Observation 8
One observation from 25 years of building businesses and leading teams.
13 October 2026
We’ve all heard the saying: The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
But what happens to the wheels that don’t squeak?
At one organisation, we had set up a dedicated Client Companion Cell, in addition to our existing customer care team, for customers whose business exceeded a defined value threshold.
The idea was simple: resolve issues within defined turnaround times and proactively reach out to understand whether clients were facing any problems.
Our guiding principle was FRFR — First Raised, First Resolved, with more serious issues taking priority. The idea was to resolve issues in the order they came in, unless their severity warranted faster attention.
On paper, the initiative was working. Renewal rates improved, and renewal order sizes gradually increased.
A few months later, a review of the previous quarter’s reports revealed something less encouraging.
Clients who complained the most were getting their issues resolved faster and receiving more attention. Meanwhile, some of our quieter clients were receiving fewer calls, and even the duration of those conversations was declining.
One client, in particular, had become a regular source of complaints. Even minor issues received considerable attention because the team feared he would escalate them.
The FRFR principle was gradually being set aside. His complaints were often pushed ahead of others, irrespective of their severity.
When the unit head was asked about this, he replied proudly, “We are working hard.” He genuinely believed the team was doing a great job.
He explained that he had instructed the team to prioritise this client because otherwise, the complaints and escalations would keep coming.
The team was indeed working hard. But its attention was increasingly going towards the customers who demanded it most.
A few weeks later, one of our loyal, high-paying customers didn’t renew.
An in-person conversation revealed that he wasn’t getting the right return on his investment. When asked why he hadn’t raised the issue earlier, his response stayed with me.
“I thought the company would take care of me.”
He had trusted the company to recognise the problem and take the necessary steps. He hadn’t thought he needed to keep following up to ensure he mattered.
We had mistaken his silence for satisfaction.
The Client Companion Cell had been created so high-value customers wouldn’t have to keep chasing us. Yet, somewhere along the way, some of them were receiving less attention precisely because they weren’t chasing us.
The customer who complained the loudest got the most attention. The customer who trusted us to take care of him quietly walked away.
Sometimes, the customers who complain the least are the ones we notice the least—until they leave.
Just an observation.