The Importance of Feedback

I recently posted an article over on the New Marketing Labs blog regarding asking for feedback and the importance of having a feedback loop.  I thought it might interest you and I also wanted to get your opinion on it.

Do you ask for feedback on a regular basis? No, not whether or not you look good in stripes but feedback from your customers, clients, vendors, partners, employees and managers.

Some of us are scared of asking for feedback because we’re worried what the response will be.  It’s ok, it’s a natural feeling.  However, asking for feedback from those folks that we spend all day interacting with is important in ensuring that you’re always delivering consistent value.  If you’ve never asked if what you’re doing is valuable, how can you ensure it is?  Simple: you can’t.

At New Marketing Labs we just launched a quarterly feedback form that we’re asking all of our clients and partners to fill out.  It’s quick, it’s simple but it gives us a pulse on how we’re doing.  This is in addition to the many other forms of communication, feedback and reporting that we have in place with all of our clients.  When we were developing this report we knew it needed to be fast or else no one would ever fill it out thoroughly.  We decided that we would ask to be given a letter grade in 5 areas with an overall grade and then a simple question at the end.  Here’s what we asked for feedback on:

• Communications professionalism, effectiveness, & enjoyment
• Reporting effectiveness, usefulness, format & aesthetic
• On time, as promised deliverables
• Overall value added
• Meeting your expectations
• How can we improve to be a better partner and add more value (not a grade, but telling us how to be better partners!)?

Nice and simple but hits on all of the key areas that we care about to ensure we’re being helpful in a timely, appropriate and needed way.

In addition to asking for feedback from our clients, I ask my team members to provide weekly feedback on their wins (successes), opportunities (where they can do better) and to tell me how I can be more helpful to them in the coming week(s).  Just like with our clients, this is not the only communications that we have over the course of a week to ensure there is an open loop of feedback happening.

While feedback isn’t always fun especially if it is critical of the work you’re doing, it is necessary.  Burying your head in the sand and telling yourself that everything is going great even though it isn’t will lead down very dark, lonely and broke paths.  Also, remember, that not all feedback is negative.  Positive feedback can be energizing and help to boost morale.  But, if you receive positive feedback, don’t take that as a sign that since everything is good you can sit back and put it on auto-pilot.  Use it as an opportunity to go deeper, provide more value and try to be even more helpful.

Do you have feedback processes in place?

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Photo Credit: Padday