I do not like… OK, I could probably say I hate…yeah. I really do not like negative feedback. What about you? In today’s video, I’m gonna share with you exactly what to do when you have a negative customer within your business.

Hey you guys, my name is Denise Walsh, I’m a transformational trainer and I have spent the last 20 years helping people build a life they want. And in today’s video, I’m specifically talking to a business owner who’s gotten negative feedback about a product or a service they’ve created. This has happened to me and I’m sure if you’re putting yourself out there at any stretch of the means, you’ve gotten some negative feedback too. And the first thing, it’s so easy to do right? Is to take it personally. Mmm, you may immediately think “why don’t they like me? What is wrong with me? What is wrong with my product or service?” and it can be very easy to internalize negative feedback and allow it to stop us from trying again.

Well, here is what I’m gonna recommend today; number one is don’t take it personally. Now, think about this; if you are at a restaurant and the waitress says “hey would you like mustard on your hamburger?” and you say “no thanks.” do you think she runs off to the corner and cries and hides and says “oh, they I didn’t want my mustard, what’s wrong with me?” no, on that particular day, you, as a customer, just didn’t want mustard. It had nothing to do with her.

So, often you guys, feedback really is just saying that at this time that product or service it either didn’t gel with them, it wasn’t something that they – and maybe they were expecting something a little bit different and they’re giving you feedback about that. So, don’t take it personally. You can separate yourself from the product or service and just hear what that client has to say.

Okay, so number one, don’t take it personally, number two, I actually hear what they have to say. Because like what I mentioned, it could be helpful. It could be helpful because they could be telling you maybe your marketing message is not describing it correctly or maybe they were expecting something a little bit different or we’re surprised by something and it can help you tailor your marketing message to better fit clients’ expectations. It could be helpful. You know what I mean? It really could give you feedback on how to better serve your client.

So, while you’re not taking it personally, you really can listen to their ideas, listen to feedback and say “is this something that could help me better in the future?” the third thing is to apologize. Apologize and offer a solution. Again, most times when people are giving negative reviews or negative feedback, they just want to be heard because they felt like it was misrepresented right? And they were disappointed.

So, you can apologize for that miscommunication and offer a solution, whether that’s a full refund, a guarantee, another option that they could try on the house or something like that that allows them to not only feel heard but also feel like their opinion is important. And that my friends is how you can take negative reviews or negative feedback and use them to better yourself, better your business and better the client relationship.

I hope that this is helpful and if you want more free resources, check out the Dreamcast as well as my Action Planner which allows you to really take a good look at your calendar and give yourself a road map to ensure that you’re designing a life of your dreams. Thanks for hanging out with me and I’ll see you in the next one.