The $4 Million Complaint Call • Hacker News Board

Re: The $4 Million Complaint Call

#21

Post by gte910h » Thu, Jun 07, 2012, 10:12 PM UTC

rohansingh wrote: post #5

This is effectively gambling with your time. You only have a limited amount of time available each day. The minutes or hours you spend on the phone with a single customer, walking them through things like how to install Windows, are minutes or hours you are not using to build things that could reach all of your customers. You could luck out, and that time you spent with a single customer could end up like this, with…

I've had "basic computer time" with customers before. Usually it doesn't pay off in direct dollars. But some of them I had to push them out the door with a stick they were so loyal by the end of the time they could use our stuff.

Re: The $4 Million Complaint Call

#22

Post by losethos » Thu, Jun 07, 2012, 10:12 PM UTC

    10 i = i + 1
    20 PRINT i
    30 IF i > 100000 THEN i = 0: GOTO 10
    40 IF INKEY$ = "" THEN 10
    50 PRINT "Bible, Line:", i

God says... unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.

13:28 And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.

14:1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.

14:2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

14:3 And doth thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? 14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

14:5 Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; 14:6 Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.

----

Tell Bob he's in the Bible :-)

Re: The $4 Million Complaint Call

#23

Post by juddlyon » Thu, Jun 07, 2012, 10:16 PM UTC

This makes for a heartwarming magazine article but I don't think it's good advice.

If you don't set boundaries with your clients, they will set them for you. Which means calling the CEO at 2 AM on a Saturday.

The sentiment of always respecting your clients is a good one, but allowing yourself to get roped in on issues that you shouldn't is a surefire path to burnout and losing money.

Re: The $4 Million Complaint Call

#24

Post by jasonkester » Thu, Jun 07, 2012, 10:17 PM UTC

mirceagoia wrote: post #2

How many companies, even small ones, have that kind of support?

Small companies can afford to do this much better than big ones, since they're often doing it in house. "White Glove" customer support is one of the few things you can do to beat the big guys when you're first starting out.

Joel said it best: Remarkable Customer Service, as in service so good that people actually remark about it.

http://joelonsoftware.com/articles/customerservice.html

Re: The $4 Million Complaint Call

#25

Post by danilocampos » Thu, Jun 07, 2012, 10:19 PM UTC

rohansingh wrote: post #5

This is effectively gambling with your time. You only have a limited amount of time available each day. The minutes or hours you spend on the phone with a single customer, walking them through things like how to install Windows, are minutes or hours you are not using to build things that could reach all of your customers. You could luck out, and that time you spent with a single customer could end up like this, with…

I would posit that the much bigger gamble is taking a casual view of your obligations to customers. Word of mouth is a potent thing. A company that values chasing new dollars over taking care of existing customers isn't going to enjoy a good reputation. Moreover – customer support issues, properly handled, are a crucial window into your product's performance, reliability and usability.

Every interaction you have with a customer impacts your brand. Sometimes you win the lottery. Other times you don't. But I'd much rather err on the side of giving a fuck. Anything less is revolting to me, both as a customer and as someone whose bills are paid by the existence of customers.

If you sell something, the customers are your job.

Re: The $4 Million Complaint Call

#26

Post by mirceagoia » Thu, Jun 07, 2012, 10:20 PM UTC

juddlyon wrote: post #23

This makes for a heartwarming magazine article but I don't think it's good advice. If you don't set boundaries with your clients, they will set them for you. Which means calling the CEO at 2 AM on a Saturday. The sentiment of always respecting your clients is a good one, but allowing yourself to get roped in on issues that you shouldn't is a surefire path to burnout and losing money.

Depends on what kind of clients do you have. If you have individual clients then yeah, it may be a waste of time sometime. But if you have institutional clients (other companies), like this startup had (broadcast stations), then I think it's worth going the extra mile.

Re: The $4 Million Complaint Call

#27

Post by jmspring » Thu, Jun 07, 2012, 10:21 PM UTC

ChuckMcM wrote: post #20

rohansingh wrote: post #5

This is effectively gambling with your time. You only have a limited amount of time available each day. The minutes or hours you spend on the phone with a single customer, walking them through things like how to install Windows, are minutes or hours you are not using to build things that could reach all of your customers. You could luck out, and that time you spent with a single customer could end up like this, with…

Interesting take on it, which I disagree with. This isn't "gambling with your time" this is "making good on your customer's commitment". And your note triggered a really interesting visceral reaction in me. You can look at life as a series of choices you make and a scoring system by which you evaluate the quality of those choices. Typically a positive scoring system is used so the higher the score the 'better' the de…

Well said.

There may be companies/products/sites (say Facebook) where responding to every customer gripe is not feasibly addressable (or even valid). However, most of the world works in terms of products and services. You want to delight and provide your customers with the help you can (and more often than not, it will pay off).

In terms of scale, take Apple while Steve Jobs was active. For every amusing one liner email that made it into the blogs/news, I suspect there was many more that were contacted by executive customer support for assistance. Was it Steve responding to each and every person? No, but he did care about quality and there were multiple situations where a letter about an unusual circumstance resulted in customers getting good service.

The market around products like the one in the article are generally tight, most people know each other, etc. In this case, the founder/ceo was able (and committed) to handling the situation. In bigger market opportunities, an organization with a good support staff will likely attract more business over time than one without.

Re: The $4 Million Complaint Call

#28

Post by kevinalexbrown » Thu, Jun 07, 2012, 10:30 PM UTC

While I thoroughly enjoy the heartwarming part, I don't think that's why it's good advice from a business perspective.

It's great advice because word of mouth is extremely important for a technical business selling to a small but lucrative market where buyers have alternatives (like hiring decisions). This will have less impact in large consumer sales where advertising matters, or when you have a market cornered.

It will work when you apply for a job or hire someone. You're selling to a small market - the few employers you speak with. They have some alternatives, but if someone they know and trust (Bob, in this story) raves about you from first-hand experience, it matters quite a lot. Likewise if someone tells me how awesome it is to work with a particular person or group, I am much more likely to take that job among competitive alternatives. Treat your employees like crap and all you'll get are crap new employees, etc.

We don't all run businesses in small lucrative markets. But we do all apply to jobs from time to time, where previously helped or pissed off people will make a huge difference.

Re: The $4 Million Complaint Call

#29

Post by excuse-me » Thu, Jun 07, 2012, 10:41 PM UTC

Mz wrote: post #14

I love stories like this. A couple of others that come to mind with a similar theme: A bank was going to turn down an account for some long-haired young man in jeans who wanted his statements forwarded all over the place. Then some young employee told the middle-aged manager he was a wealthy rock star who needed his bank statements available while touring. Some young bank teller with an attitude was being an ass to a…

And a tip to all the Mercedes dealerships in an oil town like Aberdeen or Houston. If an older guy drives up in a beat-up oil company 4x4, don't tell him he can't take a car out on a test drive because it's raining!

Re: The $4 Million Complaint Call

#30

Post by eli » Thu, Jun 07, 2012, 10:41 PM UTC

Mz wrote: post #14

I love stories like this. A couple of others that come to mind with a similar theme: A bank was going to turn down an account for some long-haired young man in jeans who wanted his statements forwarded all over the place. Then some young employee told the middle-aged manager he was a wealthy rock star who needed his bank statements available while touring. Some young bank teller with an attitude was being an ass to a…

Bah, that's a wimpy version. The story I heard was he bought the branch and fired her.