Top 5 wishlist for customers needing support
This post was written by Matt Douglas, Founder & CEO
As a consumer internet site, we do a lot of customer service and technical support. We have a few people on the team that spend a part of their day answering emails from customers. From a business point of view, providing excellent customer service is part of our DNA — but is also very costly.
I’m continually surprised at how poorly some of our customers communicate over email. Consider this recent (unedited) feedback:
“My 1st time to use punch bowl.Please call me asap some of my guest have not rcvd. invite, as the host I am unsure how to respond I am coming help 512-xxx-xxxx I am for 2 1/2 more hours.”
It’s worth re-iterating that I did not edit that feedback (other than removing the phone number). With that as an example, I present to you my Top 5 wishlist for customers needing support.
- Please write in complete sentences, and use spell-check. We can’t possibly read your mind. If you spend a few more minutes writing in complete sentences, then we’ll be able to help you faster and better. Also, please use punctuation in your emails. It sounds simple, but it’s equally important in order for us to understand your customer service issue.
- We know that your time is important, but everything can’t always be urgent. If you have an an issue that needs immediate attention, please explain why it’s urgent and we’ll do our best to get back to you as quickly as possible. (Note: writing “HELP!” or using exclamation points does not get us to pay attention faster).
- Please search the MyPunchbowl FAQ’s before sending an email to our support team. In many cases, your question has already been answered.
- We’re an internet company, and we don’t offer phone support — so don’t bother asking us to call you. That being said, our crazy CEO still takes inbound customer service calls once in a while. Feel free to call him (me) if you’ve exhausted all other avenues (you can find my cell phone number on the FAQ page).
- If you have not upgraded your MyPunchbowl account to a paid membership, then there is only so much free customer support we can offer. If you want unlimited tech support, please upgrade your account. Thanks!
We love helping you — so please help us help you. Use the above list as a guide and it will go a long way to getting the help you need.
July 28th, 2009 at 9:33 am
My interpretation of this request for help is that it could possibly be coming from a person whose native language is not English. The request for personal contact (a call) may also be based on cultural differences. While I can understand how frustrating it may be to communicate with people with diverse language and cultural backgrounds, or even people who have had fewer educational opportunities, it would be a shame for your product to appeal only to gentrified english-as-a-first-language elite.