In the classic comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles, a man, played by Steve Martin, is at the end of his rope after enduring excruciatingly cheerful but uncooperative service at a car-rental agency. His flight has been diverted. His train has broken down in a field. And now, unable to contain himself any longer, he informs the agent behind the counter that he needs “a f*cking car, right f*cking now!”
We’ve all been there, and one of the culprits, other than poor execution itself, can be rapid growth. Some companies expand so quickly that they outrun their customer service capabilities. When startups take off, it is all too often the customer who is left in the wake.
This is the downside of the kind of success it takes to make the Inc. 5000. But if fast-growing companies had
