Christian and I ask for feedback on our show. This has helped us improve our show. I know that this sounds crazy and risky…and it is, but it is worth it. Here are a few things we have learned about feedback and how it has helped improve our show and our business:
1. People enjoy telling us what they think. We are social creatures and connection and interaction is what we crave. We have a lot of interaction in our show and that is one of the top things people love. But asking people after the show what they think indicates that we care about their opinion and that what they think matters. As a small business, it shows that our customers are important to us.
2. You have to be open to hearing what people have to say, regardless of what they actually might say. You must have an open mind…and your body language must convey this open attitude. As an entertainer, we have to have thick skin and understand that there are lots of critics. From our experience most people want to honestly tell you what they think in the hopes it will help. But you will run into people who want to be cruel, mean spirited and ugly. You will know who they are right away. They obviously have a different agenda and take what they have to say with a grain of salt.
3. Learn from the good and the bad. We understand that our show is a unique show based on a unique theme – not everyone’s cup of tea. We enjoy hearing from a broad range of people: those who absolutely loved our show to those who might be suspicious or doubtful about a certain piece they saw. When you hear something that you consider negative, just listen; file it in the back of your head and come back to it later. Don’t dismiss it as crazy. Let is sit for a while in your head and once the sting is gone in a couple of days, bring it back to the forefront of your mind and really think about it. You will be surprised the creativity this generates.
4. Give people a gift for giving feedback. We give a simple, yet fun gift for people who take the time to tell us what they thought. And the gift is instantaneous. They fill out a card and they get the gift right away. Don’t make the gift difficult to get or complicated because people won’t spend the time doing it. A gift is a nice gesture because everyone’s time is important and this is our appreciation.
We hope that this will help you with your business. If you have some other feedback ideas, please let us know.