4 ms·

I have brought up talking, like picking up the phone and saying hi, at every workplace I have ever been. The response has always been hilarious, after they also

I have brought up talking, like picking up the phone and saying hi, at every workplace I have ever been. The response has always been hilarious, after they also think it is “such a great idea.” - we have sales for that - we should see if we can get a special team for this - let’s just email everyone a survey From my personal Azure account, Microsoft has called me a handful of times, with a product manager and engineer on the call, just to ask about some random feature I’ve used recently. (Who I stole the idea from, btw) Every single time, I’ve learned something that I didn’t know to look for, and they learned what my usecase was, my hardships, etc. It was a good experience for both parties. It may take awhile, but seeing some of the issues you had be resolved is also satisfying as a customer. I’ve built small products, worked for startups etc. I get the feeling that most devs are terrified to actually talk to the customers they build for. I’m not, because of my background, but most devs don’t have that background.

citizenkeen 4y ago
So you’re the reason Azure’s interface is constantly in flux.
jrib 4y ago
I've had Atlassian's bitbucket team reach out to me after I expressed frustration in a survey. It was a manager and a developer on the call. They listened intently. I think the call lasted at least 30 minutes. I think bitbucket improved a lot over the last few years. I like to think that practice of talking with users was a significant part of that.
tchock23 4y ago
Andrew Mason reached out to me to do an interview about his new startup Descript. Dude is worth a lot of money from his Groupon days and here he is doing one on one calls with his customers. I think it’s a big reason why Descript is a great product. Even if he isn’t the one doing that forever, it sets a huge cultural expectation that listening to customers matters.
cpursley 4y ago
Did they (Azure) schedule the call or randomly dial you up? I'm trying to figure out how to do this with our customers without disrupting them (their workflow, day). And for busy customers, it seems like maybe these types of calls are not high priority enough (vs "app is down" situations) to get them to schedule. I will say, customer development (prospects) are helpful. I've learned so much about what to and not to spend time building. I'd like to get the same milage out if existing customers.
- withinboredom 4y ago
  I just picked up the phone and they were there (they always introduced themselves and asked if it was a good time to discuss X -- I assume they'd just reschedule a time if it wasn't a good time). There was no notice that they were going to call. I was usually bored and driving, which is about the only time I pick up a call from an unknown number. Azure is b2b, so I think there's a reasonable expectation that <em>someone</em> will pick up the phone.
  - rfrey 4y ago
    "I'm calling you unsolicited from Microsoft"... bold, I'd immediately assume a scam, say no thank you, and hang up.
    - withinboredom 4y ago
      Um. It was more like “Hello, is this (name)? Hi, this is (name), the product manager from (team) at Azure. I’ve also got (name) on the line, one of our devs. We were wondering if you have a few minutes to tell us about your experience with (thing team works on), and answer a few questions.”
    - pc86 4y ago
      I'm sure they get a lot of hang ups, but there is a clear difference between someone who can barely speak English calling you from a call center "to discuss the account" or whatever, and a native speaker calling from (presumably) their home or a quiet office, using your name, and who already knows what products within Azure you're using. It's pretty obvious from the get go it's not a scam.
kqr 4y ago
One of the concerns I have about calling customers come from my previous experience with it: once they get contact details to a technical person, they will contact that person for every single problem they have. Do this with enough customers, and you will barely get any real work done. Not to mention that I'm not great at juggling lots of threads of conversation – that's part of the reason why I'm not in customer-facing roles, so I'm bound to drop some. What has your experience with that been like? Or do you know how to avoid it?
- pc86 4y ago
  If you're calling from a business line, the outgoing number should be the main line, not your direct line. If you're doing this on a cell phone, just block the number. Yes, your answer rate will go down, and you'll have to leave voicemails, but eventually when they see a blocked number they'll think "oh it's probably kqr" which won't be any worse than an unknown number anyway. If they ask for your contact details, give them an email or whatever your preferred method is. You can't be tricked into giving out your cell phone. If you don't want to give it out - don't.
- marcus_holmes 4y ago
  Maybe train technical staff in how to set boundaries and deal with customer calls in a manner that doesn't lose customers and doesn't eat all their time?

citizenkeen 4y ago

So you’re the reason Azure’s interface is constantly in flux.

jrib 4y ago

I've had Atlassian's bitbucket team reach out to me after I expressed frustration in a survey. It was a manager and a developer on the call. They listened intently. I think the call lasted at least 30 minutes. I think bitbucket improved a lot over the last few years. I like to think that practice of talking with users was a significant part of that.

tchock23 4y ago

Andrew Mason reached out to me to do an interview about his new startup Descript. Dude is worth a lot of money from his Groupon days and here he is doing one on one calls with his customers. I think it’s a big reason why Descript is a great product. Even if he isn’t the one doing that forever, it sets a huge cultural expectation that listening to customers matters.

cpursley 4y ago

Did they (Azure) schedule the call or randomly dial you up? I'm trying to figure out how to do this with our customers without disrupting them (their workflow, day). And for busy customers, it seems like maybe these types of calls are not high priority enough (vs "app is down" situations) to get them to schedule. I will say, customer development (prospects) are helpful. I've learned so much about what to and not to spend time building. I'd like to get the same milage out if existing customers.

withinboredom 4y ago
I just picked up the phone and they were there (they always introduced themselves and asked if it was a good time to discuss X -- I assume they'd just reschedule a time if it wasn't a good time). There was no notice that they were going to call. I was usually bored and driving, which is about the only time I pick up a call from an unknown number. Azure is b2b, so I think there's a reasonable expectation that <em>someone</em> will pick up the phone.
- rfrey 4y ago
  "I'm calling you unsolicited from Microsoft"... bold, I'd immediately assume a scam, say no thank you, and hang up.
  - withinboredom 4y ago
    Um. It was more like “Hello, is this (name)? Hi, this is (name), the product manager from (team) at Azure. I’ve also got (name) on the line, one of our devs. We were wondering if you have a few minutes to tell us about your experience with (thing team works on), and answer a few questions.”
  - pc86 4y ago
    I'm sure they get a lot of hang ups, but there is a clear difference between someone who can barely speak English calling you from a call center "to discuss the account" or whatever, and a native speaker calling from (presumably) their home or a quiet office, using your name, and who already knows what products within Azure you're using. It's pretty obvious from the get go it's not a scam.

kqr 4y ago

One of the concerns I have about calling customers come from my previous experience with it: once they get contact details to a technical person, they will contact that person for every single problem they have. Do this with enough customers, and you will barely get any real work done. Not to mention that I'm not great at juggling lots of threads of conversation – that's part of the reason why I'm not in customer-facing roles, so I'm bound to drop some. What has your experience with that been like? Or do you know how to avoid it?

pc86 4y ago
If you're calling from a business line, the outgoing number should be the main line, not your direct line. If you're doing this on a cell phone, just block the number. Yes, your answer rate will go down, and you'll have to leave voicemails, but eventually when they see a blocked number they'll think "oh it's probably kqr" which won't be any worse than an unknown number anyway. If they ask for your contact details, give them an email or whatever your preferred method is. You can't be tricked into giving out your cell phone. If you don't want to give it out - don't.
marcus_holmes 4y ago
Maybe train technical staff in how to set boundaries and deal with customer calls in a manner that doesn't lose customers and doesn't eat all their time?