One habit I have carried through almost every business I have been involved with is pretty simple. When there is a problem, I want to know about it.
I would rather take the phone call and deal with something while it is still manageable than hear about it three days later when everyone is frustrated. That does not mean I can solve every problem immediately. I can’t. Sometimes I don’t even know the right answer when I first hear about an issue.
But I want to know what is happening.
After years in business, I have seen how quickly a small misunderstanding, customer complaint, equipment issue, or communication problem can grow when nobody takes responsibility. The original problem may have been easy to fix. What makes it difficult is everything that happens afterward.
Most Problems Don’t Start Out as Emergencies
I think you learn this after you have been in business for a while. A lot of serious problems did not begin as serious problems.
Maybe a customer called with a question and nobody returned the call. Now the customer is irritated.
Maybe someone noticed something wasn’t working properly but assumed another person would handle it.
Maybe two people had different ideas about what was supposed to happen, and neither stopped to clarify.
Individually, these things seem minor. That is exactly why they are easy to ignore.
My approach has always been to take the call and troubleshoot the problem as soon as I can. I want to understand what happened. Can we fix it right now? Does someone else need to get involved? Is this actually a bigger issue than it first appears?
Sometimes five minutes of attention is all it takes.
Working With Customers Taught Me to Pay Attention
I started my career working as a busboy and waiter in the gourmet restaurants at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Hospitality teaches you very quickly that little things matter.
A customer does not know everything happening behind the scenes. They only know what they experience.
That lesson stayed with me as I moved through different industries. I spent years in the mortgage business and later became involved in retail, fitness, tourism, and outdoor recreation businesses. The details changed, but people did not.
Customers want to know that somebody is listening.
I think business owners sometimes make the mistake of looking at a complaint as an interruption. I try to look at it as information. Why did this person call? What happened that made them feel they needed to contact us? Is there something here that could happen again?
You will not agree with every complaint. Sometimes a customer has expectations that are difficult or impossible to meet. But even then, I would rather understand the situation than ignore it.
Being Available Has a Cost
There is a downside to taking every phone call and wanting to know about every problem.
It can consume your day.
If you are involved in multiple businesses, there is always something happening somewhere. If you allow every small issue to take over your attention, you can spend an entire day reacting instead of actually running the business.
I have had to think about that balance.
Does this need me, or can someone else solve it? Does it need an answer right now? Am I helping by getting involved, or am I making it harder for someone else to do their job?
Those questions matter.
I still believe in being available, but being available does not mean doing everything yourself. Sometimes the best thing you can do is understand the problem, make sure the right person is handling it, and move on.
Big Problems Are Different
There is an important difference between dealing with small problems quickly and rushing a major decision.
If something small can be corrected today, I want to correct it today. If something serious happens, I often do the opposite.
I give it some time.
When a big problem occurs, my instinct is not to make an emotional decision just because everyone wants an answer. I would rather think about it, go home, sleep on it, and look at it again the next morning.
That has helped me more times than I can count.
Problems feel different when they first happen. Frustration, anger, or pressure to do something immediately can set in. But what happens if the first solution creates an even bigger problem? What information am I missing? Will I see this differently tomorrow?
Some situations obviously can’t wait. But when I have the choice, I would rather make a major decision with a clear head.
I Want to Know What Went Wrong
Fixing the immediate problem is only part of the job.
I also want to understand why it happened.
Was it a one-time mistake? Was communication unclear? Is there something in the way we operate that needs to change?
This is where problems can actually become useful.
When you are involved in businesses for long enough, you start recognizing patterns. The names and circumstances change, but certain problems come back. If the same issue keeps happening, fixing it one customer at a time is not really fixing it.
Something underneath needs attention.
For this reason, I constantly watch what is going on around me. I want to know what customers are saying, what is happening in the business, and where things might be changing.
You cannot prevent every problem. I have never run a business where everything went perfectly, and I don’t expect to.
The goal is to notice enough that you are rarely completely surprised.
Problems Are Part of Doing Business
I used to think success would eventually mean fewer problems. I don’t really look at it that way anymore.
A growing business creates its own problems. More customers mean more interactions. More activity creates more opportunities for something to go wrong. Economic conditions change. Customer expectations change. What worked before may stop working.
You solve one problem, and another eventually takes its place.
That is not necessarily a sign that something is wrong. It is part of running a business.
What matters is how you respond.
For me, that means handling what I can handle while it’s still small. It means taking the phone call instead of hoping the issue disappears. It also means recognizing when a problem is big enough that I need to stop, think, and come back to it with a clearer mind.
I have spent decades working in different businesses, and I still deal with problems every day. I don’t think that will ever change.
What has changed is how I see them.
A small problem is usually telling you something. I would rather listen while it is still speaking quietly than wait until it gets loud enough that everyone notices.
