• The Wall Street Journal , Tuesday, September 23, 2008 10:30 AM

Things go wrong with customers. Even more important than making them right is fixing the problem so that it doesn't happen again, according to three academics.

We missed this in Monday's Journal but see that it was among the most emailed articles, suggesting it struck a chord.

"The key is to address tensions that arise among front-line employees who handle complaints, the managers of those employees, and the customers themselves," the article's summation states. "Steps include starting a complaints database that managers can analyze and use to improve service, and rewarding service employees not for reductions in complaints but for providing exceptional solutions to problems."

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »