Are you honest when you are asked for feedback about a person or their service? This happened to me today when a sales manager called me about using a service that they had offered to me. Realistically, I will never probably see this person again and I could have just said no I am not interested in your service anymore. But I thought about it and gave him the honest feedback about why I am saying no. What if every person he talks to just says no thanks, but never tells him why? How will he fix the issues that I shared with him today if he doesn’t know about them?
Giving feedback to someone is not always an easy thing to do. I have found the best way to do this is to use a fact based conversation. When you need to give feedback you can use the SBI Model. SBI stands for Situation, Behavior and Impact. Share information about the situation that occurred, the behavior that you observed and the impact that it had on you or other people. Using the model helps you to speak in facts vs emotions that can sometimes come into play when giving feedback. Defensiveness can also occur and using facts will help to minimize that as well.
Sharing the facts in a genuine, respectful and honest way will help that person improve. No one is a mind reader, so without the information, they will keep doing what they have always done. You have a choice to make when you are asked for feedback. Will you be honest? Take this opportunity to share what you think and help someone improve themselves or their service. They may or may not choose to hear the feedback, but at least you did the right thing by offering it to them. Remember feedback is a gift.
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