For those of us who choose to make a business from our individual genius, it can be quite tricky to know what people really appreciate about our work. Why people love working with you.
Negative feedback
They will tell you pretty quickly when what you’re doing isn’t quite what they want, but it’s rare for them to provide feedback on what’s working well. That’s not unreasonable really. When it’s going well for them, that’s just what they’re paying for, so why would they comment on it?
Do more of what works
The trouble with not getting feedback about the good stuff is that you can’t make sure you do more of it. So you carry on doing what you’ve always done. Which is obviously good enough (otherwise they’d say).
But it could probably be better – IF you know which bits to do more of.
Discovering why people love working with you
Let me share with you a couple of very good questions to ask your clients. I learned these from my own coach, Helena Holrick, who asks them at the end of every session I have with her:
- What did you find most valuable about today’s session?
- What did you find most enjoyable?
The great thing about those questions is they perform several purposes for me. They make me think about everything we’ve gone through in the session, so nothing gets forgotten. And they help me prioritise, because I have to think about what was most useful. And they also remind me that business is supposed to be fun, if I’m making it hard work and not enjoying it, there’s probably something wrong.
A win-win
And the questions provide valuable feedback for the provider too. Helena gets to find out what aspects of what she does for me are what *I* really value, and enjoy. When I use the ‘valuable’ one with my clients, I discover how much they value having their assumptions challenged. And so do they, and that means they are reminded quite how powerful it is to work with me!
And the ‘enjoyable’ one tells me they appreciate the element of cheekiness in the *way* I make those challenges. They tell me the way I get them to laugh about all the inventive ways they manage to get in their own way brings in some lightness and humour that means they don’t feel too bad about it. So they don’t waste time beating themselves up, they get on and do something about it. And that reminds them how much fun it is to work with me 🙂
Your questions
Those exact questions might not be the right ones for you. Helena’s work for me, but then we’re both coaches. Maybe you need something a little different.
Just make sure that your questions answer the two important aspects of why people love working with you:
- What’s getting them the results they need?
- What makes working with you a joy?
Please share your two questions in the comments.
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Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
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