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> I think tech companies are bad at customer service because the founders have rarely worked front line Customer service rep turned engineer here. I think this

> I think tech companies are bad at customer service because the founders have rarely worked front line Customer service rep turned engineer here. I think this true, but I also think that so many founders just don’t care about customer service. Investors are far more interested in new customer acquisition than retention, so naturally more resources are going toward customer acquisition. Customer service is an afterthought cost center that barely pays and experiences high churn in 90% of the companies I’ve worked for in my career.

vector_spaces 7y ago
Yeah, plus customer service is one of those highly manual and error-prone business processes that are nearly impossible to (properly) automate which are so annoying to Silicon Valley. In my experience the Silicon Valley approach to it is to optimize your product for the 98% of customers who won't need anything more hands on from you, throw some automation (in the form of documentation, chat bots, and phone menus) at the remaining 2%, and don't worry too much about anyone who falls through the cracks past that. Which can lead to a great experience most of the time unless you're one of those unlucky leftovers, in which case the ground falls out from beneath you into a labrynthine Kafkaesque hell proportional in brutality to the size of the company and the extent to which you depend on it.
quaquaqua1 7y ago
I've consulted with a large customer service org at an oil delivery company-- the VP looked me dead in the eye and said "customer service is a free therapy service we provide to our customers when we as a company have decided it is unprofitable to service them in a timely and high quality manner" I appreciated his honesty. It was a cost center designed to not achieve a favorable outcome for the customer.
tomhoward 7y ago
> Investors are far more interested in new customer acquisition than retention Good investors (I.e, the ones who make investments that turn out to be successful) care a lot about retention, as it’s the strongest indicator that the product/service being offered has enduring value/appeal.

vector_spaces 7y ago

Yeah, plus customer service is one of those highly manual and error-prone business processes that are nearly impossible to (properly) automate which are so annoying to Silicon Valley. In my experience the Silicon Valley approach to it is to optimize your product for the 98% of customers who won't need anything more hands on from you, throw some automation (in the form of documentation, chat bots, and phone menus) at the remaining 2%, and don't worry too much about anyone who falls through the cracks past that. Which can lead to a great experience most of the time unless you're one of those unlucky leftovers, in which case the ground falls out from beneath you into a labrynthine Kafkaesque hell proportional in brutality to the size of the company and the extent to which you depend on it.

quaquaqua1 7y ago

I've consulted with a large customer service org at an oil delivery company-- the VP looked me dead in the eye and said "customer service is a free therapy service we provide to our customers when we as a company have decided it is unprofitable to service them in a timely and high quality manner" I appreciated his honesty. It was a cost center designed to not achieve a favorable outcome for the customer.

tomhoward 7y ago

> Investors are far more interested in new customer acquisition than retention Good investors (I.e, the ones who make investments that turn out to be successful) care a lot about retention, as it’s the strongest indicator that the product/service being offered has enduring value/appeal.