Because only customer support matters
Building a startup is really cool, especially when you want to disrupt a market. It’s a global war outside so you have to be exceptional to win the game. Surrounded by competitors, there is a lot to do and a lot of requirements to match. However, nothing is more important than taking care of your customers, answering their questions and resolving their issues. Period.
But I have noticed some companies do not do their job — look at visitor posts on Facebook or Twitter timelines — , the real one: replying to their customer faster than ever!
Do not act like the old players
Why do startups play like their ancestors? We are not living in the same era; we have processes and tools to be more productive.
Damned, we are living in the third industrial revolution, but entrepreneurs act like stone age bosses!
A startup mindset is the key in this kind of situation. If you need some inspiration, Youtube is full of these videos .
Use proactive tools, be a problem-solver ninja
Nowadays, it’s a commodity to have a little box in the bottom right corner of a website: an online chat. See Intercom for the best and fastest result.
This is a revolution! Now people can contact you directly through your website! Personally, I can’t wait to discover an online chat on website services like AT&T or PGE. But those are old-fashioned companies. Not us.
If you want something new, try Tribe too! It’s going to be the next customer support app for smarter companies. Use innovative solutions. It’s a killer process.
Another cool tool I discovered recently and you can use is aText. Save your fingers and keyboard by replying to people in a second. aText replaces abbreviations by full words, so you have to type less to get the same message across.
So you have tools installed. Great. Now you need to reply to your customers in under 30 mins. It depends on the context, but for client service, customers can’t wait any longer. Never.
Zendesk can do the job in a really great way by centralizing all your social networks and contact channels way in the same place.
Case study: Uber vs. Taxis
Let’s look at a simple and pretty obvious example. Uber is doing how we know it is doing, because:
- Travis is a brilliant leader
- They have a nicely designed product
- Taxis have the BEST CUSTOMER SUPPORT EVER! — Just kidding. They are best VPs for Uber because of their poor actions for customer.
In fact, the reply from taxis drivers to Uber and customers are riots, car destructions and traffic jam. Do they think they will make more customers happy with this kind of operations? Maybe, maybe not…
Result: Uber is growing. Let time do its job and see if Uber is capable to become the “last one”.
Another example is the bank industry. Are you happy with your bank? My dad told me “The bank company doesn't matter. The bank advisor does.” During all his life, he has followed his bank advisor in a couple of branches and brand banks. He is doing alright because banks services are all the same, but advisors aren’t. They are the heart of the bank service. The “one-feature” the bank really need. If you are the CEO of XYZ and customer support is not your business, you have to stop everything you are doing right now and do your job. We are not the main reason why we are working on our products every day — customers are. If you do not pay attention to , your fintech startup is gonna end in tears. Sooner or later.
In other words, you can have “the best product ever” and “want to make the world a better place” but if you are not there during the weekend when your customers need you in your office, you are already dead. If there is any revolution to build here, it’s serving your customers like family.
End of story.
