When £0 is still too much

I Received a Complaint This Morning

Which is fine. I wrote a book on customer service and was happy to include the cliché ‘Complaints Are A Gift’. This was an interesting one. It was from a member of a pop-up group I’ve been running over the last week called ‘Write That Book’. The idea was to run a 4-day challenge to take participants on a journey from being potential authors (with no formed ideas), to having fully formed concepts, titles, promises, and a few paragraphs on paper. And to do this in a week. I had no idea how popular it would be - and boy was it popular. We’ve had 25,000 comments and posts in the last 7 days! The whole programme was free. I wanted to create a buzz and something so amazing that the participants might be excited enough to join my Write That Book Masterclass, which launches tonight.

Every day, I would do a live training session, answer questions, and provide content. I then spent 12 hours a day commenting on posts, offering feedback, and giving encouragement. It’s been exhausting – but brilliant. The challenge finishes with the Write That Book Webinar tonight, which will include more training and a whole bunch of prizes for everything from best title to what made me laugh out loud (you’ll love the winner of this – still laughing).

So Why Complain?
Simple. The person who complained didn’t feel as if I had given them enough of my personal time or offered a detailed enough critique of their work, especially on Day 4. Reading their email, I went through a rapid series of thoughts and emotions. Here’s what happened:

1. Pised off** – The whole programme didn’t cost you a penny!
2. Frustrated – I wonder if I could have done more?
3. Myopic – Check what I did write, look at the stats on the page (discover we’ve had 25,000 comments).
4. Flip It – Ask a better question.
5. Struggle for the Question; then ask a Flip It Classic, ‘What have I learned?’
6. I’ve learned to manage expectations and take responsibility. If someone believes they are going to receive detailed feedback on every post, then they must have picked that up from someone – ME!
7. Turn it Into a Positive. Hmmm write a newsletter.

So, there we are.

If you’d like to join my (free) WTB webinar at 8pm tonight which will include ‘The five main reasons why you haven’t written and published your book (yet) and what to do about it’ there’s still time.

Just click here and register your place with Zoom.

Be Brilliant!

Michael

PS Could I have asked a better question? Reacted differently? As always, we’d love to know your thoughts. Please post below.