5 ms·

This is a bit of a meta comment, but I find this sort of response to feedback to be counterproductive. Don't defend/justify the way the system works or why it

by wensing 18y ago

This is a bit of a meta comment, but I find this sort of response to feedback to be counterproductive. Don't defend/justify the way the system works or why it works the way it does. Read between the lines and find a way to satisfy the customer.

mechanical_fish 18y ago
Don't defend/justify the way the system works or why it works the way it does. Read between the lines and find a way to satisfy the customer. That might be good advice if the customer contacts you one-on-one. But when the customer posts their complaint to a message board that's read by thousands of third parties, it's helpful to put up an explanation of why the system was designed the way it was. Otherwise I, who have never used the service and am just skimming this thread, might come away with the wrong impression. It's important to avoid getting into a flamewar with your customers, but pointing out the rationale behind your design decisions isn't necessarily offensive. Yes, it's not what the complainer really wants to see, but it is what I, the silent reader of the thread, want to see. And people like me outnumber the original complainer N to 1.
- wensing 18y ago
  You might outnumber them, but you may be less vital. A person that takes the time to write is a potential evangelist. And you'd better be pretty confident about 'N'. Threads like this and readers like yourself may provide a short term boost or bust, but communicative visitors can broadcast the message off-line for months to come. I think you'd agree that we should aim higher (much, much higher), than just avoiding getting into a flame war.
jauco 18y ago
What if there isn't one? 1) The site builder added a certain effort treshhold to block out spammers. 2) The complaining user doesn't want to invest the effort to cross the treshold. These statements are mutually exclusive. The only way to resolve this problem is to remove the need for a treshold. (i.e. remove spam from the internet)
- wensing 18y ago
  Sure. I was critiquing the customer service attitude/response, not the technical details. Even if something isn't feasible, that doesn't make the customer wrong. Complaining customers are opportunities to step away from the whiteboard and listen.
  - jauco 18y ago
    The question I meant to ask was: "what would you do if there isn't a solution to the customers problem?" + explanation why this particular question doesn't have a solution.
    - wensing 18y ago
      Example for www.mypretendcoffeewebsite.com Customer: "I would like it better if every time I opened up your web page a slice of buttered toast came out of my CD drive." Response: "[APPRECIATION: Thanks for your feedback]. [EMPATHY: We understand your desire for a tasty breakfast], and [PLAUSIBLE CONNECTION: we see how a website about coffee should help you plan a more complete meal]. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a way to do this right now. Just for future reference, [OPPORTUNITY FOR MORE INVOLVEMENT: if we were able to do this, would you like to help us test, and would you be opposed to margarine]? For now, what if [SOMETHING CLOSE TO A SOLUTION: we began building a complementary breads chart, like [example]]?
kylec 18y ago
I am in no way affiliated with Stack Overflow - I've just been a user for the past few weeks so please don't lecture me about satisfying the "customer". During my time on the site I've seen the creators attempt to walk the delicate line between ease of access and attempting to curb the abuse that comes hand-in-hand with that. Personally, I think that they've made an incredibly open system that anyone can contribute to if they want. You may have been confused about the scoring system using to calculate reputation. It's a little more fine-grained than a traditional up/down karma system. Since voting up gives you +10 rep, getting 15 rep is as easy as getting two people to vote up your submission.
scott_s 18y ago
And what if, by having only a superficial understanding of the problem, the customer is wrong?

by wensing 18y ago

mechanical_fish 18y ago

Don't defend/justify the way the system works or why it works the way it does. Read between the lines and find a way to satisfy the customer. That might be good advice if the customer contacts you one-on-one. But when the customer posts their complaint to a message board that's read by thousands of third parties, it's helpful to put up an explanation of why the system was designed the way it was. Otherwise I, who have never used the service and am just skimming this thread, might come away with the wrong impression. It's important to avoid getting into a flamewar with your customers, but pointing out the rationale behind your design decisions isn't necessarily offensive. Yes, it's not what the complainer really wants to see, but it is what I, the silent reader of the thread, want to see. And people like me outnumber the original complainer N to 1.

wensing 18y ago
You might outnumber them, but you may be less vital. A person that takes the time to write is a potential evangelist. And you'd better be pretty confident about 'N'. Threads like this and readers like yourself may provide a short term boost or bust, but communicative visitors can broadcast the message off-line for months to come. I think you'd agree that we should aim higher (much, much higher), than just avoiding getting into a flame war.

jauco 18y ago

What if there isn't one? 1) The site builder added a certain effort treshhold to block out spammers. 2) The complaining user doesn't want to invest the effort to cross the treshold. These statements are mutually exclusive. The only way to resolve this problem is to remove the need for a treshold. (i.e. remove spam from the internet)

wensing 18y ago
Sure. I was critiquing the customer service attitude/response, not the technical details. Even if something isn't feasible, that doesn't make the customer wrong. Complaining customers are opportunities to step away from the whiteboard and listen.
- jauco 18y ago
  The question I meant to ask was: "what would you do if there isn't a solution to the customers problem?" + explanation why this particular question doesn't have a solution.
  - wensing 18y ago
    Example for www.mypretendcoffeewebsite.com Customer: "I would like it better if every time I opened up your web page a slice of buttered toast came out of my CD drive." Response: "[APPRECIATION: Thanks for your feedback]. [EMPATHY: We understand your desire for a tasty breakfast], and [PLAUSIBLE CONNECTION: we see how a website about coffee should help you plan a more complete meal]. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a way to do this right now. Just for future reference, [OPPORTUNITY FOR MORE INVOLVEMENT: if we were able to do this, would you like to help us test, and would you be opposed to margarine]? For now, what if [SOMETHING CLOSE TO A SOLUTION: we began building a complementary breads chart, like [example]]?

kylec 18y ago

I am in no way affiliated with Stack Overflow - I've just been a user for the past few weeks so please don't lecture me about satisfying the "customer". During my time on the site I've seen the creators attempt to walk the delicate line between ease of access and attempting to curb the abuse that comes hand-in-hand with that. Personally, I think that they've made an incredibly open system that anyone can contribute to if they want. You may have been confused about the scoring system using to calculate reputation. It's a little more fine-grained than a traditional up/down karma system. Since voting up gives you +10 rep, getting 15 rep is as easy as getting two people to vote up your submission.

scott_s 18y ago

And what if, by having only a superficial understanding of the problem, the customer is wrong?