Business · FORTUNE
Fortune #44
Caution
When the same complaint repeats, examine the process rather than closing each case alone.
QUOTE CARD
A quote for you
“เวลาใดเหมาะที่สุดที่จะแก้ปัญหา? ทันทีที่คุณรู้ว่ามีปัญหา เพราะปัญหาแทบไม่เคยเล็กลงเอง”
— แมรี บาร์รา
ประธานและประธานเจ้าหน้าที่บริหาร General Motors
- Person
- Mary Barra
- Source work
- GM CEO Mary Barra on what she’s learned during 10 year at the top,17 October 2024
- Source text
- The other thing I always say to people is, when's the best time to solve a problem? And they kind of look at me perplexed," she says. "It's the minute you know you have one, because problems rarely get smaller
STORY & REFLECTION
The bottle lid that leaks again
Guidance-based illustration · The bottle lid that leaks again
Illustrative scene: A bottle shop replaces lids one buyer at a time. Every week another bag is soaked, yet the team grows used to mailing replacements without asking which batch fails.
The owner groups batch numbers and photos, finds a loose seal in one run, pauses that stock, and changes incoming inspection. He then contacts remaining affected buyers proactively.
The SBA notes that operations such as service, returns, and after-sale support shape the customer experience. Improving a concrete service step can matter as much as attracting a new buyer.
An upstream fix helps the next buyer more than another apology.
Reflection
Repeated complaints point to a system issue.
A small action today
Collect examples and fix the upstream process.
A question to reflect on
Which complaint repeats enough to justify an upstream change?