In his article, Desperately Seeking Critical Feedback, TechRepublic writer, Brian Taylor, explores the significance of receiving constructive criticism via an interview with American entrepreneur, Matt Hudson. London-based direct sales and marketing company, Source Marketing Direct, also recognises the importance of critical feedback as an essential tool for development and growth.
Hudson, the lead mobile developer for privately held department store, a mentor in The ARK Challenge start-up, and founder of VoteRockIt and Lynergy.com, discusses his own experiences in business, focussing on advice for new start-ups. The successful entrepreneur places high value on receiving feedback, particularly from those who actively ‘speak out’:
You need those “speak out” people that are willing to say bad things about your start-up. [You should] latch onto them and ask them for as much as you can possibly get them to give you. Because those are the people that are going to give you the clues as to whether or not what you’re doing is on the right track.
Managing Director of Source Marketing Direct, Hector Montalvo, agrees that critical feedback is a necessary part of business:
In order to grow as a company, you have to be willing to accept and embrace constructive criticism. That’s how you’ll know that you’re getting it right, and if you’re not, that’s how you’ll know what changes to implement.
As a direct marketing company that involves face-to-face interaction with customers, Source Marketing Direct is in a fantastic position to receive feedback on a daily basis. Reactions to products and services are not only instant, but authentic too, as customers are able to interact directly with a brand. In this way, results can be measured accurately and changes can be made to specific marketing campaigns without delay.
Matt Hudson goes on to reinforce the importance of developing a critical audience, particularly within a collaborative network of peers:
One of the more profound things that I have found in the start-up community is what I call “teach and share.” Because whether or not you are successful, especially if you are outside of Silicon Valley, is going to depend on the relationships that you have made. So when you talk to your fellow start-ups, ask them how you can help them out.
Hudson credits this capacity to absorb feedback as the most important things he has learned in business. There are many great ideas, but in terms of commerciality, not all ideas, however great, will be successful. As Hudson argues, ‘you have to find somebody willing to tell you whether or not they will buy your product and your idea. And that is probably the key to determining whether or not you will be successful.’
As Hudson concludes, real success ‘requires either your customers or your relationships to make you successful, so you have to do what you can to make other people successful in the start-up community.’ This value of collaboration, as well as the capacity to interpret criticism, is certainly respected at Source Marketing Direct, where feedback is gathered regularly and ongoing business relationships are developed on a daily basis to help develop brands and generate customers on behalf of clients.