7. How to Deal With Complaints and Criticism as a Healer in business

When a client brings something up it’s not always comfortable. But it is an opportunity.

In this episode, I share a grounded perspective on receiving feedback as a healer in business. Not everything people say is yours to take on, but when you can meet it with curiosity instead of defence, there’s often something valuable to receive.

You'll hear me reflect on:

• What to do when a client shares criticism or disappointment
• How to listen without losing yourself
• Why some feedback has more to do with them than with you
• And how to stay in your centre while still being in service

Because this path isn’t about perfection, it’s about staying in integrity while holding space, including for yourself.

Watch the video version on my YouTube channel: Healing Business Podcast with Frida Kabo

***

FREE BUSINESS FLOW ASSESSMENT

If your business isn’t creating the freedom, abundance, and impact you want, you’re most likely missing one of the key factors revealed in this free assessment. Let’s find out what it is!

👉 Get instant access here

Transcript

0:00

If we have a client that comes to us with something, it's really an opportunity for us to listen to them and make them feel heard. It's not necessarily that you have to do what they say, but they are giving you their feedback on what you're doing. If you receive that as a gift, you can look at it and see, okay, is this something that really belongs to me? Usually the things that comes out of people's smiles have more to do with them than with you. Welcome to Healing Business, the podcast for healers, practitioners, and intuitive business owners who are ready for more flow, abundance, and impact. I'm your host, Frida Cabo business coach, healer and bridge builder. I'm a suite living in the bush in the far north of New Zealand, supporting clients around the world to grow businesses that truly work for them. In this space, I share conversations, practical insights, and a touch of magic to support you as you step into your next level, whatever that looks like for you. Are you ready? Let's begin. So if you are a coach, healer, intuitive in business, chances are that you've received criticism at some point that stung, or a complaint that felt personal or criticism that shook your confidence, or you just. Don't put yourself out there because you're scared of it. In this video, I'm going to share how to handle these moments with grace, clarity, and your power intact so you can keep showing up in your purpose without shutting down. Criticism can trigger a lot of things in us. Self-doubt people shut down. It's a perfect opportunity to become aware of these patterns and things that are popping up. It's important to look at the different types of criticism or complaints. First, I want to say, look, it's normal. If you are out in the world, whatever you do, especially if you're on social media and you're putting yourself out there, you're gonna get criticism. So if you do it, you can see it as you are putting yourself out there. It's a sign that you are actually doing it. So it's something to celebrate. Could be a, a shift in thought, especially if you attract trolls. You said something that triggered someone else. Interesting, right? But also really think about where does it come from? Does it come from someone that knows you really well? Are they showing their way of caring for you in a weird way? Is it from your business coach? Is it from your clients? Is it from some random dude on the internet that it can come from so many different ways. So just think about where does this come from? Who does this come from first? Is it something that you really need to listen to? And you know what? When our clients are taking their time and effort to actually let us know when they're not happy about something, that's actually a gift. Coming from the hotel industry and while I did my masters, they had an example of a hotel that had a broken light bulb in the hotel room. When they phoned down to get it fixed, they came up right away and fixed it really fast.'cause they've seen that people who get their problems fixed really fast or even happier than those who just have things working. So that's an extreme example, and that's not something I encourage. I don't think that's a good strategy, but. Really think about that. If we have a client that comes to us with something, it's really an opportunity for us to listen to them and make them feel heard. It's not necessarily that you have to do what they say, but they are giving you their opinion, their feedback on what you're doing. If you receive that as a gift, you can look at it and see, okay, is this something that really belongs to me? Usually the things that comes out of people's smiles have more to do with them. Stand with you? Is this something that I want to act on, is something that I can do something about or want to do something about? Or is this a perfect opportunity to coach that client a bit more? Or is it just to make them feel heard? Maybe that's enough, right? Because Yeah, I hear you. I don't agree, but I hear you or I hear you. I will consider. And depending on what it is, really think about, okay, how can I make this not happen again? Because it might be about the expectation that is set. Can you do something to set the expectation differently? How people are experiencing your service has more to do with the expectation. If the expectation is met, then the actual quality. I can take an example. When I worked at the four Star Hotel, we had two star Airbnb. Not too far from there. And if you looked@bookingbooking.com, they had actually higher score than we had, but we had a higher quality product. The expectations were different. They didn't have expectations of everything being top-notch in that Airbnb, but they did have that at our hotel. So it's just to see what are the clients that you attract with the expectations that you are communicating. And also policies, like what would happen if someone would be unhappy? We can always say, there's a policy here. I can't help you with that. Or This is what you agreed to, right? So there's so much that we can do before, so we don't have to think about it in the moment. So if you go into those fears of what would happen if you put yourself out there, you can actually look at that and see how can I set myself up so that won't happen? What do you do if a client is unhappy and want their money back? Will you give them that or not? Have you thought about it? Well, it can feel better if you thought about it and really say, okay, yep, it's money back. Or no, sorry. Not everyone is for everyone. It will happen sooner or later, unfortunately. Another question I like is, what do you make it mean if we have a troll on the internet? We can make it mean that we succeeded because we reached them. Or if we have someone that is really opinionated on our posts, we can see that we succeeded because we triggered someone, but they're probably not our ideal client. And that's okay. But we said something that made someone else react. So we probably made some people react in a good way as well. Right. So really see what do you make it mean? If someone has criticism online, especially if someone has something to say there, what do you make it mean? We can shift it. It will happen, and that's okay. Does it mean that you are a bad coach or a bad practitioner? Bad healer, just because someone did not experience in a positive way or just because someone had some other opinion about it? No. Just think about those that you helped and just realize. We are not for everyone. Everyone does not understand this work we're doing and that's okay, and sometimes it's not really about what they did or didn't get to experience. It's just about their experience and they want to feel heard. So really tune into what the person in front of me really needs. Obviously, we don't do this with the online people if we don't know that there are clients, but we do this with the clients tuning to what do they need? Set up your energetic boundaries. What are you letting in? Can you create a bubble around you that protects you from those things? There's so many different layers that we can work on with this. Remember, a complaint does not mean that you failed. It's just mean that you're growing and that you're learning. If it is about communication or if it is about expectation or what clients you attract, just. Tune into that. Where is the growth in this? If you're watching on YouTube or listening, head over to YouTube and tell me in the comments, have you received a complaint that stuck with you? And how did you handle it? Would love to hear that. And just to remember that you are the boss. You got this complaints. Criticism just means that you're growing and it's another opportunity to grow even more. So the questions for today is. First question is, have you gotten my complaints? And what did you do about it? Just think about it. Question two, what did you make it mean? Did you make it mean something that it was not? And how can you look at it differently now? And question number three, how can you create a structure so it doesn't happen again? Is this something that you need to shift there? Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow or subscribe so you don't miss what's next. And if you're feeling inspired, I'd love for you to share this podcast with a friend who's on the same path. You can also find me on Instagram at Frida carbo or head over to frida carbo.com to learn more about how I support healers and intuitive business owners like you. Until next time, stay grounded. Stay open and keep trusting.