Rob Addy

Many vendors rely upon their support annuity stream for their very survival. Renewal revenue is also the foundation of growth. Without it, vendors must find and win a continuous flow of new business just to stand still. “Service stickiness” is a measure of the ability of a provider to retain its customers. Minimising revenue leakage is essential.

There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.
Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.

Non-renewals mean that vendors must find new business to replace the lost revenue due to customer attrition. Studies have shown that the costs of sale associated with attracting new business are significantly higher than the costs associated with retaining existing customers.

With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, with what?
With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with straw.

Customers cancel contracts for many reasons, including:

• Your customers no longer need what it is that you offer
• They run into financial problems and/or go bust
• There is a catastrophic service failure (that was handled poorly)
• They don’t see the value of the service
• They’ve had their head turned by a rival
• It is felt that “It’s time for a change”
• Because they feel that they can… Lack of fear of transition risk
• Because they think that they can… Lack of contractual penalties

The straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long,
Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it.

But that’s not all. There are even more potential triggers for non-renewal. Given the previous and following list it’s a wonder we manage to keep any customers at all :

• They feel neglected or taken advantage of
• A new executive joins (or is promoted) and wants to be seen to stamp their authority on the business
• Your primary contact / advocate / champion leaves… and with them all goodwill towards yourselves
• You fail to get the renewal paperwork in on time and/or follow the customers procurement process
• The customer initiates a provider consolidation project / procurement initiative
• They want to enable themselves to negotiate improved rates

With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, with what?
With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, with an axe.

There are no magic pills or silver bullets that can prevent customers cancelling contracts. Providers must diligently deliver the contracted services to satisfy and delight their customers day in and day out if they are to remain loyal. But more than that. They must be seen to be delivering value on an ongoing basis. If the customer sees no value; there is no value!

The axe is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The axe is too dull, dear Liza, too dull.
Then sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, hone it.

Whilst there are no fool proof formulae or recipes for achieving “service stickiness” the following have been observed in the field and often seem to get a good reaction:

• Demonstrate tangible business value daily
• Make your solutions as pervasive as possible
  • Recognize and promote corner case use cases via customer “innovation” awards, case studies / references etc
• Identify “movers and shakers” within you customer organizations and become an integral part of their future success and career planning

On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, on what?
On a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, a stone.

It’s always nice to be nice but sometimes it’s as important to be careful. There is much talk of the ethics of locking customers in. Free will is obviously a wonderful thing and we wouldn’t want to eliminate that. But this is a business and we want to be sure to influence the free will of our customers to our advantage as much as is ethically possible. Implementing exit barriers such as the following list can help dissuade customers from making the switch:

• Contract terms and conditions
  • Notice periods, formal cancellation processes etc
• Technology lock-in (e.g. Skills, integration points etc)
• Creation of fear, uncertainty and doubt with regard to migration pains
  • Restricted data access (e.g. deliberately limited export capabilities)
  • Waste of previous technology investments
• Access to premium content streams

The stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry.
Well wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Well wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it.

Increasing your level of strategic influence within your customer base is crucial.  Expanding ones sphere of influence and changing the nature of the conversations that you have with your customers is paramount. This can be done by:

• Talking to more (and different) people
  • Single points of contact are inherently risky
• Demonstrating their Total Cost of the Service and show them how to reduce it
• Raising Line of Business awareness of “the art of the possible”
  • Periodic performance assessments, Capability demos
• Becoming the advisor’s advisor
  • Partnering with the McKinsey’s and Bain’s of the world

With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, with what?
Try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, water.

Increased customer dependency is a good thing. If the customer is uncomfortable about thinking of a scenario without you in it then that is fantastic. Customers can be made more dependent in a variety of ways:

• Eliminate their internal capabilities
  • De-skill the labour requirement
  • Out tasking of routine activities
• Increase technology penetration within customer environments
  • Identify unused functions / modules and promote usage
  • Provide high value trusted advisor services
• Facilitate peer networks i.e. become the social hub
• Offer full “soup to nuts” services

In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, in what?
In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, bucket.
There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

The tools and techniques outlined above are only a sample of what can, could, and should be done to improve the stickiness of your support services. Product / Implementation lifecycle plans must also be baked into the plan to accomodate value perception dips in years 2, 3 and 4. There has to be a continuous stream of tangible business benefits and the value must be recognized and accepted by customers if they are to keep the faith.

