The power of taking negative feedback well

 

This is something I learned from designing games, and not just from training feedback forms. Positive and negative feedback are both important. Positive feedback is important because it tells you what are important to your audience, and moving forward you want to retain and enhance those aspects of your product or service. Negative feedback is important because that's when you realise your weaknesses and shortfalls. That's when you improve. 

In the past when I received negative feedback on my game designs, one impulse I often had was to explain why the game worked that way. I later learned that the best way to take negative feedback is to simply accept them. Don't be defensive. Encourage the person to share their feelings, experience and suggestions. It is important to understand them and why your product doesn't meet their expectations. It is not just about your product. It is also about your audience. Accepting feedback does not mean you will follow every suggestion. Your product cannot make everyone happy, but you do want to delight your most important customers. 

Negative feedback is often more valuable than the transaction itself. Treasure it.