Last year I had the good fortune of doing some consulting with B&C Specialty Products in Hopeulikit, Georgia. B&C does light manufacturing, primarily plastic molding and assembly, and they distribute imported products produced by companies in the Far East. They have about 150 employees and are by far the biggest employer in Hopeulikit. B&C was a perfect place to learn about managing and quality. Every day presented a new lesson. Here’s another good one: Take customer complaints seriously. The following scenario is described by the people who actually lived it.

—Kim Kimber , customer service supervisor

“I hate to say it, but we get quite a few nuisance complaints. In other words, the customer says there’s a problem, but there’s nothing we can actually address in a constructive way. The customer is venting—nothing more. Complaints like these are just part of our day, and we take them in stride. The complaints we get are usually triggered by one of two things: business slowdowns and/or price increases. If it’s not one, it’s almost always the other.

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