May your bucket runneth over…

TRKFAM!

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Category: Support Strategy     Tags: Customer Constituencies, Renewals, Stickiness, Support Value Chain, TRKFAM, Value Proposition

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Reactive support is… always having to say you’re sorry. Saying you’re sorry is one thing. Being sorry and basing your future actions upon a desire to ensure that your partner doesn’t suffer the same fate again and again is something completely different. If a support provider allows its customers to find the same issue time and time and again can it really claim to “love” them? But worse than that; Knowing that a specific customer segment is likely to be impacted by an issue and doing nothing is surely tantamount to emotional neglect? Sure, some providers alleviate their guilt by buying chocolates, sending flowers and posting an entry within their knowledge base. But this token of their affection may or may not be found and acted upon by their customers. And whilst it allows the provider to satisfy their conscious, it can be argued that it doesn’t really come close to fulfilling the duty of care (or love) that they have towards their customers.

As Tina Turner might say “What’s love got to do with it?” But given the date today I thought I might explore the concept of Love and Support. Both require the parties involved to bear their souls, to be open, honest and frank with one another if the relationship is to be a success. Both require give and take and a common understanding of shared goals. Both require the parties to keep the faith and work at it through the good times and the bad. And in both cases our partners sometimes do things that infuriate and irritate for reasons best known to themselves… Yes, love and support are really not all that different after all.

So how do the various tiers on the Gartner Product Support Maturity Scale relate to the art of love?

• Reactive Support is… always having to say you’re sorry.

• Proactive Support is… sometimes having to say you’re sorry but making darn sure that known problems don’t cause them pain in the future.

• Predictive Support is… rarely having to say you’re sorry because you’re constantly keeping an eye out to protect their interests.

• Pre-emptive Support is… instinctively knowing what’s best for relationship and making it happen.

Although the maturity scale was not originally  intended to be a road map for customer love, progressing along the support continuum it defines will undoubtedly help reinforce and strengthen the relationships you have with your customers. By focusing on the customer’s needs and eliminating the pains that they face on a day to day basis even the most dysfunctional of relationships can be turned around.

But love (and support) is about much more than protecting ones partner from the dangers of the world. It’s about providing an environment for them to flourish… It’s about encouraging their efforts… It’s about helping them to be the best that they can be…

But what if your love is unreciprocated?  After all, according to Charlie Brown, “Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love.”  Is it worth loving them all the same? Yes. Yes. Yes. It’s not about being liked, loved or adored in return – it’s about doing what’s right and hopefully having your efforts recognized and valued. Customers will show their growing ‘love’ for you in many different ways. Perhaps they will escalate issues less frequently. Perhaps they will let your occasional mistakes pass without comment or accusation. Perhaps yours won’t be the first name that springs to mind when they are looking to attribute blame. Perhaps they will begin to listen to, and perhaps even act upon, your guidance and recommendations. Perhaps they will pay their renewal invoice promptly without question. But rest assured that they WILL notice. It will take time, but it WILL happen. Acts of love are never wasted.

Support is a many splendored thing… Or at least it should be!  I urge you to go out there and let your customers feel the love…

TRKFAM ♥

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Category: Customer Experience Support Value     Tags: Customer Experience, Customer Perceptions, Gartner Product Support Maturity Scale, Predictive, Proactive, TRKFAM, valued contributor

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Sometimes things go wrong. It’s not inevitable but it happens. How one deals with it when the proverbial brown stuff hits the proverbial fan is one of the ways in which support organizations differentiate themselves whether they mean to or not… Many support providers do not have formal response plans prepared for major issues. They should. But they don’t. 20-20 hindsight is a wonderful thing. But 20-20 foresight is even better. Even those that have thought ahead and planned what they would do if the worst case scenario were to happen often forget to develop a communications plan to be implemented when the chaos ensues!

