Netlify Support Goals

Enable customers to more easily and fully use our service

  • We can achieve this in several ways, for example:
  • improving our documentation to be more discoverable:  having discoverable documentation, including search improvements, FAQ listings, in-app help, offering suggestions when submitting tickets, etc
  • simplification of user interface & removal of technical barriers to usage 
  • proactive suggestions for success:  
  • answering unasked questions (“I noticed your configuration is suboptimal”, “when you finish integrating with GitHub, you also get automatic Deploy Previews!” “have you tried our CMS?”)
  • automated communications such as feature notifications of unused features

Deepen the connection between Netlify and the customer

  • Let’s be the cool uncle, supportive grandma, and kind cousin.
  • embracing advocates - thanks/kickbacks/swag for referrals
  • connecting ambassadors with marketing opportunities: like testimonials & case studies
  • responding compassionately via social media
  • showcase the successes of our customers (eg: Site of the Week)
  • Hoped-for result: turn customers into advocates and promoters

Facilitate actionable feedback

  • from customers to all teams (how features are used, what people wish for, what’s broken)
  • from the team to customers (how we will grow, how to connect, how to best use service)

Keep the customer in mind when making decisions 

  • We all want to ship new features and make more money.  All of our actions need to consider the customer point of view and use case.
  • Enable the customer to feel like a badass.

Help ourselves succeed in future customer success & sales efforts

  • This is largely about internal practices:
  • react to support trends constructively (don’t just answer tickets - fix problems instead!)
  • document repeatable actions where possible (leave notes for your teammates & future self)
  • bring all teammates to a shared understanding of best practices (internal & in-product)

Grow our customer handling in skill and effectiveness

  • learn from our mistakes, improve on our successes.
  • create the tools we need to succeed - from trend visualization to helper apps and beyond.

Retain our existing customer base

  • Keeping (& growing) what we have is easier than finding more.  Leverage all of the above goals to achieve this

Additional reading

  • https://www.helpscout.net/blog/after-sales-service/ - Makes the point that what sales and support should be incentivizing is customer retention - because that is the opposite of churn and is “one in the hand” vs X in the bush.  Can be a good mission for both halves of the equation (rather than sales:growth as support:solved cases)