I agree that proactive service calls would be just awful. There is nothing I hate more than being pestered, by anyone. Having said that, it would be really goo

I agree that proactive service calls would be just awful. There is nothing I hate more than being pestered, by anyone. Having said that, it would be really good to have automatic systems that detect problems. This is done by us with technology, but it could also be done for brick-and-mortar business with some kind of standardized management process. Two applications come to mind: (1) Have engineers fix things before the problem reaches the customer This is what people really want: It just works, and they don't have to bother with it. (2) If the customer does call, and tests say things have gone wrong, he immediately gets sent up the queue and the rep is warned that this person actually is having legitimate trouble and needs to be given more attention and goodies. Danger: You need to constantly align your test systems with your customer's experience. Wrong confidence is even worse than ignorance.