Below is one approach to a communications play for a major incident. It’s not perfect and it may be overkill for many scenarios, but it shows the way that communications could, and perhaps should, be handled during the various phases of the incident lifecycle and provides examples of the types of content you may want to consider sharing.

When the lights go out…

• “Houston, we have a problem!” And we are really sorry but we think that you do too…

• These are the symptoms you may have identified / This is how the problem appears to be manifesting itself

• Please let us know if you are being impacted in any other way so that we can share that with your peers

• This is the likely harm / loss / pain that you are likely to experience (again we are very sorry)

• This is how we suggest you mitigate these effects

• System access has been restricted to prevent you losing data as we work on the problem /  Please be aware that updates made since the issue was identified may be lost and may not be recoverable after the service is restored.

• This is what we think is wrong and why we think that

• These are the people we have working on it right now

• This is what we have already tried and the results of those attempts

• This is what we’re currently doing to try fix it and our immediate follow-on remediation plans

• This is how long we expect it to take. We will know if this timeline is realistic (after hh:mm or by dd/mm/yy) and we will let you know as we find out.

• In the meantime, you may want to consider the following options whilst we work on it…

• We will next be giving you a revised timeline for resolution and/or status update at hh:mm on dd/mm/yy

• This is what we need from you to help us to track down the issue quicker / more accurately

• These are the steps that we will be completing to resolve the issue

• This is the testing plan for us to be sure that we have really resolved it and not just dealt with the immediate symptoms

• Here is a link to a site where you can find up to the minute status reports on our progress

As the issue continues…

• We are really sorry that we have not yet resolved the issue

• This is the revised estimation of how long we expect it to take. We believe that we will know if this timeline is realistic (after hh:mm or by dd/mm/yy) and we will let you know as we find out.

• In the meantime, you may want to consider the following options whilst we work on it…

• We will next be giving you a revised timeline for resolution and/or status update at hh:mm on dd/mm/yy

• This is what we now need from you to help us to track down the issue quicker / more accurately

• These are the next steps that we will be completing to diagnose and resolve the issue

• Please do not attempt to use the product / service at this time as your work may be lost as we are unable to guarantee that updates made subsequent to the issue manifesting itself will be transferred.

When the end is in sight…

• We believe that we have now isolated the problem and are preparing a fix

• This is the testing plan for us to be sure that we have really resolved it and not just dealt with the immediate symptoms

• We could really do with your help to make sure the issue is completely resolved, if you are willing to help us to help you then please do get in touch…

• These are the actions that you should do to make the service reinstatement / restoration process as simple as possible

As calm begins to descend…

• We apologise for the problem and for the time that it has taken to resolve it

• We believe that the problem has been dealt with. Please please please let us know if you think differently.

• This is what we believe happened and why

• We are very sorry for your inconvenience (and this is how we intend to compensate you for that trouble / pain / anguish…)

• This is what we plan to implement in order to prevent a recurrence

• This is why we believe these actions will prevent further incidences

• This is how you can help us to avoid this situation (or similar ones) in the future

• Our intended timeline for the implementation of these action is as follows

• We will let you know how well the implementation of these preventive actions is going on dd/mm/yy

After the dust has settled…

• You will remember the issue you experienced on dd/mm/yy, We would like to explain the measures that have been implement to prevent the issue recurring.

• Our investigation showed that the issue was caused by…

• We have implemented the following controls to mitigate the risk of this happening again…

• We thank you for your assistance and patience in dealing with this issue

Maintaining radio silence is silly. Washing all of your dirty laundry in public is also less than clever. But burying your head in the sand and hoping it will be all alright is equally ridiculous. A communications vacuum will always be filled. If not by you, then by your harshest and most vocal critics. Do you really want that to happen? In an world were negative commentary can persist on the Internet in perpetuity do you really want that kind of coverage to be the only thing out there? If you are to protect your brand and your reputation you must be prepared to lift the veil a little and show that you are human.

