“Press 1 for contracts, invoices, and any other issue” is not a very useful step in the journey of your customer.
“I am experiencing a small technical issue, let me fix that, and I will call you back in five minutes” is a great step in the journey of your customer.
It sounds silly to still be talking about this in 2023, yet so many company fail at the “care” part in customer care.
If you are looking for a way to align across teams, start with definitions. Particularly, definition of metrics and KPIs.
A meeting is a meeting, right? Think again.
A signup is a signup, right? Think again.
A sequence enrolment is a sequence enrolment, right? Think again.
Going through what things mean, exactly, can be a painful, unnerving, boring process. And nobody ever wants to actually ask the question.
But when it’s done and documented, there’s immediate alignment and clarity.
Hubspot and Intercom are very successful companies. And on the exact same type of communication to their customer, they choose two completely different approaches.
One is before, the other is after.
One raises awareness, the other raises alarm.
One gives you agency, the other takes it away.
One is about hope (“Your contacts database is growing”), the other is about failure (“You’ve exceeded the usage”).
Also (you can’t say that from the message alone, but I’ll ask you to trust me), one is true, the other is not.
There is no right or wrong way to do stuff.
But the choices you make say a lot about who you are and what you stand for.
There’s a great level of customer service. It’s personal, human, helpful, and resourceful.
There’s a basic level of customer service. It’s quick, some times robotic, a bit repetitive, not always helpful.
And then there’s a shitty level of being human. It’s arrogant, pointless, definitive, and unaccountable.
People will only remember the first and the third. Up to you where you want to be.
Brand is not for your startup only if by brand you mean one of the following things.
A new logo.
A different color palette.
A TV ad.
A celebrity endorsement.
A brand typography.
A cutting-edge website.
If brand instead is your story, the unique point of view you are offering, thought leadership content, reputation, then you should get started with that yesterday.
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