Not all feedback is equal. Sometimes we receive comments that are just plain mean and are more reflective of the other person’s issues than ours. 

But, that’s not a reason to ignore all feedback. Research says there’s a good chance you don’t know yourself as well as you think you do. Feedback can help you build your self-awareness and identify and address issues before they snowball. 

As a bonus, it turns out people only use feedback about 30 percent of the time, which means if you commit to using feedback to improve your business or performance, it could be a competitive advantage for you. Here are some tips on how to use feedback to boost your business success. 

Five ways to use Feedback

Be open to it.

Let’s own it: it’s tough to be self-aware!   Psychologist Adam Grant says it’s the traits that are easy to observe (meaning evident to others) or hard to admit (like our level of intelligence) that we may mis-judge.  

For example, defensiveness is a trait that’s pretty easy to notice in others. If you pay attention, you may observe the pattern in yourself. If it starts to show up when you’re offered feedback, it could be a clear sign you’re not yet open to it! And you can’t use feedback for growth if you’re not open to hearing it.

Ask for feedback & look for patterns.

Don’t leave feedback to chance. If you want to use feedback to help you improve, you need to ask for it and watch for themes. You might be able to identify a persistent issue or you might notice an area of strength you hadn’t recognized before. Here are some ideas for gathering feedback:

• If you have a business, ask customers to rate your service. The NPS or net promoter score is a popular way of gauging how well you’re doing. It’s as simple as one question: How likely are you to recommend us to someone else? If you have ongoing clients, it may be helpful to give them a more in-depth survey once per year. 
• Conduct employee experience surveys to find out more about how your team is doing. When your employees are happy, they will provide better service to your customers. 
• Check mentions, comments and reviews on social media, Google, Yelp or any other site your business is listed on. Be sure to respond to comments and reviews when appropriate. 
• Listen. Pay attention to what people say to you and about you. Ask your employees to share things they’re noticing.  
• If you want feedback on yourself, you can always ask colleagues, clients or friends to respond to a few simple questions using a survey. Think about what’s important to you when coming up with the questions. For example, how easy am I to work with? What’s something I do well? What’s something I could work on improving? 

Tip: you can easily build a survey using Google Forms. You have the option to make it anonymous. 

Don’t take it personally!

It can be hard not to take feedback personally, primarily when it isn’t delivered well. Sometimes it can seem like a personal attack. Look at all feedback as a chance for growth. Pause and consider if there’s something useful in what’s being shared. If there is, use it. If there’s not, move on. If we allow ourselves to be shattered by feedback, we can’t use it to help us improve, and that’s the goal here. 

Ask for clarification if needed

Feedback is more useful if it’s specific. So, if the meaning behind what someone’s sharing with you is unclear, ask for more information or examples. You could ask them to describe what you or your team could have done differently that might have made the situation better (if it’s not apparent to you). Avoid making up a story about what the person meant. 

Follow up

When you’ve taken action in response to feedback, it’s a good idea to circle back to the person who provided it to let them know (and to thank them!). This sends the message that you’re open to feedback, and you value your employees and customers. Here are some ways to do that:

• Reply on social media or to reviews to let the person know what you did with the information they shared. 
• Share survey results with your team or customers and let them know how you’re using the feedback. If you’re unable to take action on something, let them know why.
• Follow up with customers to tell them about a solution they helped you come to.
• Point out to employees when changes are made as a result of feedback. 
• Tell your colleagues when you’re working on improving something specific and ask them to let you know how you’re doing. 

“At [inn]space, we’re all about feedback.”

At [inn]space, we’re all about guest feedback. Our annual survey helps us evaluate our success and create plans for the next year. Plus, we’re always asking and listening for challenges or ideas that could help us improve our service — this includes reading reviews and comments on Google or social media. 

And feedback can even be fun! We ask our guests to vote on what to serve on our community cart days. What do you think? Sushi or shawarma … oh, the choices.