Is Phone Support Dead?
We recently conducted a poll asking our clients to vote on how they prefer to seek technical software assistance; interestingly, not one person voted for phone support! The most popular option... a free Facebook group. Gone are the days of one tech support guru holding all the answer cards and looking like some modern-day Albert Einstein. Enter the new world of collaboration and the free sharing of knowledge.
I have worked with all the major software providers in the cabinet making space, and over the past 20 years, I have had a front-row seat to the trials and tribulations of the traditional phone support offerings, and I can safely say I have never seen it work effectively.
The primary issue has always been credited to the 80/20 rule. 20% of clients generally create 80% of the work by calling in multiple times per day and clogging up the system. When one of the other 80% of clients calls in, they have to wait a long time for a callback. As a result, only 20% of paying clients find value in the support offering. This issue creates a domino effect when clients in the 80% group start opting not to renew their support contracts. The software provider has no choice but to increase the cost of their support to afford to employ enough staff to keep 20% of their clients happy.
Put simply, this all translates to poor value and unhappy clients who feel forced to pay thousands of dollars per year for a service that only 1 in 5 people find valuable. So what's the answer?
Our approach is to connect our clients, creating a community. This encourages the free sharing of information and knowledge. Our business model is not based on forcing clients to purchase our services. If clients can obtain answers freely, we encourage them to do so. We have a rapidly growing Facebook group that has become somewhat of a bible of information for our clients. The group has several posts per day, and people are happily helping other people. Clients always tell me how helpful it is to read a question and see the answer randomly. The nature of the information is bite-sized and palatable. Meaning the knowledge sits in the back of their mind until they come across the same question themselves. Whilst they may not initially remember the exact answer, they know it is just a click or Facebook search away.
The truth about support is that no business can ever guarantee to have the resources available to answer your question instantly. You can't control how many people will need your assistance on any given day. Our mission at Cadmate is to find better ways and keep challenging the status quo in the industry. Finding a better and more affordable way to approach support is just one of the many things we do differently.
Join the group and see for yourself: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mozaiksoftware
We also offer free email support to give our clients a way of contacting us directly for more in-depth questions. In addition, Mozaik Software has built-in functionality where the clients can email their jobs with their data and settings so we can replicate what they see on our computers. This allows us to get back to all clients promptly, and best of all, it is a free service, so no one has to question if they want to keep using it.