Fallibility is not a crime. But covering it up due to a mistaken sense of  pride or arrogance should be!

The key things to remember are; Get in early, Set messaging expectations, Meet those expectations, Give regular updates, Show some vulnerabilty and humilty, Empathise with your customer’s situation, Help customers to understand why it happened and why it won’t happen again, Encourage their particpation in the process, Close it down cleanly.

TRKFAM

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Category: Customer Experience Support Messaging Support Processes     Tags: Communications, Customer Experience, Customer Perceptions, Hardware Maintenance, Product Support, Reactive Break / Fix, Response Plans, Software Support, Status Updates, TRKFAM

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December 2012 marks the end of a time period in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Some believe this is because the world will end. Unix time ends on Tuesday, 19th January 2038. So assuming we are all still here next February, should we believe that the world will end in 2038? Did the POSIX committee know something that we don’t? Only time will tell…

Whilst here at Gartner Towers we may lack the popular following of Nostradamus, we do try to anticipate how the industries and markets that we cover will change over time – Our current prophecies for Product Support can be found in “Predicts 2012: Product Support Market Will Weather the Cloud-Based Storm and Emerge Driving Value“.

Prediction can be very useful. Although often it isn’t. It can also be highly distracting. But providing it is based upon an appropriate evidence base and a statistically relevant analytical model constructed to take account of likely failure modes, inter-dependencies and historical performance data then it can even, dare one say it, be useful.

Predictive Support services are slowly beginning to come to market. The ability to predict and prevent system failures and problems will become paramount in the future as analytics excellence becomes the battleground for support providers. The relative accuracy of analytical models and their ability to narrow the predicted window of failure to something usable will differentiate support offerings. Predicting system failures 3 seconds in advance is practically useless. Predicting system failures 30 seconds in advance is marginally better. A predictive warning of 3 minutes plus opens up a whole heap of non-egg-boiling-related possibilities. Predicting that an issue will occur between 2pm and 4pm next Wednesday afternoon is incredibly useful.

The following graphic shows some of the many potential ingredients of the predictive support analytical pie…

Note: Some “ingredients” are only available from specialist suppliers and consequently not all analytical pies will taste the same. Ommiting some of the ingredients may or may not affect the culinary integrity of the pie and its ability to satisfy those with a hunger for prevention-based services

Analytical models will incorporate a wide variety of data feeds. The hunger and perceived need for more and more data upon which to perform statistical analysis will lead to high levels of over monitoring and over collection in the short term with a gradual scaling back of data requirements as providers learn what it is that they actually need to track in order to predict issues with the levels of accuracy that they actually need. Organizations that are overly focused on developing the perfect analytical model with 100% accurate predictions at the component level will be overtaken by providers willing to play the odds and offer commercial terms based around less detailed / granular models that deliver sufficiently accurate predictions to be able to initiate appropriate actions to avoid or mitigate service impacting events.

First generation predictive models won’t necessarily prevent incidents. This is particularly true in the software support arena where it is currently impractical to swap out a defective piece of code during run-time. However, predictive analytics still has a massive role to play in software support. One of the biggest problems facing providers when supporting complex software environments is the lack of evidence surrounding any particular failure or crash. When it all hangs, the data that you need to help troubleshoot the issue and prevent it happening again is typically lost. Prediction will enable the automatic initiation of low level logging immediately prior to system failures. This will capture valuable data that will speed the diagnosis and resolution phase as well as providing a basis upon which to develop preventive actions.

But prediction isn’t just about avoiding system outages. It has many many more uses than this. Some of these uses relate to the customer experience, others will help improve the operational performance of the support provider and enable it to make better commercial decisions. “Emerging Technology Analysis: Predictive Support Services” describes 9 use cases for predictive analytics within a support services context in detail.

