I would like to share with you two different experiences I have had dealing with support - in both cases the respective companies were represented by courteous support agents, willing to do what is necessary to resolve a ticket satisfactory. Yet the outcome and experience could not have been a bigger contrast. What was different? Why in one case, things got resolved above and beyond expectation, and in the other - much simpler - case the resolution proposed and committed by the agents seems to stumble into one roadblock or another and the whole process halts until I, the customer, follow up. Is it the people, the systems, the process, or the culture that drives this difference in experience?
The Companies
The first company is Zoho - not a surprise - I deal a lot with Zoho for my business, and do log cases on behalf of my customers. Setting up support for Zoho is complex - they have over 45 products, and a multi-tier support system between partners, general customers, and customers that pay for premium support. What increases the complexity is that Zoho with high frequency rolls out updates to existing software, and releases completely new applications as well - with a roll out schedule that has timing differences across the data centers.
The second company is Telstra - the largest telco in Australia. Telstra is a big company, with many departments, and processes like you expect from such large organisation.
The Cases
A great example of a Zoho case is one where I needed additional functionality in the product for a customer. It was not a bug (but in some cases where I did stumble upon a bug, the resolution process was comparable), it was just something that the software was not designed to do, but one could see the benefit of this solution.
The example at Telstra is regarding a faulty product (hardware), and the process of getting it repaired or exchanged under warranty. Simple enough, right?
The experience
With Zoho - I log a case via their partner portal. In order to get as few clarification questions as possible, I try to be as clear as possible on the request - describing the situation, the software's behaviour, the requested behaviour, and a general case for useage. Usually the support agent responds within the same day, mostly with an acknowledgement of understanding (sometimes a clarifying question), and a suggested resolution. In this case (I apologise, but until the actual feature is released to the product, I cannot go into any detail to what the particulars of the case are), a resolution for this particular situation was provided within 2 days (it was complex enough to warrant a longer period) - but I knocked it back as it was a solution to a current situation, but was not maintainable - i.e. with any change in (in this case) the pricing structure, the fix would not work. Zoho agreed, and now they have added the functionality to the backlog, and I get in my test environment the functionality early access to test with my customer.
Telstra was a different experience. I have been a Telstra customer since I moved to Australia. I do not have many support interactions with them, but when I do, the experience has been very consistent. The easiest way to get support from Telstra is via the web chat. After wasting time with a bot, you get transferred to an actual human being, and I must say, the Telstra support agents are professional in their demeanor and pleasant enough to work with. But that is where it ends.
Attempt 1: the support agent on the chat eventually understood the issue, and told me to bring the faulty device to any Telstra store, and they would replace it - I just needed to show the ticket number. Going to the Telstra store, the representative immediately became very interested to get me out of the door, as I was not going to buy anything - the device was not in stock, he could not order it, would not take the faulty device and call me when it was in - he suggested I'd try my luck in another store, or go back to online support so they could "sort things out".
Attempt 2: Since the second nearest Telstra store is about 45 minutes away from where I live - I opted to contact the online support again. Provided the ticket number, and had to explain the whole thing again. Online support suggested I'd go to that other store, and try out (yeah, right) - eventually after back and forth - my mobile phone rang - it was Telstra. Awesome! the support person actually called me. We had a pleasant enough conversation, and the agent understood the issue but was not empowered to do anything. She would transfer me to her supervisor. After about 8 minutes waiting, I was surprised to be connected to Telstra's IVR (interactive voice response) system. This is the computerised telephone response system that responds to your voice... If Dante Alighieri were alive today, I wonder which circle of hell he would exchange with Telstra's IVR system. I never lose my cool on the phone - never ever - with this one exception: Telstra's IVR system (never disrespect the support agent - they are trying their best).
Attempt 3: After retrieving my cool, back to the online chat. No - I could not be transferred to the agent (whose name I have gotten), so had to go back to step one - explain the issue. Again, Telstra called me - and again I got transferred to a supervisor... Great! After 10 minutes waiting indeed a human picked up the call... "Hello this .... from Telstra, how may I help you today?" -sigh - You guessed it - it was not the intended supervisor who would resolve everything, just another random agent picking up the call from the queue... But things were looking up - the agent understood, empathised and simply said: "I am going to put this device on order for you - you will receive the replacement within the next 5 to 7 business days. Just have the faulty device ready, we will provide a satchel for you to return it". GREAT! Faith restored! A few details were taken (most notably my drivers licence number) and the order was placed!
Three weeks later - a follow-up: Nothing arrived, so I went back online to follow up. The agent was good, read the history, and then investigated on the order.. but there was no order in the system - which the agent could not explain either, as the notes were clear. Not to worry, the order was placed then and there. Again, I had to supply my drivers licence number, and this time I was assured the order was in the system. I even received an order number in the chat. My mistake - I did not send the chat transcript to my email... but the order was made.
Follow up 2: So I thought... Because two and a half weeks later, nothing... So back to online chat. The agent could not understand either. She offered that I would go to the Telstra store, buy a replacement, and then she would ensure Telstra would reimburse the cost... A bit of a flawed solution, as the reason I was not successful at the Telstra store in the first place is that they did not hold the device in inventory. Second, I noted, given the experience so far, I would not put a lot of faith in the process of such a credit ever happening. So a new order was created (two days ago), and we'll see what happens.
Outcome: nothing, other than me exploring the competition - I am not expecting better support - but there is a price differential. Telstra's prices are higher than the competitor, and in return one would expect better service. Now I am actively looking at alternative providers - I may or may not move the service - a risk that has been introduced by this very poor support experience.
What drives this difference in outcome?
Both companies have support systems in place - Zoho uses (obviously) Zoho Desk to capture tickets to resolution. I am certain Telstra has a support ticketing system in place as well - it does not really matter which one. Both offer support via chat (although my preferred channel is email) - Zoho offers email and web channels as well - which is a plus for Zoho - but not the deciding factor in this case. Both companies employ (or contract) agents that are professional, and courteous. So on the surface, everything is the same...
...except...
The aim of Zoho is to increase "Profitable Customer Satisfaction". Closing a ticket to resolution is a consequence of the actions applied - not the core metric. The support agents are empowered to think with the customer, and share the ticket with representatives in other departments to come to a resolution (collaboration is a key feature in Zoho Desk). It is not about the volume of tickets handled and closed, it is about the customer satisfaction. As both a customer and a partner of Zoho, I note that their take on support - although not flawless in execution - focuses on truly understanding the issue, by looking at it from both the customer as well as the engineer's angles. Consistently - with small and simple, as well as significant and complex requests - Zoho's support team has been able to come through with a satisfactory resolution. The contrast with my experience with Telstra could not have been bigger.
Conclusion - the deciding factors in effective support
- Implement a support system that allows for collaboration within various departments - not just support agents and supervisors
- Establish a culture where the goal is to delight and amaze customers with support (mere satisfaction is tolerated)
- Set a process where customer requests are managed like a backlog in the agile process, and the resolution has to be a usable resolution (either a fix, a work-around, additional functionality that is added to the product backlog, or a pointer to a different solution altogether)
- Create an agile work environment where the support agents and anyone else tagged with the support ticket is empowered to work to a resolution (work on the basis of INTENT and CONSTRAINTS, not following a strict process or playbook)
- Measure customer satisfaction, measure it often.
I would like to applaud Zoho for their efforts in the area of support - so far they have not only ticked all the boxes, but also set a very high bar for other vendors to aspire to.