About 1 year after I began coaching business owners I started sending out a customer satisfaction survey asking my clients how I was doing.
The first few response were great. I had responses like, “For the first time in my life I have a clear direction for my business” and “one of the best investments I have made as a business owner”. I felt great!
Then it happened.
I was sitting in my office and heard the familiar hum of the fax machine indicating that a message was on the way. I looked over and noticed that it was coming from a current client who had recently received the customer satisfaction survey. I was seconds away from reading another glowing testimonial about how my coaching had transformed another business owner.
Unfortunately, that’s not what I read.
Instead, this feedback form was filled with comments like “this isn’t what I expected” and “I am receiving very little value from this program”.
My heart sank. I literally felt like I was going to cry.
But guess what? I am a much better coach today because of feedback from that very honest business owner (who remained my client for more than 3 years).
There is no better teacher than a very honest assessment of your performance.
I realize that sometimes the feedback might be negative. That’s OK. This feedback is by far the most valuable of all.
CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives. Email CJ at cjm@goreachmore.com for the latest on reachmore’s revolutionary executive coaching program, Summit.
Tags: achieve, Business, business coaching, business owners, clients, coaching, executive coaching, feedback, success