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>Companies need to stop looking at customer support as an expense, but rather as an opportunity to build trust and strengthen your business relationship. As so

by IT4MD 1y ago

>Companies need to stop looking at customer support as an expense, but rather as an opportunity to build trust and strengthen your business relationship. As someone that's worked in basically a service industry my entire life, good luck with this. I don't disagree, I'm just old enough to understand the world that humans build, and this type of long-term approach is dead in the current "Profits over all" culture of the US.

antonymoose 1y ago
While I generally agree with you on the consumer side, I have the opposite experience in selling Business-to-Business solutions. I’ve worked for small firms selling software to libraries (public and university systems), enterprise managed security services (think anti-Phishing operations), and now in managed medical claims for niche practices. In all cases, our firm has had the customer-first philosophy to make them love us. Provide rapid responses and quality outcomes, regardless of perceived cost-center metrics. That has always, in my experience, resulted in an easy contract renewal or even having fans of ours jump to a new job at a new firm and buy our product at their new job. Turns out people aren’t as fickle and price sensitive and still highly value good service, at least when they’re spending the companies money and not their own.
- IT4MD 1y ago
  I've spent a majority of my career managing helpdesks. I teach/maintain a customer service focus for my team, but that's me, not the industry and it gets harder every day. I strongly believe in the long term benefits of customer service, but the world we live in, does not. It values profits RIGHT NOW, and tomorrow is tomorrow's problem.
graemep 1y ago
Its more "short term profits over all". Its not just the US - I think its pretty much the norm in the west now. Things like family owned businesses take a longer term view sometimes.
mionhe 1y ago
Is there a place where it isn't dead in the world? It seems to be the attitude everywhere nowadays.
- IT4MD 1y ago
  In very specific places. I manage technical helpdesks and I maintain Customer Service, but I'm a dying breed, based on my experience with the rest of the world.

by IT4MD 1y ago

antonymoose 1y ago

While I generally agree with you on the consumer side, I have the opposite experience in selling Business-to-Business solutions. I’ve worked for small firms selling software to libraries (public and university systems), enterprise managed security services (think anti-Phishing operations), and now in managed medical claims for niche practices. In all cases, our firm has had the customer-first philosophy to make them love us. Provide rapid responses and quality outcomes, regardless of perceived cost-center metrics. That has always, in my experience, resulted in an easy contract renewal or even having fans of ours jump to a new job at a new firm and buy our product at their new job. Turns out people aren’t as fickle and price sensitive and still highly value good service, at least when they’re spending the companies money and not their own.

IT4MD 1y ago
I've spent a majority of my career managing helpdesks. I teach/maintain a customer service focus for my team, but that's me, not the industry and it gets harder every day. I strongly believe in the long term benefits of customer service, but the world we live in, does not. It values profits RIGHT NOW, and tomorrow is tomorrow's problem.

graemep 1y ago

Its more "short term profits over all". Its not just the US - I think its pretty much the norm in the west now. Things like family owned businesses take a longer term view sometimes.

mionhe 1y ago

Is there a place where it isn't dead in the world? It seems to be the attitude everywhere nowadays.

IT4MD 1y ago
In very specific places. I manage technical helpdesks and I maintain Customer Service, but I'm a dying breed, based on my experience with the rest of the world.