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I once worked at a company that did something like that. It was optional, but once a year you could spend 3 days working in first-line customer service. A CS re
by meekrohprocess 6y ago
I once worked at a company that did something like that. It was optional, but once a year you could spend 3 days working in first-line customer service. A CS rep oversaw your responses, but you got an ordinary account in the customer service system and dealt with real customers.
The first two days you spent replying to customers, and the third day you spent prototyping or writing up some way that you thought common complaints could be addressed by making changes to the product.
It was a nearly unmitigated boon to the company. Sure, the company saw it as paying for a few extra vacation days. But the program stuck around because it generated a lot of good ideas, and the direct communication between CS and product development teams was valuable.
- aaronblohowiak 6y agoI worked at a company where this was mandatory for everyone — everyone — in the company. People who didn’t do it earnestly were let go. If I ever found a company you can bet I’m going to copy the practice.
- dylan604 6y agoWhy would the company have to pay a few extra vacation days? It sounds like a temporary shift of personnel where somebody was out of their normal department but they were still working for the company. That's just a Tuesday not a vacay.
- arcticbull 6y agoVacation in the sense that SWEs and senior SWEs can earn many times the total compensation of a CS rep, I assume.
- meekrohprocess 6y agoIt was sort of a "working vacation" for everyone involved. The people working on the product were taken off their normal duties, and the CS mentors didn't exactly get a full day's work done. But it was worth it.