Four-line written authority

The single most common cause of slow customer response is not skill or staffing. It is that the person facing the customer does not know what they are allowed to do, so they ask, and asking takes a day.

Four lines, given to everyone customer facing, in writing.

What you may spend, as a figure, without asking.

What you may promise, as a list of specific concessions.

What you may never do without asking, as a short list, with the reason.

Who to ask, by name, and how long they have to answer.

The fourth line is the one usually missing, and it is what makes the other three credible. An authority statement with no response commitment on the escalation path just moves the delay.

The objection is that written authority will be abused. In practice the opposite is the common failure: people given explicit authority use it conservatively, because it is now visible and attributable, whereas the unwritten version produces wildly inconsistent decisions that nobody can audit.

Review the figures annually. Authority limits set once and left alone erode with inflation until they authorise nothing, and the operation gets slower without any decision having been made.