Successful Companies Make One CX Change That Other Companies Miss

That small box has an untapped goldmine

Photo by Marko Blažević on Unsplash

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Over the weekend, I found a wonderful documentary from the 1980s called In Search of Excellence about innovative companies and what was the catalyst for their successes. I was particularly drew to the story of Stew Leonard grocers. He had a very simple, and logical view toward interacting with his customers.

Rethinking the Humble Suggestion Box

Stew Leonard had a pretty unique, and logical, approach to the Suggestion Box. His view was that only happy customers leave a suggestion. It makes sense, as he explains, if you don’t enjoy shopping at a store, you likely aren’t going to return. But if you do, you’ll come back multiple times, and notice areas that could be improved.

Leonard didn’t just toss a box by the exit as a prop; he etched his commitment to customers on a literal 6,000-pound rock outside his stores: “Rule 1: The customer is always right. Rule 2: If the customer is ever wrong, reread Rule 1.” His view toward customer suggestions re-framed them from being irritants, to instead being potential profit goldmines for his stores.

This thinking is contrary to what most companies believe. The average company thinks they will only get complaints from dissatisfied customers. In reality, as Leonard claims, the customers that only want to complain simply won’t come back. The people that do complain are most likely regular customers. As such, their feedback is more likely to be more constructive and useful.

The psychology backs this up. Also, research from Guy Winch (it is a bit dated), found that 95% of the time, a dissatisfied customer will complain to other customers and will NOT complain to the company. They’ll trash-talk over coffee or blast it on social media, but rarely do they fill out a complaint form.

Happy customers, though? They’ve got skin in the game. They’re loyal, so they’ll suggest “fix the parking” or “stock more gluten-free stuff” because they want to keep coming back. It’s a notion we’ve discussed repeatedly here: Happy customers view themselves as brand OWNERS. As such, they act in a way that is consistent with ownership. They don’t complain, they bring perceived problems to the attention of the brand so the brand can correct them.

Consider Sears, the retail giant that crumbled by 2018. In its heyday, it had suggestion boxes and customer hotlines, but as complaints about outdated stores and lousy service piled up, management doubled down on cost-cutting instead of listening. Regular shoppers—those who once loved its catalogs—stopped suggesting and started shopping elsewhere. Contrast that with Slack. Early users griped about clunky features; instead of brushing it off, Slack’s team pored over feedback, tweaking the platform into a workplace must-have. One company listened to its committed voices; the other didn’t. Sears is a cautionary tale: ignore feedback at your peril. Slack proves Leonard’s point; Loyal voices don’t just complain, they build. Think about it: Let’s say you visit a new grocery store in town, and have a horrible experience. You will probably only visit it once. Are you going to take the time to fill out suggestions during that one and only visit? Probably not.

I was thinking about this when I read Bette’s article on Monday. It seems we only want to hear feedback from others if it does NOT involve us having to change OUR behavior or admit fault. Once we have to hear that we are contributing to an issue that customers or employees are complaining about, then we tend to shut down. It seems feedback is only valuable to many of us if it doesn’t directly involve us.

Employees mirror this. Take Toyota’s “kaizen” system—workers pitch small tweaks daily, like adjusting a tool’s placement, and it’s made their factories world-class. Why? They’re invested; they see the payoff. Compare that to the average office suggestion box, collecting dust while managers shrug off ideas like “speed up the printer.” Gallup’s 2023 report says only 21% of workers feel heard—most stop suggesting and start coasting. It’s Leonard’s logic again: the committed don’t just gripe, they improve, if you let them. Loyal customers and employees aren’t the loudest, they’re the quiet fixers. Tune them out, and you’re not just missing feedback; you’re losing the people who keep you afloat.

Fixing Feedback: From Boxes to Action

So how do we make feedback work in 2025? Stew Leonard’s suggestion box was genius for its time, simple, tangible, and tied to his customer-first obsession. But today, we’ve got better tools to capture those loyal voices, if we use them right. Ditch the dusty box and go digital, think SurveyMonkey for quick customer pulse checks, Slack channels where employees can toss ideas without a formal meeting, or even Substack polls to snag real-time reactions. Leonard’s regulars scribbled notes because they cared; now, a tweet like “your app’s crashing again” or a Slack post about a glitchy printer comes from that same place, people who want you to win. These tools scale Leonard’s logic: they’re fast, they’re direct, and they catch the committed before they give up.

But here’s the catch, tools alone don’t fix squat. Data overload can bury you; many companies drown in survey responses they never read. Or worse, there’s fake “listening”, you send out a “we value your input” form, then ghost the results. Customers notice. Employees too.

That’s not Leonard-style. He didn’t just collect notes; he acted, turning suggestions into profit. If you’re polling customers via social media about store hours or asking staff for workflow tweaks, follow through. Post a reply: “We heard you, parking’s fixed.” Otherwise, it’s a suggestion box with no bottom—stuff goes in, nothing comes out.

The real fix isn’t tech, it’s a mindset shift. Treat feedback like a gift, not a jab. Leonard saw every note as a loyalist handing him gold; we should too. That “your checkout’s slow” comment? It’s not an attack, it’s someone who cares enough to help. Same with employees: a “this process sucks” isn’t whining, it’s ownership. But we’ve got to drop the ego. We love praise, but not the critique.

Flip that. In 2025, the winners won’t just hear feedback; they’ll chase it, from customers griping on social media to staff pinging Slack. Leonard’s rock said the customer’s always right—maybe not always, but they’re always worth listening to. Act like it, and you’re not just collecting ideas; you’re building loyalty.

Mack

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