Playing Customer Support At Your Startup

For the simple reason that I love going out all the time and equally love mixing in different social settings, I have ended up doing this one thing over and over again for the last 8 months. So much that it’s become a part of my core identity now.

So the one question you end up answering every time you meet new people is ‘what you do’ – which translates into what you do for a living. When I tell people what I do, I see this twinkle in their eyes right away (which also tells, by the way, that we are solving such a real problem) – it’s like I am God-send! They share about their bad experiences with hiring in the blue/grey collar space – for themselves, for their small business, for their company – and then in comes the question, can I help? I end up smiling and reassuring as if I know the answers to all their problems in life, and share my business card, asking them to it worry anymore – after all, they’ve met me!

It’s what follows next which is tricky.

Now, as a result of this, and almost on a pretty regular basis, I have become a 24X7 Customer Support guy – which means I get calls from people I don’t remember anymore for their maid, driver, helper, accountant, sales, etc etc. requirements. So just about wherever I am, at a club, at a get together, in a movie hall – I step out and explain them the entire user flow, and then end up in a sales conversation – which then becomes competitive coz now I am playing against myself, need to close the deal whatever it is!

The sheer frequency has become amusing. But it’s also so much fun! #PlayingTheCustomerSupportGuy