The real question about prediction is not how you can achieve it. You can. But what you would do with those predictions if you could make them? The mathematicians, statisticians and analytical modellers will deal with the technicalities of creating meaningful and accurate predictions. Business leaders must then decide what it is that they intend to do with them thereafter!

Prediction is just another tool. And we should always remember that a fool with a tool is still a fool. But if we use the tool wisely then perhaps just maybe the future will be ours…

TRKFAM!

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Category: Support Processes Support Strategy Technologies Underpinning Support     Tags: Gartner Product Support Maturity Scale, Hardware Maintenance, Predictive, Processes and Methodologies, Software Support, Support, Support Technologies, Support Value Chain, TRKFAM

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In the past couple of postings we have looked at the half empty glass of support. Now let’s look at the half full version. Support has many things to be duly proud of. It delivers real value. Admittedly, some providers deliver significantly more value under the product support banner than their competitors but that will always be the case. In the course of my discussions with support providers, it never ceases to amaze me how often they neglect to mention many of the good things that they are doing on behalf of their customers day in and day out. Is this false modesty? I don’t think so. Instead, I see it is a symptom of their inability to express their value in a meaningful way (and in some cases an inability to comprehend what their value actually is). Poor support messaging and marketing is common. Non-existent support messaging and marketing is even more common. Unless support tells the world why it’s valuable, it shouldn’t be surprised when people fail to recognize that value. If the only contact someone has with you is when things go wrong, is it any wonder that you are associated with painful problems (and all of the negative connotations such as frustration, anguish and anger that go with them)…

Below is a graphic that I have used with clients for the past 2 or 3 years as a tool to help them understand what their value is and how to let other people understand the support value proposition. It is equally applicable to any product or service but for the purposes of today we will look at it from the support perspective.

The four main axes show the pillars of customer value… Cost reduction, Revenue generation, Quality improvement and Risk mitigation. In between these foundational themes we have secondary aspirations that can be used to influence and convince prospects, customers and consumers of product or service value.

Using these themes, providers can plot out what they believe their value is.  Remembering that customer value comes in many forms and shapes…

So what exactly is the product support value proposition? And perhaps more importantly, how should you convey it?

Full details and worked examples can be found within “Marketing Essentials: How to Convincingly Articulate the Product Support Value Proposition“. To paraphase a very small fraction of the fantastic insight, guidance and advice contained within this brilliant research note (and I say that as a completely biased party ) I would recommend a focus upon:

• Incident avoidance / Pain prevention – People don’t just want a support provider who is good at fixing things when they fail. They would much rather have a provider that helps them to avoid the pain and inconvenience in the first place.
• Internal cost reduction – How you help them to spend less on support related activities.
• Product or service value extraction – Getting the biggest bang for their technology investment buck
• Improved understanding – Of their environment, their operations, their product or service usage and how they compare to others
• Better end user experience – Helping them to help their users to be more productive

When you talk in terms similar to those outlined above, and refrain from falling back on well worn cliches about “protecting ones technology investment” and wafer thin sliced support services descriptions of what it is that you do and how you do it, you will begin to connect with customers in a more meaningful way… And connecting with customers is key. Because without that connection you will always only be the folks that they call when things go bad.

After all, who really wants to hang out with the perennial harbinger of doom and destruction?

TRKFAM!

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Category: Support Messaging Support Value     Tags: competitive advantage, Customer Constituencies, Customer Experience, Customer Perceptions, Customer Service, Gartner’s Fantasy Football Product Support Squad, Hardware Maintenance, Software Support, Support Quality, Support Value Chain, TRKFAM, Value Proposition

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According to the UK government; “Tax doesn’t have to be taxing”. But I guess they would say that, seeing as they require millions of UK taxpayers to do the paperwork for them through self-assessment… Self-assessment or self-analysis is an interesting concept. Can we ever truly be objective? Do we have the capacity to see ourselves as others see us? And even if we could, would we apply subconscious filters to mask the truths we don’t want to face?

