4 steps for entrepreneurs. From frustrating negative feedback into a roadmap for improvement.

The course had been published for about a month before the first negative review came in.

Chris, the friendly neighborhood course creator, was angry, frustrated, and fearful. She wrote her first published course, and it had to be perfect.

What if the negative reviews will increase until nobody buys her course?

Chris felt the sting, took a long breath, and started reading the review. She had to understand what was going on.

Feedbacks are good, she told herself. I'm being told what to fix to improve my course.

Follow these four steps to improve using the Paul-Elder Framework.

Step 1. Clarity. What are the exact complaints?

Chris reviewed the feedback carefully.

• Is there only one complaint, or are there multiple?

• What is the complaint about? The examples, the pacing, ...?

• As a self-assessment tool, how could you rephrase the issue?

Chris made herself comfortable and read the feedback several times, trying not to get riled up.

The issue was about the material. It was promised and could not be downloaded anywhere.

Step 2. Accuracy. Is there data to support the feedback?

Chris checked the data on the website host dashboard.

• I need to know if there is there material to be downloaded with the course mentioned in the feedback?

• How many people attending the course downloaded it?

Chris found that only two people downloaded the material. Out of the ten currently attending.

Step 3. Depth. Is this an isolated issue?

Chris examined the numbers, attempting to ascertain if this was an isolated incident.

• Has this issue been mentioned in other feedback?

• Has anyone said it in the meetings?

• Do the numbers confirm the issue?

The number of people downloading the materials could be too low. A comparison of this value with the same from another course would have been beneficial.

Since this was her first course, Chris reached out to some of her students to ask about the download page.

Step 4. Fairness. Am I dismissing it because it feels unfair?

The final step proved to be the most challenging, as Chris was required to set aside her ego and uphold a standard of fairness.

It's clear that some people couldn't download the file, while others could. What was the difference?

Chris admitted to herself that the feedback was on point and started fixing what was wrong.

She used the Bloom's Taxonomy method to fix the download.

Is it frustrating feedback or helpful tips?

Your attitude is the key.

Being fair on the first few feedback is difficult, but it will become easy with practice.

Your product will improve with each feedback.