Some companies choose to only offer email support to their customers. We don’t fully understand it, so I’ll explain why we think offering our customers a chance to call us is critically important.
Good customer support comes down to four key things:
- Being available
- Being personable, friendly, and genuine
- Being knowledgeable (excuse the “be” verbs); and
- Never making your problem your customers’ problem
As a small company, we empathize with the struggles of other small to medium companies. That’s why we offer as many channels for people to get a hold of us as possible.
Calling at 2AM? Well, you’re not going to get someone via phone because, as a small company, we understand that it’s important for our highly-skilled team members to rest up.
It’s important to differentiate your ability to execute awesome customer support from your willingness to offer awesome customer support. If you’re not able to offer phone and chat support because you just don’t have the resources to do it (e.g. people, money, infrastructure), offer the best support you can with what you have, but know that it’s time to rethink your business model. If you willingly choose to not offer phone support to your customers, it’s time to rethink your priorities.
It’s entirely possible to express empathy, humility, humor, and sincerity via email, but we understand that some people simply don’t live in a world where they can just shoot off an email and hope it gets taken care of.
At Nutshell, we don’t have a receptionist and the person answering your call is the best-prepared person to help you with your question. Period. They’re probably really funny as well.
Here’s how we work:
- You call our customer support number, (888) 336-8808 (go ahead, give us a call!)
- You hear a friendly greeting letting you know we are ready to help
- Then, you’re immediately connected to one of our support team members
- We know who you are when you call (because Nutshell is awesome), and we’re ready to help troubleshoot your problem immediately
We don’t make you wait for anything. We appropriately staff our support team with the tools to handle a growing volume of phone calls, emails, and chats.
We won’t ever make our problem your problem. If we don’t have the resources to offer the best damn customer support we can possibly imagine, we’ll find the resources…fast! You’re paying for a service that is naturally going to require human interaction beyond email. That’s for us to figure out and it’s not even a question our customers should ever have to contemplate.
Are you in Ann Arbor or in the near-by area? We’ll meet with you in person, host you in our office, take you to lunch, invite you to our parties, send your kids holiday presents, and most importantly, make time to talk to you via chat and via phone if you’re not able to make it in!
We’re also taking recommendations for new waiting music. We have ukulele music, but we’ll play Katy Perry if you want. On second thought, I think that’s copyright infringement?
Happiness thrives on person-to-person communication, and we’re always actively working to improve how we communicate with you. Companies like Amazon, Nordstrom, and Zappos know customer support. Can you imagine doing business with Amazon, Nordstrom, or Zappos without being able to talk to someone on the phone? We can’t either, and that’s why we offer phone (and chat) support.
Customer support isn’t just about solving your problem, refunding your money, or answering a few questions, it’s about establishing yourself as a company (group of people and faces and personalities) who cares about its customers’ growth, success, and happiness. It’s about connecting with you, hearing the happiness or frustration in your voice, and doing what we can to keep you and your team running at full speed.
Connect with me on Twitter! @charlessustaita.