In my last blog post, I wrote about the benefits of testing a new marketing strategy each month. Not only will it help you open doors, but you will gain a better understanding of what works for your business and what doesn’t. Once you’ve made the commitment to regularly testing new marketing strategies, you can move on to my fourth tip – asking for feedback and listening to what others have to say.

4. Ask for and Listen to Feedback

Feedback is hard. No one likes to hear what they’re not doing well, especially when it comes to the things we feel we are ‘experts’ in, like our job. But asking your colleagues for honest feedback is vital to growing as an employee, manager or business owner. Getting an outside perspective of how you do your work, whether from a trusted employee, manager or colleague is great, but in order to be effective, you need to be open to listening to these honest opinions.

Commit to sitting down one-on-one with your coworkers to request this sort of feedback. Although they may be wary to provide honest feedback, it’s your job to assure them this feedback is purely to help you grow in your career. Chances are your employees, co-workers and managers will appreciate that you have asked for their feedback in an effort to make personal improvements.

Once you have received the feedback, don’t stop there. Begin working to make the necessary changes based on what you were told. Although not all feedback with be helpful, it’s important to respect the opinions of others and be open and honest to what you are willing to work on.

Next week, I’ll share my tips for managing your cash flow.