At times there appears to be waves of critiques hurled at us. When this occurs, the best step is to take time to list all of those. Then study the list, prioritize and contemplate your next steps. This applies to personal well-being as well as advancing your career.
Stop, Listen, Contemplate and then Reposition
My Story
I do all of the above when it’s my turn for the tidal wave of criticism to hit. So I’m somewhat surprised when medium sized businesses do not do the same. It’s my opinion that if they wish to grow into larger sized businesses, it would be of their best interest to listen.
Worst example
One site deliberately crafted their allure for subscription to their service with misleading verbiage. Even worse the fee increased almost 1000% after one month of usage. Upon ending the agreement, I was made a “rare offer” of only a 500% monthly increase.
I kindly suggested that the team get together to revise the verbiage on their website. Surely I’m not the sole person who did not catch the real meaning. It would save them hours of customer support time. Even worse, over time, they could hurt their brand and reputation.
The suggestion was met with complete annoyance.
Great example
I was gifted a wonderful cooking delivery service, that of Blue Apron. Instead of asking if I would like to continue to subscribe, it was just assumed the answer would be “yes”. Once you experience the service, you will understand why. However, it is best to not make assumptions.
A great conclusion to our conversation was two-fold:
Blue Apron knows what it’s doing in terms of quality in every respect, and is headed on the right path for substantial growth.
Study Your List
Put the most annoying suggestions or criticisms at the top. There are one of two reasons they sting: either there is an element of truth attached and now it needs to be admitted, or they don’t understand your business model. Eliminate the latter.
Prioritize
Begin with either the easiest suggestion to fix or the one that upsets you the most. Then move on to the next until you get through the list. Once you have fixed the issues and are positioned to improve delivery for your clientele, you are on your way to growing sales. This leads to developing a respected personal brand and strong client relationships.
Looking back, instead of it feeling like a tidal wave it will appear as the Smooth Sale!