Should you listen to the complainers? 😤

Hello Reader,

If I had a nickel for every time I've had a conversation with a colleague or a client about unsolicited feedback they've received, well, I'd have a nice pile of nickels here on my desk!

Complaints happen to us all, and I absolutely understand how dealing with unexpected complaints can be jarring and create self-doubt.

In fact, I know folks who've changed their entire business thanks to one complaint!

And sometimes these complaints are merited. I've definitely had weird tech problems and such that made for an unpleasant experience, and I've been grateful for those complaints. (I got one last week when a coupon code didn't work for one of my courses—turns out that course shouldn't have been available at all, so I'm appreciative of that complaint.)

What I'm talking about, however, is not the "whoops, I screwed up" situations. Those are definitely things you should respond to and fix. Rather, it's those fuzzier complaint situations that tend to cause us issues.

So, here are some questions to asked that may help you have a framework for tackling complaints.

1. Does the complaint come from a client/customer?

It's important to think about who the complaint is coming from. If it's someone who's paid you, and they're unhappy, this is a real challenge. In this case, I generally try to make things right in accordance with my published policies and signed agreement (this is often a "talk to your business attorney" moment too).

However, just because the problem arose with a current customer doesn't necessarily mean you need to make a broad change.

And, just because someone isn't a customer doesn't mean that it's not worth listening to.

Why? Ask yourself the next question...

2. Does the complaint come from someone who's your target audience?

I know so, so many people who've made significant changes in their business because of complaints from people who are not their audience. Sometimes they were folks who never intended on buying, sometimes they were customers who were no longer aligned with their business.

Pay close attention to what's going on in these situations. If you change too much due to feedback from a misaligned audience, you will build a business you despise. I've seen it so often.

This happens a lot when we talk about pricing, for example. If someone complains that your service or offer is too expensive, first get curious. We they ever planning on buying? Are they qualified buyers? Can your offer or service actually help them?

If the answer is yes, that's an important data point and I'd take action. If the answer is no, then you have an audience problem, which requires a totally different course of action. ​

3. Is the complaint an opportunity to improve your delivery?

I LOVE it when people give the opportunity to fix holes in my systems or communications. (Assuming they're my target audience.)

I also experienced this with my former strategy session three pack, which was a good seller, but is no longer available. That's because people liked the format but they wished for more connection between calls and deeper, collaborative work. So, Spark Sessions was born.

My Back Pocket Strategist service came out of a complaint that not everything needed to be a call (absolutely fair!)—now I have an asynchronous service that I love, and so do the clients who subscribe to it.

My Alignthority™ Accelerator program shifted from 30 days to three-plus months because of feedback that we moved too quickly.

​Summer of SEO, my group strategy program, became a formal program instead of a workshop series because of the request for more support.

The list goes on and on, but when people who are aligned offer you the opportunity to do better, that's golden.

4. Is the complaint an outlier situation?

For example, if you deliver templates or documents in a specific format and the person who's upset prefers a different app (we see this a lot in the great Notion vs Airtable debate—every user of these apps wants documents in their preferred app, I swear!), it could simply be a one-off situation. This may be a signal to do a better job of setting expectations—that's why I specifically say that my work is delivered in a duplicatable Notion board from the beginning.

There are no right ways to decide how to handle this type of outlier complaint—sometimes it's worthwhile to create a one-time custom solution, sometimes it's not, sometimes it's a sign of the need for better communication—but identifying it as an outlier is important before asking yourself the next question.

5. Does acting on the complaint change your vision for your business?

Okay, let me tell you, it's very easy to let the loudest voices derail you. So. Easy.

When I shifted from the micro-agency model to going all in on consulting and strategy, there were a ton of complaints. People missed the opportunity for a productized web design service and they were disappointed, despite my great referral list.

Ultimately, as the owner of your business, you need to be be the keeper of the vision. Be very careful when complaints run the risk of changing your vision into other people's visions for you or themselves.

I feel like I've inadvertently focused a lot on why not to listen to complaints here, and that wasn't my original intent (writing is funny—it really reveals things). There are many times where responding to and handling complaints appropriately and professionally is mission-critical. But most of the time, what I see is business owners reacting to complaints that do not serve their goals, and actually subtract from their progress.

That's why having a plan for tackling them—whether you're a solopreneur or lead a small team—is so important.

Talk soon,

Sarah