It’s interesting to see just how common challenging has become in our lives, even when we don’t, perhaps, understand that is what we are doing. In our digital world, for example, we can take for granted being able to provide feedback.
I am writing this because of something that happened to me recently. I have noted before, how good, and easy to use, outsourcing sites are. By using filters, you can really drill down, to get the right quality of work, experience, language, pricing and more. With one particular job, I skipped these sites and went to a company on the back of a comment from someone. The results were frustrating. Yes, the work was done, but the delays, excuses, and poor communication was a hassle. It made me realise how dependent we have become on seeing feedback. I wondered afterwards how they would have fared, had they been on one of those sites, living and dying on the strength and quality of the work they were doing every day.
Of course, buying online commonly involves reviews. Whether on Amazon, eBay, TripAdvisor, Trustpilot, or on many other sites, we seem to have become accustomed, almost intuitively, to scanning the reviews, or in providing our own feedback. There might be sometimes when feedback is not as important, for example, when you are buying something that is known, or easy to understand. Printer paper, a mouse pad, or pet food might be examples of this. For other things, we have become so used to them; I think we would struggle without reviews. Would anyone buy a new kitchen without looking at the reviews for that company? Or what about buying something that you probably don’t have knowledge of, or where there is a wide choice, perhaps like a dehumidifier?
I suspect we all have a slightly different way of looking at those reviews. Some will just look for a headline, perhaps, the percentage of five star reviews given. Obviously, those suppliers consistently rated at five stars, the highest rating possible, many hundreds or even thousands of times, are at the top of the game. I enjoy, though, even with those highly regarded suppliers, having a look through some of the feedback. I find it can help me decide whether they are a good fit. Sometimes you can find a critical review relates to something, not directly in the hands of the provider, like a delivery problem. Importantly, they give a vendor the opportunity to respond, to provide an explanation, if they get something wrong. You occasionally see that some haven’t grasped how powerful this is. Would any of us seeing a provider launching some kind of attack on a reviewer want to give them our money? Thankfully, though, you sometimes see those who are concerned with what people feel about them, when they apologise, or offer some kind of explanation. I saw one recently, where a car dealer had received some negative feedback from someone who felt a trip over to the dealership had been a waste of time. The dealer apologised and expressed sadness over their disappointment with their trip. The dealer offered them a reimbursement of their costs that day. That’s quite nice, I thought. They didn’t have to do that. To me, they sent a signal that they cared. They bothered about what people thought of them.
Another reason people review is because, often, they are anonymous. It can be difficult, sometimes, to identify who posts the review. You can speak openly without the payback danger. Most of us can post our thoughts without any concern. Of course, this itself has caused problems, especially in the early days, when people, often from far-flung places, were being paid to leave outstanding reviews for particular products or services. Many sites faced with this, and the potential damage to the credibility of that system, then put measures in place. So bucketfuls of amazing reviews landing on a particular product will now often find themselves removed. Amazon is also one site that springs to mind, which uses its technology to identify people who they know have actually purchased the product that they are now passing comment on.
When we are about to put our hands in our pockets to pay out for something, we want to see people’s honest accounts, experiences and opinions. We value them. Sometimes, though, we seem reluctant to want that feedback.
The problem is that many of us like to give it, and to see other people’s feedback, but we are often not keen when it is us that is receiving it, or should I say, getting bad feedback. Whilst we all enjoy being told we are doing a great job, we rarely like being told that we have done a poor job, or that we are not particularly good at something. The tragedy is that it is this type which yields the best results. Lower your defences and learn, and you will get better.
That is why great organisations see this type of feedback as invaluable. Poor organisations see bad feedback as stupid, or inaccurate, comments. By framing them like this, they can ignore them, as if no comment was even made.
In the book, I highlighted how Mid Staffs overlooked warnings of problems showing in poor survey results. It’s strange that the organisation missed these red flags, as staff were only too aware of the power of feedback. This is why some of them stood next to the patients as they were filling in the surveys, giving feedback about the level of care they were receiving. 1
The staff knew this because they rely on feedback, good and bad, when they book their holidays.
Feedback, challenging, speaking up, or reviews, it’s all the same. We learn and get better when we listen, even if it hurts at first.
Which goes back to my original comment. Perhaps that problematic company I encountered stayed away from those sites where feedback is freely given, exactly because that feedback is so freely given.
I suspect they will not last long.
- Ward to Whitehall p160
