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Brick No79: Why I got more mail than Urs Meier
By Matt Weston, Tuesday 6 July 2004 I got more mail than Urs Meier on Tuesday. Only none of mine mentioned Sol Campbell's erm . . . "goal". Just to recap, Tuesday's brick was on "bad" (i.e. negative) feedback . . . as Bill Gates puts it: " Your unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. " After I shared my advice, I asked you to give me some feedback: " What do you like most about business bricks? What do you like least? " And I got a mountain of mail to keep me busy. Again, thank you all for making the effort. And it appears that the biggest "bad" guys (by a distance) are the adverts I put in the middle and at the end of the bricks. As one reader put it: "It annoys the heck out of me when I try to read the content". The adverts "really bug" you. My knee-jerk reaction could have been this: " Ah, but I'm in a Catch 22 situation here. If we stop the ads, we have to stop the bricks. The ads help cover the cost of publishing, and they keep a roof over our heads. Sorry that they "really bug" you, but no can-do. The ads are here to stay! " But stop . . . there is a much better response . . . How to get feedforward Instead of rebuffing or bouncing back the feedback I received, I decided to explain my Catch 22. I then asked all the responders what they would do"in my shoes". (It's a cute reversal of the "put yourself in your customer's shoes" cliché.) I've heard this dubbed "feedforward". With "feedback" you get your customers to tell you what they like and dislike about your service. With "feedforward" you get them to suggest how you can do better. Your big rivals are often useless at getting "feedforward". Nobody cares enough to bother. Sure, you might complain about the queues in the supermarket. But do you ever put yourself in the supermarket manager's shoes and come up with a solution, knowing it'll get lost in "the system"? As a small business you need to show your customers that their "feedforward" is invaluable. It will help you shape your business . . . and the service you give them in the future. Take eBay. It's the No1 e-commerce site in the world. It accounts for over a third of all British web traffic. And eBay has evolved largely through "feedforward" from customers. Every year it hosts eBay Live, an event attended by over 10,000 of its best "buyers" and "sellers". It gets input and tests new policies. The "buyers" and "sellers" shape the business. Every time you get feedback, make it your job to try to turn that feedback in to "feedforward". Ask your customers what they would do "in your shoes". Back to my Catch 22 . . . Here's the "suggestions box": (1) Instead of the ads, we send "standalone" emails from advertisers say once a week (2) Instead of the ads, we charge a fixed monthly/ yearly subscription . . . but only for new subscribers (!) (3) We give readers the chance to "donate" to business bricks (as much or as little as you want). Those who "donate" enjoy an "ad free" version Over to you: "pipe up"! Put yourselves in our shoes. What option do you think is best? (Just hit reply and let me know.) Remember to sign up: back to top |
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