Now of course these are all interesting questions but they do little to forward the cause of the support industry. So let’s park them for now and look at how we (or you) compare against the best of the rest. You could evaluate your portfolio and internal processes against your peers using the mini case studies within “Gartner’s Fantasy Football Product Support XI, Summer 2011”… You could use the Gartner Product Support Maturity Scale (as first defined within “Market Insight: Introducing the Gartner Product Support Maturity Scale”) as a framework to understand your relative level of service maturity. Or if you are feeling particularly brave, you could ask your most important and vocal customers to use the cosmo-quiz style assessment as laid down in “How Proactive Is Your Support Provider?” to determine where and how you need to improve.  All of these assessments are valid and useful. But they do not tell the whole story, for that you must look inwardly and reflect on your particular position in the firmament of your organization. Are you the shining star, the twinkling jewel or the vacuous black hole? Only you can tell for sure.

Support quality and value is often directly proportionate to the level of importance placed upon it by the business. When we evaluate providers, it may appear that we are solely interested in the composition of the portfolio, adoption metrics and tangible quantified customer benefits. It’s not to say that these factors are not important. They are. But they are not all important. We also look to see how the support function itself gels within the culture of the provider – How support is perceived internally and how it perceives itself… So how do we make such a subjective judgement? Well it’s a combination of many data points gathered over multiple interactions – Many of which are outlined below. I urge you and your colleagues to consider these questions and refer back to them periodically to see how your actions are affecting the way in which Support is perceived…

• Does the most senior product support executive within the business report directly to the CEO?
• Does the head of support attend all board meetings?  Are support related issues routinely discussed at such meetings?
• Are support related performance metrics included within monthly management reports? Are these metrics meaningful and focused on the needs of the business?
• Where is the head of support’s parking space in relation to other senior executives?
• Is support seen as a necessary evil or cost of doing business?  Or is it recognised as a valuable business contributor?
• Does the support function actively participate within routine business reviews? Does support raise warning flags about customer satisfaction issues to the business and provide non-renewal or product defection risk analysis?
• Are there regular interlock sessions between every aspect of the business and support to ensure requirements and constraints are fully understood?
• Is support actively involved within ongoing continuous improvement programs and/or business process re-engineering activities?
• Have key customers and product lines been identified within the support business?  Has their importance been communicated to everyone within the support function?  Could every member of support tell you the financial impact of each customer if they were to cancel? Could they tell you what the new business pipeline associated with each customer is?
• Do customer experience initiatives originate from within the support function or are they instigated from within the business itself? Is support the focal point for such activities or are they ran from elsewhere?
• Does the business understand the technical constraints under which the support function operates and any limiting factors (e.g. legacy versions, compatibility issues etc) that may prevent them from meeting the needs of the business in the short or medium term?
• Is product support seen as a tactical or strategic issue by senior management?
• Do senior executives in non-support functions accept and openly recognise the contribution that support makes to the areas under their control?
• Does everyone within the support function understand the different roles, responsibilities and dependencies of other business functions and how they combine to deliver value to customers?
• Can support management articulate the value proposition of the business that they support?  And can everyone within the support function describe what it is that the business does?  Would your front line support representatives be comfortable giving a 30 second elevator pitch about your organisation?
• Can management in areas outside of support articulate the product support value proposition?  And can everyone outside of the support function describe what it is that you do?  Would your account executives, developers, marketeers and executives be comfortable giving a 30 second elevator pitch about your support offerings?
• Is there a formal 3-5 year plan for support within the business?  Is this plan reviewed and approved by the board?  Is everyone within the business aware of this plan and its content?
• Do senior support executives review the short and long term business plans of other business functions?
• Are support representatives regularly invited to local departmental meetings?
• Is there a suitable vehicle (newsletter, open forum etc) to communicate support related information to the business?  What level of readership / subscription is there?
• Is the support section of the organisation’s intranet accessed frequently?  Does the support function have a dedicated section? Was it updated within the past 14 days?
• Does support proactively approach line of business leaders and suggest ways in which support could be leveraged more effectively in their areas?
• When was the last time a member of the support team was voted employee of the month / invited to attend an off site team building event for another department?  Are support employees eligible to win and/or attend corporate recognition events?  When was that last time that a member of support was recognised in this way?
• Does the new-starter induction program include the support function and how it contributes to the success of the business?
• Do all support staff follow the corporate dress code?
• Could every member of the support team tell you the current stock price, who the major competitors are and where your business sits in relation to them in the marketplace?
• Could every member of staff name at least one member of the support management team?  Does everyone in the business know the support helpdesk number / website URL?

