Susan Meell, CEO
A recent, personal experience brought home the incredible importance of outstanding customer service and the way it can make a significant impact on brand loyalty and sales.
While most companies brag about their great customer service, my experience is you rarely receive it. My recent positive experience with customer service for a free app surprised even me on how it changed my outlook toward both a company and its product.
Here’s my story. Every morning I do something to support my physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. First, I complete a 45-minute workout, then I grab a coffee and do two games or puzzles to keep my brain working. Finally, I read a few meditations to feed my spiritual health.
Since I have always enjoyed word puzzles and games (Scrabble, Hangman, you name it), one of the mental exercises I do is with an app called WordBubbles, the focus of this anecdote.
In WordBubbles, you are given a set of scrambled-up letters to figure out preselected words. Like most apps, it starts at the simplest level (three-letter words such as cat or boy) and when you complete each level, you advance to the next one. And, as with many apps, you can earn free “hints” to help you solve the puzzle or you can pay to get more hints. I have been playing WordBubbles every day for quite some time and had progressed to the game’s 361st level! Every day this app worked without fail, tracking my progress so when I logged on, I was at the same level where I had left off. Until one day, I logged on to find my entire history DELETED! All my hard work eliminated, gone, nothing! I’m not sure, but I think the glitch had to do with an iPad update since I only play WordBubbles on my iPad. In any case, I was forced back to the lowest level and three-letter words. I was irritated. As silly as it sounds, I was motivated to work through every level and achieve the highest level — admiral status!
I couldn’t find customer support on the app itself, so I went to the app store and found a listing for customer support at the development house. I sent an email explaining my dilemma, but to be honest, I never expected to get a response — or certainly not a response that would fix anything. I assumed my history had been lost forever and I really would have to work through 361 levels again to get back to where I had been. Ugh.
Surprise, surprise. The next morning, I received a very friendly email response, giving me specific and clear instructions on what to do to reinstate my level. Voila, in three easy steps I was reinstated to level 361 and ready to work my way up to admiral status. I thanked them profusely and, in return, they asked very graciously if I could post a review in the iTunes store, as they were a small development house and reviews mean a lot to them.
Needless to say, I posted a very positive review, something I rarely, if ever, do. In addition, I even splurged and spent some money buying more “hints.” I am notorious for only using apps that are free and not spending money on them. I also highly recommend this app and their support to anyone who loves playing word games as I do.
As I reflected on this experience, I thought about how it related to the education market and the numerous digital solutions provided to educators. Three key points came to mind:
- Make sure your company’s technical support is top-notch. Providing excellent technical support is vitally important. When teachers or administrators are using your product with students, they need to know they can count on it to work properly and — even more importantly — they must feel confident they will receive prompt, effective technical support when they need it.
- Superior customer service pays for itself many times over. Making sure your customers receive customer support easily, quickly, and politely without major headaches will serve to cement your relationship with them and help to build referrals and word-of-mouth recommendations.
- Seize the moment! Once you’ve solved a problem for a client or provided excellent customer service, don’t be afraid to ask for a referral, review, or recommendation. That is the time to ask. When you have resolved a problem and helped a customer, he or she will become your best sales agent!
So, don’t underestimate the power of effective technical support and great customer service — it really works!
Contacting MMS Education
If you need help providing excellent technical support or customer service for your clients, we can help. We manage dedicated customer service, technical support and inside sales teams for our clients, all specializing in the education market. If you’d like to learn more, please contact us.
