Nathan Exposed » What Can I Do Better?

That’s a hard question to ask. But even harder is anticipating the sting that might come with the answers.

A wise business man once said in one of his lectures that you should ask everyone you work with, “What can I do better?”. If you want to take it a step further, you can even ask your significant other, your family, your friends.

I’ve never actually done it, because I would be way too sensitive to take the heat if someone actually said something that struck a nerve with me.

But today, I decided to step outside of my safe and secure box.

There was a potential client that I’d been communicating with, and things were going well. It seemed promising, and I did believe he would be hiring me to design his website. I’d provided good customer service, which he acknowledged. I’d presented a strong portfolio, which he acknowledged. And the budget he’d set for this project was reasonable and workable for what he wanted to accomplish. All signs point to “yes”, don’t they?

That’s what I found out they decided to hire a different designer.

My first instinct was to write them a friendly e-mail, thanking them for their time and consideration and wishing them well. I try to always do that, because I want to leave people with a positive impression, even if they didn’t decide to do business with me.

So I wrote them a friendly e-mail, but I added an additional paragraph that said:

“I’m always open to feedback so that I may improve my business. If you don’t mind, please let me know if there is anything about my process that I could do differently or better. If there is anything specific that influenced your decision, please let me know so that I can provide better service in the future.”

As soon as I sent that off, I dreaded the response. Did I really need to know these answers? Couldn’t I just leave things as they were, with a friendly goodbye and then be on my way?

The response arrived, and I held my breath as I opened it. There was nothing wrong with my process, or my service. They chose to go with a designer that was an acquaintance, and they felt obligated to hire this person instead of an outside source.

I felt relieved, and also proud that I’d went out on a limb to ask something I didn’t really want to know.

Maybe that millionaire business guru was right… ask people “What can I do better?”

I’ll try… I promise I will.

Mon, Feb 11, 2008 @ 11:29 pm | Filed in Abundance | Permalink

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