HOW DO YOU PROCESS NEGATIVE REVIEWS?
THIS IS A MAKE-OR-BREAK SKILL.
The problem with sharing this kind of content at IDEA is that not everyone wants to receive “principled” knowledge. They prefer how-to lessons like, “Do this thing here, do this thing there.” This is fine, but it leaves you at the mercy of tactics, and tactics can come and go. Principles require you to think about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, and principles require you to be the leader, the voice, and the marketer. I could go into the many reasons I believe the industry would be better served if more people wanted to learn how to think , versus being spoon- fed how-to tactics. I believe this is what causes so many in the industry to live and die by the latest trends and tactics, rather than learning the fundamentals of business and marketing, which give them the power and confidence to run their business, no matter what tactics come and go. But let’s stick to what I want you to walk away with, which is a process and mindset on how to handle and keep perspective if you ever get negative reviews. If you want more know-how on the fundamentals of running a fitness business today, clearvisionplanner.com is a good next step.
Knowing how to process negative reviews can make a difference in the level of confidence you have, day in and day out, year over year.
I’m going to share with you a few key ways to inoculate yourself against negative reviews, so even if they come, you can bounce back and keep charging on with the important work you are doing.
Let me give you an example. I presented at IDEA World back in July, and I had two sessions.
For one of my sessions, I risked giving a different style of content to engage the audience. I did this because, when you take your craft as a presenter seriously, you’re always looking for new ways to engage and try new things to see what you have in the tank. In one of the sessions, I was part of a three-person panel, where we each had 30 minutes to present on lead generation for clubs and studios. I was the final presenter after eight hours of sessions, and I took a gamble that the audience would need a break from more tactics and how-to information, and instead, I changed my presentation topic from how to use content online to gather leads, to learning how to use the ultimate lead generator in the world — your voice. Before there were email captures, opt-in pages, and websites, people like Martin Luther King Jr., Jesus, Gandhi, and even modern-day authorities like Oprah, Brendon Burchard, and Arianna Huffington demonstrated that the most powerful way to gather a tribe and help affect change is through the power of your voice and the message that you share. In a world dominated by distractions, “me too” businesses, and tactic marketing, your authority — your ability to get people to believe in your message — is the strongest way, proven by history, time, and data, to get more people moving in a unified direction. If you want more people to care about obesity, diabetes, youth fitness, or whatever your beliefs and the good fights you care about happen to be, you will need to use your voice to help teach people how to think about these things so they care enough to listen, act, and buy. Otherwise, very little happens. The reason I chose this topic is because your voice IS the most powerful lead generator you will ever possess.
Back to negative reviews ...
A month or so after IDEA ended, when they post the reviews, I went looked at the reviews, and this is what I saw.
Now, I could just see those two reviews and start feeling bad about myself and all the time and work I put into thinking how I could serve the industry better, and I would lose precious time and energy fixated on those two reviews. Or I could use the greatest tool in handling negative reviews — perspective .
There is no greater tool for your confidence than perspective. Before internalizing, stop and gather perspective.
Remind yourself that everyone in the audience can see things differently. You don’t know what every single person needs at that time, and some people are just not in the space to receive what you’re sharing. And that’s okay.
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Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.NewsletterPro.com
Vito Lafata • www.vitolafata.com
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