When you’re explaining something to somebody and they don’t get it, that’s not their problem, it’s your problem.
An older article from Tim Bray with great advice.
Tag: support
consumers don’t give a shit about how small you are, how hard your product is to build, or that you are running out of money. All they really care is that they paid you and now they expect your product to not only deliver on the promise you offered, but surpass it.
Brent Simmons writing about the Vesper support guidelines Dave Wiskus published:
Support has to be as well-designed and good as the app you’re supporting.
My co-worker, Alx Block, writing about his experience at UserConf:
The only way that your start-up will set itself ahead of the pack is by providing the best customer experience. Loyalty drives us, and without support, we are nothing…I’m passionate about helping WordPress.com users be the best that they can be. I’m proud to be a Happiness Engineer. I’m proud to call myself support.
Distributed Happiness
Last Friday I spoke at UserConf about how we run distributed support teams at Automattic. The talk was about 30 minutes and I’ve written it up, with slides included, as a blog post below. You can also download the full slide deck. The video is now online, too.
If you want to show your customers that you care, it starts with your support team.
Good for what? Considering context in building learning objects.
I think we often view methods of tutorial creation as good or bad. Really, we would also be evaluating technologies and methods for tutorial creation based on the individual context.
Later this year I’ll be speaking at UserConf in San Francisco. If you work or are interested in the world of customer support I’d highly recommend going.
Curious what previous UserConfs have been like? In a word they’re awesome. I wrote up notes from last year’s San Francisco conference. I also heard rave reviews from team members at Automattic who went to May’s UserConf in New York.
And, if you use the coupon code andrewlovesyou you’ll save $50. Pretty great deal!
How to get great support as a technical user. Solid set of tips on getting effective support. From Wynn Netherland at Github.
Passionately Angry People
Working in support you’ll find no shortage of frustrated people. Less common, but not uncommon, are the people who are frustrated and passionately angry.
The people who express passionate anger are frequently the same ones who spend unbelievable amounts of time with your product. Your best customers can be your most vocal critics.
For these people, your product is central to their ability to complete a certain task. Compromise their ability to effectively do that and you’ll see frustration boil over.
The thing is, these people love your product. Many use it for hours every day. Your product’s bugs and unwelcome changes tarnish that love with unmet expectations. They make these people want to scream at you.
If you work in support, this also means a passionately angry person is rarely angry with you, personally. It’s the product that is frustrating them. You’re just the closest thing they have to that. Welcome to the front lines. Time to grow some thicker skin.
The upside to all of this is that if you can find the task someone is trying to accomplish you can solve their frustration. Find the task they want to do. Eliminate the roadblocks to getting it done. Make everything about it faster. Walk away with a happy, and no longer frustrated, customer.
The next time someone writes to you in all caps calling you unspeakable things, take a moment to step back. Do more than just answer the question they’re asking. Think of the task they’re trying to finish and help with that. Nothing solves anger quite like getting things done.