Help! I’ve Received Critical Feedback

When you work with Feedback4Sports, you’ve likely noticed that most members tend to give positive feedback about you or your club. Compliments about friendly staff, excellent guidance, and enjoyable group classes are not uncommon. Feedback often leads to enthusiastic and motivated employees. Let’s be honest: everyone enjoys hearing when they’ve done something well, right?

However, even the best-performing clubs in terms of customer satisfaction occasionally receive critical feedback. And it can be tough at first—how do you handle it? Do you immediately go on the defensive, or do you take a moment to reflect on it? In this article, we share our experiences to help guide you through this process.

See Critical Feedback as an Opportunity

Receiving critical feedback is rarely pleasant, but it’s often extremely valuable. It gives you the chance to improve and turn members who had a negative experience or problem into ambassadors for your club. Effectively handling criticism first requires a mindset of wanting to learn and improve continuously. You’ll find that once you adopt this attitude, you’ll begin to enjoy receiving feedback on a daily basis.

Thank Your Members for the Feedback

‘Feedback is a gift’ is a phrase often used. While opinions on this might differ, someone is taking the time to share their perspective on your club with you. Of course, there may be times when you disagree with the feedback you receive from a member. Sometimes, there’s even a valid reason behind their comments. But it’s important to realize that your members are taking time to give you their feedback. Someone is responding to your request without expecting anything in return. In our view, it’s polite to thank them for the effort they’ve made. You’ll find this is a good way to open up a conversation afterward.

Criticism Doesn’t Always Equal a Complaint

If you’re not used to receiving feedback on a daily basis, critical feedback can quickly feel like a complaint. However, that’s not always the case. In fact, critical feedback often expresses a desire for change rather than an ongoing grievance. When you actively ask for feedback, you encourage members to think about areas for improvement. Often, we can all identify something in any situation that could be better. Does this automatically mean you’re dealing with a complaint? No. Does it offer a chance to improve? YES!

The Utilitarian Approach as a Guideline

A common mistake is thinking that you must act on every bit of critical feedback you receive. As a fitness club, studio, or gym, you are serving hundreds to thousands of people, and people are inherently different, as are their preferences. One person may find a 37°C shower too hot, while another finds it too cold or just right. The same applies to music preferences, coffee strength, and opening hours. Our advice: act according to the well-known philosophical principle of utilitarianism: ‘An action or practice should bring as much happiness as possible to as many people as possible.’

Does This Mean You Can Ignore Critical Comments? No. Always thank your customer for their feedback and explain why certain decisions were made. You’ll find that the attention and explanation you provide will make your members feel heard. In many cases, this will resolve the ‘issue’ without further concern.

We hope these tips help you manage critical feedback even better in the future. Do you have your own method for getting the most out of your feedback? Let us know, as we learn something new every day too!