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Support requests should be treated as opportunities to make a positive brand experience. Even if this person doesn't become a high paying customer, they might b

Support requests should be treated as opportunities to make a positive brand experience. Even if this person doesn't become a high paying customer, they might become an advocate. Perhaps they overhear a conversation about your product and say - oh I know <company> - they are so friendly and helpful! If your support is good enough, people will even tweet about how amazing you are. It's hard to pay for advertising that effective! If you're looking for a case study, checkout Zappos history!

Domenic_S 13y ago
Would that customer even know what she's advocating? I bet she'd end up advocating her hosting company, not 37sig. So you go the extra mile, find contact info for her host and give it to you, what's the response? Probably "OH now you're pawning me off on someone else?!" The classic story of customer service is Nordstrom giving a customer a refund on tires (they don't sell tires). But that's an uncomplicated transaction -- 'I went to Nordstrom and they gave me my money back'. Maybe I'm just being negative, maybe it's from doing phone support in college (explaining an ISP vs. a web host to $5/month customers is not fun) or working retail for years before that... but man, supporting the public is hard and it's really hard to figure out when going the extra mile is a net loss for everyone. Zappos is great, but I wonder what would happen if I called them for help with my iPhone... ;)
- lesterbuck 13y ago
  >Zappos is great, but I wonder what would happen if I called them for help with my iPhone... ;) You might be surprised, but the expected result of calling Zappos for help with your iPhone is that they would give it their best shot to be helpful and get it working. There are limits, of course, and I hope you don't try it, but that is how they are trained. At least that is the mantra from Tony Hsieh, in several talks I have listened to over the years. Tony keeps telling a story about how he was out partying with some friends once, they got home at 2am, and one friend said they'd like to order pizza. "Let's call Zappos and have them get us a pizza!" he suggested. They called Zappos, and the service rep patiently looked up the nearest late night delivery pizza places and gave them the phone numbers. There was a small hesitation to start, but the rep's training kicked in to give world class customer service. And Tony gets to tell that story forever...
  - hobs 13y ago
    And if everyone called Zappos for them to do their dirty work it literally wouldnt work. This is only possible because it is the exception, not the rule.

Domenic_S 13y ago

Would that customer even know what she's advocating? I bet she'd end up advocating her hosting company, not 37sig. So you go the extra mile, find contact info for her host and give it to you, what's the response? Probably "OH now you're pawning me off on someone else?!" The classic story of customer service is Nordstrom giving a customer a refund on tires (they don't sell tires). But that's an uncomplicated transaction -- 'I went to Nordstrom and they gave me my money back'. Maybe I'm just being negative, maybe it's from doing phone support in college (explaining an ISP vs. a web host to $5/month customers is not fun) or working retail for years before that... but man, supporting the public is hard and it's really hard to figure out when going the extra mile is a net loss for everyone. Zappos is great, but I wonder what would happen if I called them for help with my iPhone... ;)

lesterbuck 13y ago
>Zappos is great, but I wonder what would happen if I called them for help with my iPhone... ;) You might be surprised, but the expected result of calling Zappos for help with your iPhone is that they would give it their best shot to be helpful and get it working. There are limits, of course, and I hope you don't try it, but that is how they are trained. At least that is the mantra from Tony Hsieh, in several talks I have listened to over the years. Tony keeps telling a story about how he was out partying with some friends once, they got home at 2am, and one friend said they'd like to order pizza. "Let's call Zappos and have them get us a pizza!" he suggested. They called Zappos, and the service rep patiently looked up the nearest late night delivery pizza places and gave them the phone numbers. There was a small hesitation to start, but the rep's training kicked in to give world class customer service. And Tony gets to tell that story forever...
- hobs 13y ago
  And if everyone called Zappos for them to do their dirty work it literally wouldnt work. This is only possible because it is the exception, not the rule.