Everyday I deal, in some way, with customer support. Whether it’s the store I go to, or the cell phone company I call, everyday, I put faith into the people who work for a company that they will address issues I have, and treat me correctly. We all do it. The problem is, even in today’s economic climate, most companies simply do not understand the importance of quality customer support.
Which, of course, is what makes it even less surprising to read an article like This one wherein Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg states that “Most successful companies don’t listen to their customers”.
Well, I have news for you, Mr. Billionaire. We DO matter, and what we say to you NEEDS to be listened to. Whether or not you would ever change the new look of Facebook (which I, and 94% of other FB users agree, is horrible), the fact that you treat your users with such disdain is absolutely atrocious. I find it rather amazing that I am now looking at Myspace and their customer service and public face, and seeing that in terms of support and communication, they are actually proactive, and at least seem to have some care about what users say. Say what you will, but to see Myspace’s Tom Anderson actually replying to user’s comments on his blog (whether or not it’s really him), is still something of a welcome surprise to me.
With all-online businesses becoming more and more prevalent yet again in today’s world, it’s sad to see the absolute lack of customer service that comes with this growth. It’s a great thing that an online company is able to be worth millions and billions of dollars - but when that company treats its users like trash, one must wonder how long it will be until another dot com bubble bursts.
I again reference Facebook, a website which, as with many, generates huge amounts of money from advertising revenue. Months ago, upon joining the Visa business network group on FB, I was given a $100 coupon towards FB advertising, and I decided to try it out before it expired. I set up a spending plan which would not use over my $100 limit, and I set my campaign to end when the coupon was up. To my surprise, nearly a week after the campaign ended, I was charged yet again for advertising from Facebook. A misunderstanding, I assumed, and so I went to find FB’s customer service email - and was greeted with the usual runaround FAQ list, which didn’t address my issue. Why? Because I need a real human!. Facebook is notorious for having almost no customer support, and in this case, it is quite true. Emails are not returned, and there is no such thing as a customer support phone line. In calling the company’s number found thru Google, I somehow managed to talk to a woman who sounded quite angry that I had gotten her on the phone, when she answered it “FACEBOOK.” In explaining my problem, I was, of course, told to “just email, and they’ll get back to you”.
Well, guess what? They haven’t. And likely, they won’t. They have no reason to, as outlined by comments from Egotistical Zuckerburg - and, to boot, they can take your money, and not provide you with customer care when they do. I understand not wanting to answer Joe Sixpack’s phone call about his profile image not displaying correctly - but when you take REAL, tangible money from a user, YOU MUST provide a way for that user to talk back to you and ask for support. But, FB doesn’t have that, and never will, I’m sure. My experience might be a fluke, but even if it is, my one experience can, and will, put others off from advertising with Facebook.
And that, my friends, is why customer support is more important than your actual business. Regardless of what you are selling, if you do not treat your customer with respect, and especially your PAYING customer, you have no business model to speak of, and you will lose money.
There are those that will say, “Yes, but these sites have millions of users, they can’t support everyone!”. This is not true, for two reasons.
1. Any company which generates income from a customer base MUST have customer support, regardless of size. If you are a sole proprietorship, or a billion dollar company like Facebook, you MUST provide your users a way to address and clear up their issues. There is no excuse for not providing this, plain and simple.
2. With the technology available today, there is even less of a reason to not provide a way for your customers to reach you. An email address is step one. A phone number with a real human, even if only for specific issues, is step two. The next steps are utilizing services such as getsatisfaction.com, a crowd-sourced support ticket system which companies can opt into, or having a forum which is moderated by people associated with the company.
Do not tell me that financial and staffing issues stop this from existing. No matter your company size, you must take care of your customer, first and foremost.
Take, for example, Zappos.com - a company founded on the sale of shoes, handbags, and other accessories. The company is worth many millions of dollars ($840 million in 2007), and has a list of their core values right on their website. Their first core value? “Deliver WOW through service”. And they do - with a return business rate of 75%, the company has it right. CEO Tony Hsieh was recently on The Celebrity Apprentice, challenging contestants to create a customer support mascot for the company. This is a company that gets it right; and while their business model, and products, are quite different from Facebook, the same thing remains true; treating your customers right leads to more business, and a robust company.
Having been at the forefront of many company’s customer support systems and programs, and having provided some of the best customer support in the world, nothing makes me more upset than being mistreated as a customer. There is no reason, with today’s technology and many streams of income, to not treat your customer with respect. They may not always be right, but they most certainly pay your bills - and when your venture capital runs out, or when you don’t sell your company to Google, you will see how important this is, when your customers aren’t willing to buy from you, no matter what you’re selling, or how much you were the hottest thing ever. Facebook will fall prey to this, if they do not begin to provide some iota of customer support. Someone can always do it better, and they can damn sure provide better business, and your user base, and moreover, your returning userbase, will decline, and your ad revenue with it. Don’t believe me? It’s happened to numerous online companies, and it will continue to. No matter how cool it is, it’s not cool to mistreat the buyer, even if most of your services are free.
In closing, I offer this list of values any company should work on when it comes to how they interact with their customers.
1. Be open. Today’s marketplace is more about transparency than ever, and it won’t change. Tell your customers who you are, who runs your company, and who their money benefits when they pay you. They will be more apt to give you money in this case.
2. Make information easy to find; don’t bury it in FAQs, auto-answering robots, forums with nothing but questions, and dead-end webpages. Provide a support email. Use crowd-sourced support to let users answer other user’s issues. Most of all, if you take money from a user, you MUST provide a way for them to contact a human being. DO NOT mess with the customer’s money. You’ll never see it again, if you do.
3. Be humble, and understand that no matter how cool you are, it doesn’t matter if your customers don’t want to buy it. Check your ego, because if you don’t, one of us will. I assure you of that.
4. LISTEN. When you say, “Give us your feedback!”, you damn sure had better not say things like “Successful companies don’t listen to their customers”. Your feedback form is about as useful as an ice cube in a forest fire at this point, and we, as customers, will remember it.
5. Do not underestimate your customer. Today’s consumer is MUCH more well-educated than you think. The internet has changed all that. Do not believe that your customers are idiots; they will quickly put you down in flames in today’s crowd-sourced world. No matter what your size, remember that you cannot grow if you do not build a solid foundation. If your foundation is your user base, you must treat them right. Without that, you will eventually crumble, and someone who does it better will rise above you.
I hope that you’ve found this useful; I know that for me, these are the values that I strive to give those that I work with, and that I expect back. Sadly, companies big and small don’t get it. If you know of one that doesn’t, comment about it. If you know one that does, please laud them; they deserve it. If you do it, give yourself a pat on the back; you’re one of the few.
