by Jamie Bessett

Created on: April 22, 2008

Any type of feedback is an opportunity to change or improve any aspect of your company. I am currently a four restaurant owner and operator and if it wasn't for negative feedback, I would not be aware of many of the flaws that customers encounter on a daily basis. In my case, negative feedback could range anywhere from empty hot sauce bottles to poor customer service by a particular employee. But I can tell you that there is not one instance of negative feedback that has not created an opportunity to change or improve my system of operations.

For instance, I received a negative comment through my Corporate office recently where a customer stated that every time they complete an online order, one of the particular restaurant locations never has the order ready or even acknowledged the order prior to the customer coming to pick it up.

Come to find out, the fax machine was out of range for the employees to hear, and if they did hear the fax come through, they would forget about the pending order if there was another customer that needed to be handled at the time. Once this was brought to my attention, the fax machine was moved from the back of the house to the front of the line near the cash registers where the order was practically unavoidable.

I could provide so many examples of how negative feedback can create opportunities. A client or customer could be rude or confrontational with negative feedback, but the end result is the same. However, it does make a difference on how the information is received. For a person that is not open to change or inept to handle constructive criticism, negative feedback could go unnoticed and rejected. Therefore, the opportunity would be missed to change or improve operations or products. A more open individual would see the light at the end of the tunnel and although the feedback might be negative, they would realize what kind of opportunities could be created through a feedback forum.

I always make sure to show a consumer how much I appreciate their feedback whether it is negative or positive. I truly feel that their comments are what make my restaurants better places to visit. Don't ever let the word "negative" throw you off. Life is what you make of it whether you are dealing with professional or personal issues and this concept applies to both.

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