Software and Hardware Customer Service

An underrated competency in software and hardware companies–which should be considered MUCH more important– is the customer service function. I suppose that’s only natural; tech companies are very focused on gaining strategic advantage via technological advances and product differentiation. Once the product is in good shape, companies tend to shift their primary focus from product development. They then often become hell-bent on maximizing marketing and sales activities to attract new customers.

But what about taking care of existing customers?  And how about the mundane operational details of what happens when someone—be it a prospect, new customer, or existing customer—contacts the company for assistance? I find these are areas that most tech companies aren’t “naturally good at”. It’s not part of the basic DNA of most software and hardware companies. Very seldom will you see a founder or CEO who came up on the support or customer service side of the tech business.

Customer Service Shouldn’t be an Afterthought

Because of the above, customer support is often an afterthought. It’s a detail that senior management never seems to have time to get to—as they struggle with the issues that are viewed as strategic. In most tech companies, that’s product development, marketing, and sales.

Now I won’t pretend to espouse that if you have good customer service and support then all will be good. That you’re definitely going to be successful. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, building great products and marketing/selling them effectively is still the most critical aspect of growing a tech company, no question. But I have seen many companies with good products and market penetration techniques. But they mess it up big-time in the customer service area, and it really costs them. Below I list some of the ways to waste all of the upstream hard work that you’ve put into acquiring hot prospects and new customers:

Unfriendly User Interfaces & Documentation

This doesn’t seem to fit in the category of “customer service” and technically it doesn’t. But bad user interfaces and poor user documentation are often the primary reason that your software or hardware customer service organization becomes overwhelmed. So before anything else, put extra work into getting your user interfaces right. Your company will benefit greatly through less “negative call” volume, which can put great strain on customer support.

Viewing Customer Service & Support only as a Cost Center

Customer service and support are viewed almost universally as a cost center in the tech business world. I will admit that I initially viewed it that way when I started managing a P&L. With this viewpoint it becomes very easy to put support activities first in line if you need to cut money out of next year’s budget. Beware of doing this. Excellent customer support leaves a lasting impression on clients. And bad customer support leaves an even BIGGER and more lasting negative impression. I’ll provide some examples (not purely tech–but tech-driven) from personal experience.

A Good Customer Service Example

I have had money with Fidelity Investments for many years. this long-term relationship is due in large part to their consistently excellent service and support. I also have an account with ETrade, whom I was intrigued by due to their innovative technology and business practices. But if you actually needed to speak with a real person at ETrade…oh boy, could it be painful. So the bulk of my money remained with Fidelity.

A Bad Customer Service Example

Dell Computer is another company that, in my opinion, jeopardized its historically dominant position a while back via reduced support quality. They stopped supporting the software that comes on their computers, supporting only the hardware. And even a basic hardware warranty costs extra after a year. This is now true of most PC hardware suppliers due to thin margins. But it’s short-sighted, IMO.  I understand the concepts of unbundling and customer choice, but I find this extreme. Unfortunately, personal computers aren’t just metal boxes of electronics but complex hardware/software systems. Supporting software really isn’t optional if you want a good user experience.

Like many of its competitors, Dell also took their Call Centers overseas to save money. While was still possible to get an excellent support rep on the line from their faraway call center, it became quite spotty and you more frequently got someone that couldn’t help at all. You also might not be able to understand them due to their thick accent over an inexpensive VoIP connection. Dell appears to have at least partially brought support back to local markets, but much damage was done to their brand to save a few nickels.

I’m sure some operations VP received big annual bonuses for reducing support costs through these and other steps for Dell. The cost savings no doubt looked huge. But what is the true cost when including reduced sales and fleeing of long-time customers (like me!)? This reduction in sales is not as obvious or traceable as the direct cost savings, but no less real. And it is probably more important to the business in the long run.

Automated Voice Attendant Hell

This is my pet peeve and the pet peeve of many millions of other folks as well. I’m a tech guy and love the application of leading-edge technologies to reduce labor costs. But enough, already! A number of otherwise good companies have taken automated voice attendants WAY too far. They make you feel like a mouse in a ten-square-mile maze. Companies need to remember that when you pick up the phone to call, it’s with the intention to TALK TO SOMEBODY.

Using technology to quickly route people to the correct department, or answer simple inquiries like directions to the company is an efficient use of technology for both the company and the customer. But making it extremely hard to get through to ANYONE, even after wading through seemingly endless nested menus, is just ridiculous. The only purpose it serves is to alienate your customers and prospects. This is truly the definition of “penny wise, pound foolish”. With the emergence of more powerful AI, maybe these automated attendants will become useful, rather than just frustrating callers. But I haven’t seen it yet.

Untrained or Under-qualified Customer and Technical Support Reps

After waiting in automated voice hell, you think it can’t get any worse. But wait. After the half-hour (or worse) wait your call is now answered by someone so green, so incompetent or so rude that your frustration might turn to rage. You are asked to enter your account number on the phone pad. Then the rep answers and again requests the exact same information. You haven’t reached the right department, of course, so you are transferred to another department, where the rep asks you, yet again, for the exact same information.

Worse yet, you may be put on hold again. After this rep finally fills in his or her form with the required repetitive information (not answering ANY of your questions until it’s complete), you finally get to explain your unique problem, which cries out for an exception to normal company policy. But the support rep robotically and coldly repeats the company policy—which you already knew. Unfortunately, in recent years I’ve seen this problem getting worse, not better. The pandemic made it worse, and the general labor shortage since then has only exacerbated it.

Think someone will want to do business with a company that does business like this again? Customer and technical support is CRITICAL in the long run. It’s one of the true long-term differentiators in any market. My advice: spend a little more hiring and retaining good people, train them well, and empower them to actually take care of real-world customer issues. Retaining customer goodwill is such an obvious thing to strive for, but remarkably, it is given short shrift all too frequently. If you do the right things to support your customers then your company you will stand out from the pack. Trust me, this will pay back many times in the future.

Unfriendly Hours of Operation

I’m on the West Coast of the US, so this happens all the time. Try to call customer support in the early afternoon, but the office closes at 5P Eastern Standard Time. This is a particularly important issue for those of you serving consumer markets. Some people can’t easily call support lines from work without putting their employment in jeopardy. In this day of inexpensive, fast communications technology and worldwide commerce, there is no excuse for inconvenient business hours for the markets that you serve. You can put support personnel in virtually any time zone that you serve using remote support technologies.

Predatory Customer Service and Support Costs

This is something else that has continually degraded for customers over time, as I alluded to earlier. It used to be that technology companies supported their products for free. The economics of competition has in the long run made this go the way of the dinosaurs. Frequently this is with good reason. A well-priced maintenance contract from a B2B SaaS company that provides unlimited, priority support can be a really good value. If it is priced near the industry standard and enables the vendor to provide excellent support—that’s great. But what if the support is lousy and priced at an exorbitant cost?

Or how about a consumer software company that is charging from day 1 for support, without even the benefit of a free 30-day startup window to troubleshoot their buggy and non-intuitive product? Again, if you want to stand out in today’s market, try providing an intuitive, bug-free product, coupled with free or reasonable support (there won’t be many support calls needed if you do this right!). People will beat a path toward your door, and tell every friend they have. This won’t show up in the Controller’s cost control report. But the benefits to your company’s top line will be enormous.

Summary

So these are some of the low-tech ways to screw up a high-tech business. Software and Hardware CEOs, keep your eye on the customer service ball. Otherwise, a savvy and opportunistic competitor with lesser product technology may take advantage and steal a piece of your market share.

Please add to this discussion—post your own views on how to provide (or not provide!) great customer service in the comments section below.

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