The Correction

Finally the CORRECTION. The correction is easy if the complaint was communicated properly and the true cause was found. The correction is just a report of what procedures were taken to correct the complaint and a confirmation that the complaint is satisfied. The importance of the correction is emphasized by two factors.

Billing the Correction

The customer always wants to know if the labor they paid for was justified. If a correction description is too vague they may not see the value in the labor amount. If the description is too detailed the customer will be more inclined to scrutinize the bill and may feel that he had to pay for procedures that did not need to be done.

Reporting the Correction

The correction description becomes the final record of what truly happened. If it is not a good description or does not give a clear understanding it may be hard later on to have a clear picture of what corrections were made. This may affect a warranty decision are even worse the shop could lose a legal battle simply by not having clarity on a transaction.

As part of my training as a young man I wrote a horrible poem to emphasize the importance of understanding the questions, before answering them. However, part of the poem is worth repeating in another effort to emphasize the need to understand. Here it is,

“Answers to questions are not always good, when questions to answers are not understood”.

Conclusion

With the complexities of running  a modern day shop, communication is key. Understanding each others question and answers can be the difference between sink or swim. The CCC’s are simply an organized way to accomplish the question answer forum. High quality communication using the Complaint, Cause, Correction format will result in happy customers, happy technicians, high profits and full bays.