Why We Ask for Negative Feedback

Why We Ask You to Tell Us When We've Got It Wrong

Most I.T. companies would rather you didn't complain. We welcome it.

Let me explain. We want to know how you're doing and how we're doing, including the negative. Not because we enjoy hearing it. Because it's the fastest way we know to get better at what we do.

The Dell Lesson

Michael Dell built Dell Computers on exactly this principle. In the early days, instead of hiding from customer complaints, he chased them down. Every returned machine, every angry call, every "this doesn't work the way I expected" was treated as free information about where the product was falling short. That feedback loop, more than any single innovation, is what let Dell out-build and out-last competitors who were still guessing at what customers wanted.

We've taken the same view. When a client tells us when something is wrong, that information is extremely valuable to us. It's what allows us to live up to what we promise every client: that excellence is our standard, and that we will find a solution for every issue.

So, when something goes wrong on our end, whether it's a slow response, a fix that didn't hold, or a system that let you down, we want to hear about it. Not eventually. Straight away, so we can put it right.

Every week, as part of our Team Meeting, we discuss how we have been going. We review what we did well and what didn't go so well. Fortunately, the ‘what didn't go so well’ part is quite rare.

We carry out the reviews to make sure that we live up to our promises and to make sure that we are living in keeping with our Code of Honour.

In particular, we look to the following points:

Customer Satisfaction

We are passionate about customer satisfaction. We always strive for excellence and quality of service. We provide great value to our clients. We are consistent. We are professional and reliable. We look for opportunities to have fun with our clients and we enjoy the time we spend with them.

We regularly seek feedback from our clients in order to continually improve our service.

Integrity

We are trustworthy people who operate in an ethical manner. We are honest and forthright. We show consideration to others by being punctual and reliable. We bring our personal best to work. We do what we say we will do.

Commitment

We are committed to our clients and our work. We further our education to better serve our clients. We take personal responsibility for persevering until we find a solution. We are available for our clients and our colleagues. We are focused and thorough.

The Positive Feedback

Here's the part that might or might not surprise you: most of what comes back is positive.

We're not fishing for compliments and we're not naming names here, but a few of the things clients have told us recently:

"I am not an I.T. expert in any way, shape, or form, and they manage to explain things to me in a way that I understand and don't treat me like I'm an idiot."

"When I call, it's like they know who I am. I never feel like I'm a stranger calling."

"I'm proud to be associated, like I'm proud…they hit the mark on everything."

"To be completely honest with you, nothing but good things… I really value the relationship we have with them, and yeah, they're amazing."

Feedback like that means so much to us. When our team hears it, they love it. Whether it's the technician who fixed the problem or the person who answered the phone and made it easy, being told their work saved a client's morning sticks with them longer than almost anything else we could say to them internally.

The Point of All This

We're not asking for feedback, good or bad, to tick a box. We're asking because a business that only hears from happy clients is a business that's about to be surprised by an unhappy one. Asking for the negative keeps us honest. Hearing the positive keeps us motivated. Between the two, we get a much clearer picture of how we're actually doing, not just how we hope we're doing.

If you're a client and something hasn't been right, tell us. If something has gone well, we'd genuinely love to hear that too. Either way, we're listening.