Software and Technology Customer Service Part I

An under-rated competency, which should be considered more important to software and technology companies, is customer service. I guess that's only natural; tech companies are very focused on gaining strategic advantage via technological advances and product differentiation. Once the product is in good shape, companies shift there focus, and become hell bent on marketing and sales activities to attract new customers.

But what about taking care of existing customers? And how about the operational details of what happens when someone--be it a prospect, new customer or existing customer--contacts the company for assistance? I find these are areas that software and tech companies aren't "naturally good at". It's not part of the DNA of most tech companies. Very seldom will you see a founder or CEO who came up on the support, or customer service side of the tech business.

Because of this, customer support is quite often an afterthought, a detail that senior management never seems to have time to get to--as they struggle with the issues that are viewed as strategic: product development, marketing and sales.

Now I won't pretend to espouse that if you have good customer service and support, all is good, you're going to be successful. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, building great products and marketing them effectively is still of critical importance to growing a tech company. But I have seen many companies with otherwise good products and market penetration techniques, who mess it up big-time in the customer service area. Below are some of the ways to waste all of the hard work you've put into acquiring hot prospects and new customers:

Unfriendly User Interfaces
This doesn't seem to fit in the category of "customer service", and technically it doesn't. But bad user interfaces are a primary reason that your customer service organization becomes overwhelmed. So put extra work into getting your interface right--you will benefit greatly, through less "negative call" volume, and resulting strain on customer support.

Viewing Customer Support only as a cost center
Customer service and support is viewed almost universally as a cost center. I will admit that I viewed it that way when I was managing a P&L. With this view, it is very easy to put Support first in line, when you need to cut money out of next year's budget. Beware of doing this too often. Excellent customer support leaves a lasting impression with clients--and bad customer support leaves an even BIGGER impression. I have had money with Fidelity Investments for years, and this long term relationship is due in great part to their consistently excellent support. I also have an account with ETrade, whom I am intrigued with due to their innovation business practices. But if you actually need to speak with a real person at ETrade--oh boy, can it be painful. So the bulk of my money remains with Fidelity. Dell Computer is a company that I believe is jeopardizing their historically dominant position lately, via reduced support quality. They will no longer support the software that comes on their computers--just the hardware. And even a basic hardware warranty costs extra. I understand the concepts of unbundling and customer choice, but I find this extreme. And unfortunately personal computers are just pieces of metal; they are complex hardware/software systems. Supporting software really isn't optional, if you want a good user experience. Dell has also taken their Call Centers overseas to save money. While it's still possible to get an excellent support rep on the line from their faraway call center, it's become quite spotty, and you more frequently get someone that can't help at all. I'm sure some operations VP received big bonuses for reducing support costs through these, and other steps for Dell. The cost savings no doubt look huge. But is the true cost in reduced sales, and fleeing of long-time customers (like me!)? This reduction is sales is not as obvious as the direct cost savings, but no less real--and probably more important to the business in the long run.