About customer support. Part IV
I thought I was done with the customer support series, but a recent blog post on one of the blogs I monitor, Software Marketing News is so related to my own posts that I have to comment on it.
On the one hand, I totally agree with them. Generally, an unhappy customer can do a lot of damage, so companies have better to solve reported problems.
On the other hand, I found it funny that I have just written three posts because I wanted to thank publicly two companies that provide first class customer support.
Of course, I still agree with them when they say that it is unusual for a happy customer to do what I have just done, writing about how happy I am with their support.
How to tell if a company will succeed?
I believe that hearing what problems have your customers is one of the best ways to succeed. It is not a belief that comes from analyzing business strategies. I know it from experience.
In the past, I have had the opportunity to criticize the products or services of companies owned by people I personally know. I tell them the problems I have spotted, with the intention of helping them.
Doing so, I have come across a law that, so far, has proved universally valid:
- Companies owned by a person that gets annoyed when a person that they know criticize their companies, fail.
- On the other hand, owners that thank people making a criticism of their company, and try to solve the cause of the criticism afterwards, have an above average chance of become successful.
It is a pity that I didn’t know this law when I worked as a Private Equity investor. I would have used it much to my benefit to determine if I had to recommend an investment.
What is worse than a noisy unhappy customer?
A silent unhappy customer.
One of the frequent discussions I have with my wife is when we get an awful service at a restaurant or a shop and we consider whether we should complain about the service or not.
My reasoning for not complaining is threefold.
- The service is so awful that the owner should belong to my first category.
- Therefore, the owner is not going to be very pleased when he hears my complains.
- For the above two reasons, I don’t see why should I have a hard time trying to help someone that is not going to thank me and will not use my advice anyway.
So, I take a mental note to never return to the restaurant or shop, and I really do it. My wife, being a better person than I am, still believes that we should try and help the guy in charge, but she gets so violent complaining, than finally she lets it pass.
On either case, they have lost two customers and, still worse, they have no idea why. That really hurts.
