Turning Criticism into Your Competitive Advantage
Hey everyone!
Today I want to discuss a topic that will hit home for every entrepreneur and business owner—dealing with criticism. It's a part of our journey, but how we handle it can define our path to success (or sometimes, to failure).
In this video, I am going to explore:
- The Inevitability of Criticism: Understanding that feedback, both positive and negative, is a natural part of business growth.
- The Positive Side of Negative Feedback: Why criticism is valuable and how it can be a powerful tool for improvement, and evolution in your business.
- Strategies for Constructive Engagement: How to approach negative feedback constructively, turning potential frustrations into opportunities for development.
- Real-Life Application: I'll share insights from our experiences at Wealthy Affiliate, illustrating how we've utilized feedback to evolve our services and enhance customer satisfaction.
- Building a Better Brand: Tips on incrementally improving your business and brand through attentive and responsive engagement with your audience's feedback.
Criticism can be tough, but it also presents us with an opportunity to refine and improve our offerings. Whether it's through your website, blog, digital product, or any aspect of your business, embracing feedback is essential.
We'd Love to Hear from You!
- Have you faced criticism in your business? How did you handle it?
- Do you have any strategies for turning negative feedback into positive outcomes?
- Share your thoughts, feedback, or questions below, and let's start a constructive conversation.
Remember, no business is perfect, and the journey towards improvement is ongoing. By embracing criticism and using it as a tool for growth, you can create a more resilient, adaptive, and successful business.
Here's to a productive and insightful week ahead. Cheers!
Recent Comments
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Hi Kyle, yes I you`re right criticism can be a good thing as it may cause us to improve our brand.
I also read something about Emotional Intelligence - defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another (including probably a customer).
That we shouldn't take things personally and instead show empathy, you could turn around a good (monied) customer down the road.
Yep you`re making a good point there, good day.
Yeah, absolutely. Empathy is always key, when people act our or lash out, often times you are not their issue, they have a lot going on in their lives that is leading to this.
The clues they give you in the midst of that feedback, are things that you can leverage to improve your business. :)
It's also a matter of discerning constructive versus destructive criticism, taking what you can from the first and letting the other roll off you like rain on a duck's back. I've been in healthcare since I was a teenager and have been able to learn how to de-escalate really difficult people and their complaints—often they are tied up with uncomfortable emotions and feelings.
I do believe, though, that people are now more open to expressing themselves without considering the collateral damage they cause. It's a tough world out there and having thick skin is really necessary and a sense of humor.
Totally, destructive criticism is obvious as there is no substance you can draw from it to improve upon. "You Suck" is destructive, whereas 'You Suck because of XYZ" is constructive (albeit the deliver is not the best lol).
Thanks for your personal insights into the topic Joyce!
Thank you for your blog post, Kyle.
I guess being critical is one of the easiest things to do in life, if we are that way inclined. But at the same time, if the criticism is genuine, then it's worth listening to, as it's a way that we can improve.
Often, with YouTube, I will ignore a critical comment, as sometimes I almost know it will go nowhere. However, there are other times when I can make a negative comment turn into something good!
Have a fantastic day.
Roy
There is certainly those that are just "critical" for the sake of it...as that is how they go about life. But any feedback can potentially be helpful and insightful feedback, so it is how we as business owners approach feedback that can be cynical feeling.
Often times there is nuggets of information that can help us improve and evolve our business. ;)
That's very true, Kyle, it's a terrible way to go about life and a good reminder never to go down that critical line!
I believe that constructive criticism is good, especially if we know that the person wants to see us doing well and thriving! We just have to be open to listen, I guess and maybe sometimes that can be easier said than done!
Wishing you a fantastic day.
Roy
Thanks, Kyle, for tackling this thorny matter transparently and equanimously.
All feedback on improving my business is invaluable as it leads to reflection and adjustment. I think how you respond is largely a question of flexibility.
I constantly remind myself that everything visible in human life is impermanent, so we shouldn't get attached to it. We are each a unique river flowing towards the sea. There may be obstacles and drought, but the river keeps moving and flowing, whether in full flood or trickling.
We can perhaps appreciate poorly expressed criticism simply for the time the person has taken to communicate it to us. They may be in pain or suffering, and they pour it into their criticism and probably feel regret later!
There is so much stress in the world today! So, surely we need to extend compassion towards them!
Just stand back from the flames of emotion because they will burn you! Their criticism could focus on something you have missed! So we can benefit in many ways from such an 'attack!'
The more compassion we see on the Internet, the better it will succeed for every member of the global community!
Blessings. 🌺
I really love your perspective here Charley, and you are absolutely right. Everything is very much fluid in business and life, and the obstacles (rocks) simply act as a way of finding the best way to the sea, where we are going to realize our maximum potential.
And you are absolutely right, people are more stressed out than ever, so when they "lash out" as it would appear, they are often times in a situation where they could really use someone to respond to them in a way where they show care and attention. Often times if you do that, you can turn someone that may have given you constructive criticism, into your best customer.
Thanks, Kyle. Your response affirms my ideas beautifully in a business context. I'm so glad we're in sync! 😎
Blessings and compassion.
Charley
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Hi Kyle!
Criticism is a natural part of doing business but how we deal with it determines our businesses' successes or failures.
We have to use it to our advantage to grow and learn from it and then make the necessary adjustments.
Thanks for sharing this valuable information! Have a great day! Wishing you the very best!
Kind regards,
Nichola