Did you know that recognition is the number one thing your employees want from you, their manager, to drive them to work harder?
For a small business (or any business, for that matter), positive feedback is essential. Not only is it an indicator that operations are on point, but it can also be a great takeaway that strengthens the overall health and development of your business.
Feedback often comes in the form of positive online reviews from customers. Positive feedback should trickle down to your employees and team, the driving force behind your business’s success.
- Some businesses focus on negative feedback and reviews and try to find ways to fix or mediate them quickly. While that practice is beneficial in its own way, it’s high time to prioritize your business’s positive feedback and online reviews.
In this article, we’ll cover why sharing positive feedback is essential to a business’ growth and provide a few examples along the way. Here’s what we’ll be reviewing:
You just opened your Facebook Business Page and read a glowing recommendation. As a business leader or manager, you’re ecstatic and patting yourself on the back! If you’re looking for someone to share your joy and pride with, it’s time to turn to your team.
Hearing the words, “Great job!” may not be enough for employees to feel motivated to continue their success. Recognizing their positive behavior promptly and not just during their annual performance reviews can make a massive difference in employee retention and satisfaction.
Still not convinced? Here’s the case for sharing all positive and constructive feedback with your entire staff.
- Sharing positive feedback improves retention. Did you know that 63.3% of companies say that retaining employees is harder than hiring them in the first place? By sharing positive feedback with your employees, you continuously motivate them and reassure them of their outstanding performance, lowering your employee turnover rate.
- Sharing positive feedback increases employee productivity. 69% of employees say they would work harder if they are better appreciated. By encouraging your employees with excellent feedback and sharing a positive online review they specifically received, you can help keep their productivity and morale high.
- Sharing positive feedback fosters a motivational environment. Creating a culture of open communication and positive reinforcement can help create a successful and positive mindset within your teams. Your employees will feel more charged and multiply their efforts as a result. Show them an online review that was written specifically about them, and watch their faces glow.
- Happy employees are great brand advocates. Customers often look at how a business treats its employees as a reflection of its values and ethics. This is a great opportunity for big and small business owners to turn to happy employees to act as brand advocates. It’s free, positive publicity!
- Recognition leads to more quality work. By telling your employees when they’re doing great work and emphasizing their strengths, you can build your business off the fruits of their labor. This can also help improve the quality of their work in the long run as they refine their skills even more. Let’s say they’re given a raving online review. When it’s shared with them, they’ll want to repeat or even one-up their own performance!
While some businesses want to address their negative online reviews and employee feedback, the case for addressing positive feedback is equally strong and should not be ignored. Want to know how sharing positive feedback with your business will benefit its overall health? Here are various feedback examples to inspire you.
Positive Feedback Will Build Up Employees and Boost Team Morale
Example #1. An employee provides excellent service and is specifically recognized
Imagine finding a positive online review from a customer who specifically name-drops team members they interacted with. This employee truly resonated with the customer, so much that the customer was compelled to leave a review just for them.
This is an excellent opportunity for you, as a business owner, to commend the specific employee (and, by extension, their team) for their hard work! Sharing this feedback will motivate them to be recognized again and again. In the long run, this type of recognition is critical to retention and in building group morale.
Example #2. An employee maintains a positive attitude during a challenging situation
Customer-facing roles can be tough, especially if the employee in question has to work with a difficult or demanding customer. These scenarios can be stressful and particularly challenging for employees to keep their cool in.
But those that do should be recognized for their positive behavior and encouraged to repeat this in the future if such a scenario should rise again.
Going the extra mile to appreciate their effective problem-solving will help make the best of a bad situation and inspire other employees.
Use the employee’s name and consider wording your feedback along these lines: Thank you, Employee, for going above and beyond to address this customer issue patiently and with a great attitude. We know that was a challenging situation, but you handled it amazingly. We really value your commitment to the team and our customers. Keep up the great work!
Positive Feedback Will Fortify Management and its Strengths
Example #1. Management handles a customer issue personally and professionally
You may have some more senior employees who have been spearheading a customer project and facing some challenges in the process. There are often cases where the business owner or management may step in and handle a customer directly.
By doing so, they reinstate customer confidence in the company, and employees can look up to their strong leadership. These efforts should be recognized.
A great way to do this is by recognizing them publicly in a team meeting and/or shooting them a note of appreciation like this:
Thank you for setting an example by displaying strong leadership skills when you stepped in and address the issues surrounding [x customer]. You led by example, helped the customer feel confident in our services, and set the tone for excellence among our employees. Great job!
