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> Google just doesn't have a customer service culture It's not a "culture", you either hire a bunch of people or delegate to a contractor or outsource the whol

by sqdbps 9y ago

> Google just doesn't have a customer service culture It's not a "culture", you either hire a bunch of people or delegate to a contractor or outsource the whole thing, it's not this fundamental thing. I pay for G suite their customer service is fine.

freehunter 9y ago
There really is such a thing as a customer service culture. Either everyone in your company contributes to customer service or they don't. Either everyone cares about customer satisfaction or they don't. You can't outsource a helpdesk and consider customer service to be "done". The hard part, the culture aspect of it, is how those tickets get routed and prioritized after the support call is finished. The hard part is actively trying to minimize support calls. The hard part is your developers learning from those calls.
- sqdbps 9y ago
  Either everyone contributes and cares or no one does? I can't deal with hyperbole. Everyone has a job to do, and I'm sure that some sort of a bug tracker is attainable for everyone by now, it's not a company DNA thing, you allocate enough resources to something then you can adequately support it.
  - freehunter 9y ago
    "Allocating enough resources" means everyone. It's an all or nothing. If you have a single team that says "customer service is not my job", you've already lost. It's not hyperbole. It literally is an all-or-nothing. Customer service shouldn't be a DNA thing, and at many companies it's not. It's just how they run their business, just like having lights and HVAC is not a DNA thing. At some other companies, though, customer service is someone else's job and it can be solved by outsourcing a helpdesk. That is a company DNA thing, and it's toxic. Customer service is everyone's job because without customers you don't have a job.
    - sqdbps 9y ago
      Maybe that is true for a startup you just launched otherwise that doesn't scale (or make sense).
      - freehunter 9y ago
        How does it not scale? How does it not make sense? It sounds like maybe you work in a company where everyone is not responsible for customer service/support (which would be very unfortunate) or you're misunderstanding what customer service/support actually is (which I hope is the case). Your backend developers shouldn't be answering phone calls from customers. That's the job of the helpdesk. But if the helpdesk doesn't know how to fix a problem, they should forward the call or the ticket to the developer. If something is messed up in the database, the helpdesk should have the ability to put the customer on hold, call the developer, and have them make the required change. If the documentation doesn't match reality, the helpdesk should have the power to get the developers to update the documentation. The helpdesk should be analyzing tickets and sending reports to development teams with the mindset that it is the responsibility and the expectation of the development team to make sure these calls stop happening, or that the helpdesk is empowered to resolve them without escalating a ticket. That is a culture where customer support is everyone's job. If the development team is under no obligation to respond to ticket escalations, that is a toxic support environment. If development is under no obligation to reduce the helpdesk's call volume, that is a toxic support environment. If there is no helpdesk to call, or the helpdesk you've called has no direct line of communication with all of the supporting teams across the entire company no matter their role or function, that is a toxic support environment.
        hobofan 9y ago
        What you describe sounds like a horrible work environment. In every sensible development environment I've encountered there is a wall between the developers and the rest of of the company: their manager, who's responsibilities include shielding their team members from outside bullshit + the product owner who is the one collecting feedback / feature requests from other teams and prioritizes their requests according to the companies goals (which can of course include "build a user-friendly product"). In a system where there is direct line between the development team and other teams, most of the times the developers will only be able to get very little work done due to constant interruption, and/or they will end up spending most of the time fullfilling the requests by the people who cry the loudest, regardless if that's in the companies overall best interest not.

by sqdbps 9y ago

freehunter 9y ago

There really is such a thing as a customer service culture. Either everyone in your company contributes to customer service or they don't. Either everyone cares about customer satisfaction or they don't. You can't outsource a helpdesk and consider customer service to be "done". The hard part, the culture aspect of it, is how those tickets get routed and prioritized after the support call is finished. The hard part is actively trying to minimize support calls. The hard part is your developers learning from those calls.

sqdbps 9y ago
Either everyone contributes and cares or no one does? I can't deal with hyperbole. Everyone has a job to do, and I'm sure that some sort of a bug tracker is attainable for everyone by now, it's not a company DNA thing, you allocate enough resources to something then you can adequately support it.
- freehunter 9y ago
  "Allocating enough resources" means everyone. It's an all or nothing. If you have a single team that says "customer service is not my job", you've already lost. It's not hyperbole. It literally is an all-or-nothing. Customer service shouldn't be a DNA thing, and at many companies it's not. It's just how they run their business, just like having lights and HVAC is not a DNA thing. At some other companies, though, customer service is someone else's job and it can be solved by outsourcing a helpdesk. That is a company DNA thing, and it's toxic. Customer service is everyone's job because without customers you don't have a job.
  - sqdbps 9y ago
    Maybe that is true for a startup you just launched otherwise that doesn't scale (or make sense).
    - freehunter 9y ago
      How does it not scale? How does it not make sense? It sounds like maybe you work in a company where everyone is not responsible for customer service/support (which would be very unfortunate) or you're misunderstanding what customer service/support actually is (which I hope is the case). Your backend developers shouldn't be answering phone calls from customers. That's the job of the helpdesk. But if the helpdesk doesn't know how to fix a problem, they should forward the call or the ticket to the developer. If something is messed up in the database, the helpdesk should have the ability to put the customer on hold, call the developer, and have them make the required change. If the documentation doesn't match reality, the helpdesk should have the power to get the developers to update the documentation. The helpdesk should be analyzing tickets and sending reports to development teams with the mindset that it is the responsibility and the expectation of the development team to make sure these calls stop happening, or that the helpdesk is empowered to resolve them without escalating a ticket. That is a culture where customer support is everyone's job. If the development team is under no obligation to respond to ticket escalations, that is a toxic support environment. If development is under no obligation to reduce the helpdesk's call volume, that is a toxic support environment. If there is no helpdesk to call, or the helpdesk you've called has no direct line of communication with all of the supporting teams across the entire company no matter their role or function, that is a toxic support environment.
      - hobofan 9y ago
        What you describe sounds like a horrible work environment. In every sensible development environment I've encountered there is a wall between the developers and the rest of of the company: their manager, who's responsibilities include shielding their team members from outside bullshit + the product owner who is the one collecting feedback / feature requests from other teams and prioritizes their requests according to the companies goals (which can of course include "build a user-friendly product"). In a system where there is direct line between the development team and other teams, most of the times the developers will only be able to get very little work done due to constant interruption, and/or they will end up spending most of the time fullfilling the requests by the people who cry the loudest, regardless if that's in the companies overall best interest not.