10X customer support
10X customer support
Why startups can win against bigcos: pic.twitter.com/WXMJvtYvmT
— Marlon Misra (@marlonmisra) May 23, 2021
Large companies have many advantages over startups – better distribution, bigger marketing budgets, optimized sales processes, etc. But large companies can never match the customer support of a startup.
Startups should aim to create something so good that people tell their friends about it. Everyone knows that you can accomplish that goal with an excellent product. But I've found that providing really great customer support is surprisingly effective. More reviews on our G2 page mention customer support than any one feature.
A single A+ customer support experience can turn a customer into an advocate. And since advocates drive word-of-mouth growth, extraordinary customer support should be a priority for every startup.
I've handled a few hundred customer support tickets now and these are some learnings:
Always introduce yourself as a founder. Users always appreciate speaking with a founder directly and will be more friendly and forgiving.
Commit to doing the work, if it makes sense. If you get a feature request that's aligned with the roadmap and quick to get done, communicate you'll do it and offer a clear ETA.
Give public credit. If you release a feature that was requested by someone, follow up personally and give credit publicly (on your changelog, Slack community, etc.)
Be ultra responsive. It's much better to respond to a support ticket in 1 minute vs 15 minutes. It's much more impressive to respond on a Sat night than a weekday. Respond so quickly that people wonder how you managed to type so quickly.