Example #2. Management goes above and beyond to right a wrong or ease a customer’s uncertainty
Sometimes, business owners or management may intervene and put in extra effort beyond the norm to retain customers and solidify their confidence in them and their services. This can happen in any industry, to any business.
In the above example, the project manager personally addresses all of the client’s concerns regarding previous contractors. The client expresses initial worries about the process, but management steps in to do everything they can to make sure the same issues never happen again. Management makes a personal effort to walk the client through every step and answer all questions.
Doing so reflects greatly upon the business and acts as social proof for their customer service. Receiving this type of positive feedback specifically about a manager can only help fortify a business’s overall management team. Such incidents warrant praise and gratitude!
Positive Feedback Will Improve Business Operations
Example #1. A customer is impressed by how fast their home service was completed
When people are dealing with a home repair or renovation, speed is often something they value. Homeowners want the repair to be as minimally invasive as possible, and if they must be displaced, they don’t want to be displaced for very long.
Imagine receiving a positive online review where a customer commends your business for its rapid service. They loved how quickly their water was turned back on, or how little time they had to spend out while your crew made repairs.
This feedback provides direct insight into your business’s operational strengths. Receiving such positive validation from your customers confirms the hard work your team is putting in and can also help you focus efforts on replicating this success.
Here’s an example of how you might share this feedback with your staff:
Hi, team. Take a look at this great online review we just received about how efficiently we are completing projects. This customer appreciated how little time she had to spend outside her home. This is thanks to all the great work you’re all putting in as a team. Let’s keep this up. Amazing job, everyone!
Example #2. A customer appreciates how available and responsive your business is
We’ve all been there. We have a plumbing emergency or need an electrician to come out as soon as possible, but the phone lines are busy, or we have to wait weeks for a professional to have an opening.
While being fully booked may signal thriving business to a company leader, it is also a great sign that the company is losing tons of potential sales. Every call and every job that they cannot take immediately is a potential lost sale.
Because your business optimizes its staff’s schedule to be available for every single call and job, customers are noticing. They’re appreciative of your business’s wide availability—and they’re leaving 5-star reviews specifically about this.
Here’s a sample of how to share this positive feedback with the group:
Team, a customer just left us a great online review regarding our availability. This customer mentioned we are the fifth plumbing company they’ve reached out to, and we are the first to respond and meet their needs right away. They appreciate how accessible we all are and how easy it was to get in touch with any one of us. Thank you all for being so available and prioritizing our customers’ needs first. They are responding positively, and we should celebrate this win!
Tip, Tip, Hooray! (Tips on Sharing Positive Feedback Effectively)
Now that you know the importance of sharing feedback with your employees and how to do so, here are some tips to get you started with the process on a high note:
- Hold a recurring meeting with teams to celebrate and share their wins. This can be anything from a monthly video conference with teams across various locations or incorporated into a couple of minutes in your weekly team huddles. During this time, make it a special point to call out specific wins or positive online reviews your business and/or employees received.
- Send company-wide emails and screenshots of positive feedback the business has gotten on their chosen online review site. By doing so, you keep all your employees on the same page regarding customer sentiment and boost morale.
- Single people out and be personal. Had your eye on an employee who’s been doing some good work? Check in with them and celebrate their hard work! It’s one thing encouraging everyone for their collective efforts and another for an employee to open their inbox to some direct employee recognition and a thank you from their boss.
- Be timely, and don’t let wins go by too long without notice. While formal annual performance reviews are held, it doesn’t mean you should stop yourself from recognizing employees who are doing a great job consistently. Make sure you reach out to them at the right time when your effective feedback can inspire them to work even harder. You don’t want to be focusing too much on employees’ strengths from the last quarter if their performance is suffering for another reason today.
We’re Positive We Can Help
Handling customer reviews and your employees’ feedback mechanisms simultaneously can seem like quite a task, but in the long run, it’s well worth the time and effort a business dedicates to it.
We’re here to make your life easier.
Signpost’s review management service can help you manage your online reviews efficiently, saving time and allowing you to focus more on employee engagement and retention. We also offer marketing automation services that can help you make the best of your digital marketing campaigns and help manage your leads better.
So, don’t hold your breath! It’s time to focus on the big picture, take your inspiration from these examples of positive feedback, and integrate it into your business’s overall success.