Interesting and valid questions I hope you agree. Questions that will hopefully help you to understand your position a little more clearly and to initate actions to change it where change is needed. At least that is the hope anyhow.

Well that’s enough navel gazing for now. Next time, we’ll look at how we change these perceptions…

Until then… TRKFAM!

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Category: Support Operations Support Processes Support Strategy Support Value     Tags: competitive advantage, Customer Service, Gartner Product Support Maturity Scale, Hardware Maintenance, Internal perception, Market Perceptions, Processes and Methodologies, Product Support, role of support, self-assessment, Software Support, Support, support as a weapon, Support Quality, Support Value Chain, TRKFAM, Value Proposition, valued contributor, where does support fit in?

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It’s been almost a week now and my login credentials are still active. Better still, I have not yet been dragged from my bed in the middle of the night for some baseball bat-based “re-education” so all appears well…

As we know, product support is not universally disliked in business circles although it sometimes feels like it is. The market perception of support leaves a lot to be desired. It is the result of years of conditioning and will take a significant change in approach and behaviour to alter it. Whether your renewal notice is seen as the technical insurance policy premium that your customers don’t want to pay or the drug money that is demanded with menaces by the crack dealer providing their client with their next hit, they rarely hand their money over willingly…

“…given the profitability of support services and the high levels of product discounting that is sometimes seen one might draw an analogy between the technology industry and the trade in illegal narcotics whereby the initial product is given for free or at very low cost on the assumption that once hooked, the customer will pay in perpetuity.”

Extract from Market Insight: Introducing the Gartner Product Support Maturity Scale (G00174285)

Perception is a weird and wonderful thing.

Consider Squirrel Nutkin... Adorable nut muncher or fluffy tailed rat with good PR? You decide!

So how can the social pariah that is support rehabilitate itself? Can it be rehabilitated? What needs to change for it to become appreciated? Respected? Desired? Adored even? Is the concept of proprietary lock-in ever really acceptable?

Unfortunately, the support industry probably needs a little more than a prosthetic tail and the attentions of PR supremo Max Clifford! But that’s not to say the feat is impossible. Just that it may take a little more effort over an extended period…

The first stage of any rehabilitation program is to recognize the issue and accept it. Let’s focus on that this week. Support is unloved. Get over it. It’s not that it isn’t lovable or without merit. It’s just that most people fail to see past their own preconceptions and bitter personal experiences of the past. Perception is a powerful thing. We must not underestimate it. If we are to take support forward to claim its rightful place in the world we will have to change attitudes. The diagram below shows how customer perceptions are formed and influenced and the way in which support organizations can impact them.

Obviously, a whole lot of this stuff is outside of our direct control and immediate sphere of influence but that doesn’t mean we can’t affect it. It just means it will take longer and we will have to worker harder…  Consider how you interact with your customers (and the key word here is “customer” not service consumer – but we’ll save an investigation into the distinction between the two for another time). How often do you reach out? Do you mainly focus on the negatives i.e. the current hot issue, or the benefits derived over the longer term? Are you talking to the right people? If not, how can you get to talk to the right people? If you could get to them… what would you say? These are the questions that need to be addressed first.

We must remember that a messenger without a message is just mime artist. Having something to say is as important as having someone to say it to. If our customers don’t see the value; there is no value. etc etc

There is much to do, but as Confucious said “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Until the next time I wish you well on your own particular journey!

And remember… TRKFAM!

