Evaluating Feedback

Any number of jobs will permit you to get feedback from your customers. How to evaluate the opinions and information they provide, however, requires special skills so matters can be put in perspective. Here are some tips:

Recognize that considering feedback is a sign of wisdom, not weakness. No matter how great your product or service is, as the old line goes, “there’s always room for improvement” and studying feedback can provide a lot of clues. Some of the best hitters in baseball have batting coaches.

Don’t let their motives keep you from seeing their point. The fact that a customer is unpleasant does not mean that his or her feedback is without merit. You can learn a great deal from your enemies.

Don’t regard it as “either-or.” Evaluating feedback is not an either-or exercise in which you embrace or reject all of the recommendations. Analyze the information to see what worthy items can be gleaned.

Look for things you’ve suspected. See if any of your suspicions are confirmed. If you’ve thought a particular item was a problem and the feedback shares that opinion, it is a real problem.

Disregard cheap shots. There are people who seek to hurt more than help. Look past cruel or obviously unfair remarks. Don’t let their sniping distract you from any substantive material.

Consider their level of expertise. As Jimmy Durante once said, “Everybody’s a critic.” Even people of good faith may make suggestions that just aren’t feasible. You need to sort those out from the ones that can be put into practice. An informed enemy's criticism may be more helpful than an uninformed friend's suggestion.