The Savvy Entrepreneur

For the past few months, I’ve been hooked on surveys (can you tell from my last 2 posts?)… I promise to keep my enthusiasm in check and not bombard you with too many!!

This morning, I received an email from Leo at TecSource.ca regarding yesterday’s audio product survey. Leo is not, I repeat NOT a Monkey User (read the end of this post for an explanation).

This is what he wrote:

Hi Christine, [why does everyone get my name wrong?]

The concept is great but I was a bit reluctant to be part of the Monkey survey. Why can’t a company stop looking and calling people monkey’s ?

It is OK to call the Geek Squad but to ask a suspect/prospect to sign into Monkey?

This is my gut reaction on your Monkey marketing selection.

Kind Regards

Leo

Ahh, I love humorous sarcasm!!!

You see, Survey Monkey has been around for ages and most of my colleagues use it, so I just take for granted everyone knows who they are. I also mistakenly assumed that by using an industry-leading program, it would increase my credibility…

It never crossed my mind to put myself in my audience’s shoes. I didn’t even consider the notion that I could be giving an unprofessional impression or making my potential prospects feel I’m treating them like monkeys — the exact opposite of what I want to achieve.

I can’t tell you how happy I was to get Leo’s feedback. He could have just as easily ignored my invitation and continued to think negatively about me. Who knows how far it could have gone? You know what they say about first impressions and negative word-of-mouth. OK, so maybe this wasn’t Leo’s very first impression of me — we’ve met before and got along splendidly. But if I created this gut reaction in just one person (that I know of), imagine how many others may be feeling the same way, or worse?

The bad news is that it may be too late to change the negative impression left on others who may feel the same. The good news is, now that I’m aware of the situation, I can do better next time, and I know how — choose a more professional-looking/-sounding survey program.

Who knows what kind of feedback I’ll get next time? And that’s perfectly fine with me; Each response I get makes me better.

So the lesson is to embrace feedback and create an environment that encourages open communication. I love constructive feedback — good and not so good — because it lets me know what’s really going on with my audience.

How do you encourage feedback? Is there something you wish someone would have told you, but ended up finding out the hard way? What criticism have you received that really helped you?

***********************

Names and links were posted with full permission:

Yes you can use my name as long as I am not referred to as a Monkey User.

I know, I am pushing the point but please ask your clients and not tech friends if they would mind filling in a Monkey survey, and then see where your credibility lands. Yes it is free but there is a perceived cost.

HAHA!! Thanks Leo for being such a great sport, for your insights and for your continued support.

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