A long-time customer reports a recurring problem that our engineering team has labeled low priority. How would you handle the customer’s concern, advocate internally for attention if necessary, and maintain the customer relationship during the process?

I’d start by treating this as a high-touch relationship issue. I’d acknowledge the problem, summarize the exact steps and frequency (e.g., happening 3–4 times per month) and confirm the business impact — especially if this customer represents ~8% of ARR or has a renewal in 90 days. I’d open a dedicated ticket and provide a single point of contact, promising regular updates every 72 hours. Internally, I’d build a short business case: frequency, customer lifetime value, churn risk, and any operational cost to support the workaround. I’d escalate to the product manager and propose either a scoped patch in the next sprint (2 weeks) or a hotfix within 48–72 hours. Meanwhile I’d offer a concrete concession (10% credit or a month of premium support) and run weekly check-ins until the issue is resolved and CSAT returns to baseline.