I’m flat out like two lizards drinking! You sure have put a lot into your comment. People are going to get much more than beaut pizzas when they visit you! I have a whole post in my head on planned obsolescence; thanks also for your thoughtful links. You really know how to add value to a community.

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Author

Stephen G

May 18, 2009 at 4:36 pm

Hi Paul (& folks),

Thanks for your kind words and ‘plug’ mate… :- )

Dude!’Tardy’ is not a word I would choose to describe anything I have seen that is attributable to your good-self (mind you, I don’ live with you :- P ). That you reply at all is not only uncommon, but exceedingly professional and demonstrates a great deal of dedication.

One of the things I appreciate about your writing is that it conveys your ‘humanness’ directly to mine (you’ll have to take my word on that one! :- P). Though your style is distinctly ‘yours’, your writing is not always the same; contrary to the vast majority of ‘generated’ web content ‘churned-out’ these days. I think we have, in an earlier article of yours, touched on distinctions between ‘formulaic’ (or ‘machine’ like), applications of ‘human language’ and ‘actual’ human language and comprehension.

Anyway, stay human dude! It’s why I’m here :- )

Cheers

Stephen G

PS Looking forward to seeing the next stage of your website, and the ‘planned obselescence’ article.

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Author

Paul Hassing

May 18, 2009 at 4:47 pm

Thanks, Stephen! Megan and I wish to make the best blog in/on the biz and your kind words speed our hands.

My shop went up yesterday and, like a kid in a half-filled swimming pool, I just had to tweet about it. I garnered my first non-test sale overnight. Though I know the buyer from Remo and Twitter, we’ve not met.

My joy was big. Imagine when total strangers start crossing my PayPal palm!
http://www.dev.thefeistyempire.com/shop

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Author

Stephen G

May 18, 2009 at 4:53 pm

Nice one mate! Congratulations! That is BIG! :- )

I’ll be back in a minute…

Cheers

Stephen G

PS Do I see a new website called ‘PayPalm’ on the ‘orizon? :- )

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Author

Lee

May 18, 2009 at 5:11 pm

Like the new site Paul and it’s good to see you recognised as a premier blogger.

How’s that for some feedback?

As a footnote of sorts: when you do ask for feedback, it would be interesting to see what your clients qualify as success. Is it X amount of bookings, brand awareness or something else?

Lee

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Author

Paul Hassing

May 18, 2009 at 5:19 pm

Dear Lee, the feedback I’m getting in here is like new Duracells in my drumming bunny. It really makes all the difference to be read and responded to.

Great point re feedback. I drive some clients to distraction in the briefing process by making them state exactly what they want their communications to do. This clarifies their thoughts, saves a lot of subsequent faffing and provides an accurate, objective measure of the value I provide.

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Author

Stephen G

May 18, 2009 at 6:06 pm

Hi Folks,

Cont’d from the earlier ‘Naming Rights’ blog (http://bit.ly/kBH8V ), sporting our now much loved ‘ISPasms’, I thought this would be the place to contribute some ‘Feedback’ I gave to a potential Insurance Broker today. Rather than attempting an explanation, I thought I’d let my ‘unnamed’ email speak for itself…I reckon you’ll get the gist:

“Dear ‘X-Squared’ (‘unnamed’ Insurance Broker),

When I rang you this morning you had ‘ASSUMED’ a great deal…surely you remember the old ‘ASSUME’ adage from your early days of sales? Well it’s sure worked it’s magic here!

When I attempted to convey my views to you on the phone this morning, I was cut-off with the following ‘excuse’ – “I emailed you”.

There is not anyone I have EVER encountered in any Professional (or other), milieu that would rely totally on an email at all, let alone send one 45 minutes before a meeting, relying totally on that email to alter the arrangements of that meeting (WHICH WAS IMPORTANT TO ME!!!!). Add to this – “I don’t think I am going to be able to help you now” (excerpted from Broker’s email) – this is nothing more than a speculative statement. There is nothing in your email that specifically alters our meeting arrangements anyway. So even if I did get the email in time, I still would’ve thought the meeting was scheduled… and to top it all off you had already booked someone else into my meeting time. No consultation, no nothing!

Had I not rung when I did (out of courtesy to you), I would have simply been left sitting at our appointment, waiting…

I do have a phone, and my number is at the bottom of the email I sent you on Sunday! AND YOU HAVE HAD MY PHONE NUMBER SINCE I RANG TO ARRANGE THE APPOINTMENT!

I cannot begin to tell you how unacceptable this is. I need to be able to rely on professional service and what you have managed to achieve in less than one meeting is anything but.

I hope that one day, the notions of ‘customer choice’ & ‘respect’ become more than just convenient words.

Sincerely disappointed”

There you go! :- )

Cheers

Stephen G

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Author

Paul Hassing

May 18, 2009 at 6:14 pm

Goodness! (Badness, really.)

Megan, I sense a new blog forming ‘neath the fingers of our Man in Canberra:
Letters from the Edge!

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Author

Stephen G

May 18, 2009 at 8:19 pm

Hi Folks,

I know this is a bit off-topic, but I just found an article (URL below), which mentions a Research Tool that I heard about a couple of years ago…it became publicly available on 15/05/09 (according to Wolfram Alpha):

http://www22.wolframalpha.com/screencast/introducingwolframalpha.html

There’s a good ZDNet article on it here too:

http://education.zdnet.com/?p=2556

I’ve been wondering when this was going to happen. I reckon, ‘strap yourselves in’…Why? Well I’m gunna go really nuts here and make a rhetorical ‘prediction’ :- P – What happens when an Economy that is (in my opinion), driven by a ‘lack’ of information, gets ‘a world’ of information stuck in it’s J-Curve? I reckon a little debate may ensue? :- P

Cheers

Stephen G

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Author

Riverwoods Dog Walker

March 5, 2010 at 3:34 pm

Its so nice to see so many dog lovers out here. I have 3 dogs and I just love to read so many interesting comments like the ones I find here.

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