The best kind of feedback is the kind you don’t have to ask for. Clients, team member and supplier referrals. Also complaints, suggestions for improvement, dropouts, people leaving or quietly ceasing to do business with you.

It’s not enough to simply count occurences. You also need to examine the behaviour that leads to them.

Take Client referrals for instance. Referrals shortcut your Share Promise process, but not by much. You still need to Qualify them (and they you) and Demonstrate Value before you can finally Enrol them as a client.

If this doesn’t happen, you need to ask why.

If they drop out at Qualify, is it because they don’t fit the profile of the people you serve? Or because they don’t share your core values? Or because they aren’t ready for what you can do for them yet? If so, perhaps you should look at how you’re communicating what you do and who you are for to your existing clients. Give them the best words to use, rather than leaving it to chance.

If they drop out at Demonstrate Value, that can only be because they don’t see the value. Why is that? Is it because you haven’t communicated it? Or because they need something you don’t offer? If so, should you offer it? Maybe, if it’s consistent with your Promise of Value.

If they drop out at Enrol, that’s either because they aren’t motivated enough or able to move forward with you. There’s not much you can do about the motivation, other than improve how you Qualify, but if the barrier is ability, maybe you can help them remove it, by changing the delivery format, or timing, or how it’s paid for.

Understanding why something happens helps you decide what comes next – whether that’s revisiting Package Promise or honing your language.

By now of course, you’ve realised that this doesn’t just apply to client referrals. Every passage through Share Promise tells you something. Not all of it should result in changes to what you do or how you do it, but you won’t know that till you’ve looked at it.

The best kind of feedback is the kind you don’t have to ask for.

But you do have to take notice of it.