9 Challenges to Making Product Support Transparent

re: 9 Challenges to Making Product Support Transparent

Wolf Logan — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 00:20:58 GMT

As regards point #4 -- that's an interesting question. In the open-source world, "support" (in the form of consulting) is pretty much the only revenue stream. The general rule there is "check the Internet for information first, then ask on a public forum, then locate a consultant". The consultant will usually be able to work out a solution, for which effort they will be compensated, but the results of their work are usually folded back into the original project as an update.

This process generally leads to 1) basic and common information being widely available, 2) simple problems being solved in public view, which eventually will be archived as "basic and common information", and 3) solutions to tougher problems being worked out and tested in private, with a rapid turnaround on distributing the new solution to whoever wants it.

Now, this model is predicated on "support" being provided by "developers" (that is, the same category of people who are creating the product). This isn't generally possible in an environment as large and complex as Microsoft, but having the developers alongside the support folks in the forums is a huge step forward.

re: 9 Challenges to Making Product Support Transparent

jledgard — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 04:05:39 GMT

Wolf: Yup, essentially I guess your looking at it from a Microsoft consulting service angle, but done more in public with ther solutions. That's an interesting angle.

re: 9 Challenges to Making Product Support Transparent

betsya — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:47:41 GMT

Another challenge...the cheap out syndrome

When I saw the CEO of Zappos speak at South by Southwest, he made a really important distinction. At Zappos you don't get the cheapest shoes around - you get the best customer experience and selection That's because Zappos pays their people decently, treats them right, etc and they can't cut costs without sacrificing this culture of uncompromising customer support.

No, this is not an ad for shoes but a reminder that in the zeal to cut costs on support , companies may cheap themselves out of a differentiatior that allows them to survive competition. Sometimes the idea is - oh we will cheap out by having "the community" do it. Well, that may backfire on you and with cheaped-out framework you won't have the money to pay customer support. or you may annoy your customers so much, they leave.

It seems like if you make the effort on both fronts - to engage customers and also give solid customer support - it exponentially rewards the business by attracting new customers while creating an environment of helpfulness where "the community does it" naturally. That's why the mix you have going is so interesting. People can find it all in one place.

Keep us posted!

Betsy

re: 9 Challenges to Making Product Support Transparent

Cory Foy — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 03:20:27 GMT

"Not all support costs you money. What if you have a model for support that is either a value add for your product that sells more products or if you actually use product support AS your revenue stream? "

I just posted a couple of days ago about this very topic:

http://www.cornetdesign.com/2007/04/tech-support-and-profits.html

This quote sums it up:

"Quality in real money terms (and that is the way we keep score in business) is the inverse of the expense of technical support. If technical support is a profit center, then quality in the terms you think about normally are inverted. Therefore, if you wish to have high quality, you should ensure that technical support never becomes a profit center."

re: 9 Challenges to Making Product Support Transparent

Dick Carlson — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 18:37:19 GMT

Giving customers easy access to information is a support area that some companies do well, and some companies don't. It's really important that when people have issues with a product, they can quickly find answers.

SEARCHABLE Customer resources need to be tagged with words that actual humans would use in describing the product. There should be very little technical lingo, product marketing, or "executive suite" words involved. Ask ten of your users to describe a recent issue, and the words they searched on.

DRILLABLE Looking for information is often more than a one-step process. Does your system allow me to refine searches, does it suggest alternate spellings, does it provide meaningful cross lonks?

FEEDBACK You should be capturing the backend information from customer searches, identifying the top five, and using that to build your next version as well as develop training and learning materials.