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Category: Support Messaging Support Strategy Support Value     Tags: Customer Constituencies, Customer Experience, Customer Perceptions, Customer Service, Gartner Product Support Maturity Scale, Gartner’s Fantasy Football Product Support Squad, Hardware Maintenance, Market Perceptions, Pre-emptive, Predictive, Proactive, Processes and Methodologies, Product Support, Reactive Break / Fix, Service Definitions, Software Support, Support, Support Quality, Support Tax, Support Value Chain, TRKFAM, Value Proposition

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…Shsssh! Don’t tell anyone, but “they” have inadvertently given me a login and password for the Gartner Bloggers Network. Not too sure who “they” are exactly but whoever they are they scare me. Obviously, it’s an administrative error and somewhere in Gartner Towers there is an earnest analyst figuratively running to his or her inbox in eager anticipation of the chance to “connect” with the outside world. It must have been meant for someone else. Surely it’s a mistake. They’d never knowingly allow me to do this? They couldn’t? They wouldn’t? Would they? Anyhow… Not too sure how long it will be until someone in authority notices their error and revokes my access. But seeing as I have it, and for as long as it lasts, I may as well try and subvert the IT industry in my own little way using it

But first… a confession. Having been a vehement critic of blogging in the past I am holding my hands up to my own hypocrisy before someone else points it out. Yes, I have questioned the validity and purpose of blogging in the past. Yes, I have poked fun at those that seem incapable of believing in their own existence unless they can read about themselves on their iPhone. And yes, I have subconsciously wondered if the individuals concerned had too much time on their hands… But… that was then, and this is now.

So why am I doing this?  Well, to use yet another cliche…  I have a dream…

…or perhaps a recurring nightmare would be a more accurate description. In my dream / nightmare, the Product Support discipline is a highly respected and valued contributor within the IT community. Support executives are revered and lauded with accolades and trinkets lavished upon them at every opportunity. Support is the customer’s champion. Support is the aggregator of customer opinion. The shaper of customer requirements. The eliminator of issues. The advocate of prevention. The creator of customer value. The lynch pin of every successful technology provider. Without it, they would crumble. Without it, they would hemorrhage revenue as surely as if they had taken a knife to their own femoral artery. In short, Support has inherited the world!

Now you see why some may consider it a nightmare…

This blog will be focused (insofar as anything of this type can be focused) on all things Product Support related. It will be written for the vendor community and more specifically, people working within the glorious discipline of Product Support within that community. It will be a scratch pad for me to expose my musings, my personal opinions and my beliefs. It will attempt to promote the Support ideal. It will encourage and showcase good practice. It will question and challenge conventional support related wisdom. It will unashamedly arm Support Executives with the weaponry they require to rise up from their incident queues and critical situations and to storm the corporate ivory towers and overthrow their masters.  Together, we shall make support sexy once more!!

But alas that will have to wait until next time. Until then I bid thee well and ask you not to tell your friends about this blog. Unless they are of true product support blood they would not understand its intricacies and subtleties. Remember that by reading to this point you have indicated your willingness to fight the good fight and have been enlisted in a completely legally binding way into a covert and subversive secret organization whose primary mission is to forward the Product Support cause. In time there will be secret signs, handshakes and perhaps even the odd clandestine rendezvous but for now just remember that “The Red Kipper flies at midnight”. Anyone uttering this phrase can be thought of as a friend and ally. And we all need allies in the battle that is the day to day existence of the product support function!

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Category: Support Strategy Support Value     Tags: Alternative Support Providers, Analytics, Customer Constituencies, Customer Experience, Customer Perceptions, Customer Service, Gartner Product Support Maturity Scale, Gartner’s Fantasy Football Product Support Squad, Hardware Maintenance, Maintenance, Market Perceptions, Pre-emptive, Predictive, Proactive, Processes and Methodologies, Product Support, Reactive Break / Fix, Service Definitions, Software Support, Support, Support Consumers, Support Quality, Support Tax, Support Technologies, Support Value Chain, The Red Kipper Flies at Midnight, TRKFAM, Value Proposition

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