There are two kinds of feedback you can get from a client — negative and positive.
Understandably, most real estate sales professionals prefer the positive kind! That includes praise, raves, thanks, displays of appreciation, testimonials and so forth.
Positive feedback teaches you a lot. It confirms that what you’re doing is working, and that you should do more of it.
Positive feedback, of course, is also a clear indication that you’re building loyalty with that client or business-to-business referral source. And loyalty leads to more repeat business and referrals.
But what about negative feedback?
Although harder to take on an emotional level (it can sometimes feel like a punch in the gut), negative comments about your performance as an Agent are also very useful. They let you know what you’re doing that’s not working, and give you an opportunity to make changes.
That’s why, when you receive negative feedback, you should always say “thanks.” Although it may be difficult to fully appreciate it at that time, the person is actually doing you a favor! And, it can be very difficult to give that kind of feedback. It’s much easier to ignore unsatisfactory performance than to confront it.
Some Agents avoid seeking feedback because they’re afraid of what they might hear. Don’t be like that. Feedback, positive or negative, is your friend. And you should ask for it every time you have an opportunity to do so. Ask for it from both your real estate leads and clients (in fact, from everyone in your SOI).
In his book, The Success Principles, author Jack Canfield advises you to look at negative feedback as improvement opportunities. “To reach your goals more quickly,” he says, “you need to welcome, receive, and embrace all the feedback that comes your way.”
Takeaway point: Don’t take negative feedback personally. Instead, take action and make improvements.
With your IXACT Contact real estate CRM, you can track and organize the feedback you receive for each client in their individual contact profile.
We want to know: how has feedback helped improve your business or performance?