Bret asks:
I often see people on forums telling complainers to shut up with the “vote with your wallet” line. How does 37signals feel on the matter? Is it better to have a vocal customer who’s willing to stick with the product despite a perceived shortcoming or would you prefer that such a customer move on?
The first thing I’d say is this: It’s tough to be 100% happy with anything. Sacrifices rule the day — each person needs to figure out where their limits are. So if it’s one thing that’s really bothering someone, maybe they can find a way to adapt (or we can find a way to improve). But if it’s one thing after another, maybe that product just isn’t a good fit for that customer.
The second thing I’d say is this: You can learn a lot from a vocal customer. Even customers who continually bash your company or your product have value. So the goal shouldn’t be silencing them, it should be listening to them. You don’t have to do anything they say, but being aware of what they’re saying can give you insight into a perspective that you may otherwise not have had.
We hope you’re happy here
What’s most important to us is that people who use our products are happy using our products. If someone is unhappy with our products, we’d love to hear why. Maybe we can make them happy. But maybe we can’t — that’s certainly possible too.
So if we don’t think we’ll be able to make them happy, and they’ve found another product that makes them happier, we encourage them to use the other product. Sometimes we’ll even recommend an alternative if we can.
Don’t fight a losing battle
At a certain point there’s no sense in trying to make someone happy who you can’t keep happy, and there’s no sense in someone suffering endlessly when they constantly run into things that don’t work for them. If it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit. Luckily there are a lot of choices, different approaches, and alternatives out there. Choice is on the side of the consumer.
Be honest up front
This sometimes comes up in pre-sales emails. People will ask us why our product is better than this or that product. We may riff on the fundamental advantage of simple, focused tools like ours, but then we’ll say something like: “There’s really no way for us to tell you what’s best for you. We encourage you to try all the products you’re considering. That’s the only way you’ll ever know for sure which product feels right. We hope it’s our product, but if it’s not we understand.”
Some salespeople may say that’s a terrible strategy, but we prefer to give the most realistic answer, not the “obviously we’re the best no matter what” answer. Because in the end, what feels right is what works best. Comparing products by comparing features isn’t really an effective way of making a decision. You have to compare the experience and you can only compare the experience by trying the products.
So yes and no
So, yes, I do encourage people to vote with their wallet, but at the same time I don’t encourage companies to chase all wallets either. Every wallet isn’t going to be a good fit in your pocket.
Ahmad Alhashemi
on 20 Aug 08Maybe it is also different when you current customers start complaining about a certain aspect of your service and threaten to leave, you should look further into this because it is usually a true shortcoming in your service.
On the other hand, when potential customers offer to register for your service only after you implement so and so, usually they don’t know what they want they’re just guessing.
JF
on 20 Aug 08Maybe it is also different when you current customers start complaining about a certain aspect of your service and threaten to leave, you should look further into this because it is usually a true shortcoming in your service.
You should always be paying attention to what your existing customers are saying. However, it may also be a sign that they are simply growing out of your service. In some cases we think that’s healthy. We’d rather our customers grow out of our products eventually than never be able to grow into them in the first place.
When you do whatever you can to hang on to your current customer base you risk skewing the feature set to more experienced users. That can make it difficult for new people who just discover your product to dive in and get comfortable.
This often happens with business software. Old users get used to it cause they’ve grown into it, but new users are too confused to get started. That’s when companies grow old and die with their dwindling long-term customer base. We don’t think that’s a healthy formula for long term viability.
Ben
on 20 Aug 08On the topic of “try them all and we hope it’s us”... That’s not at all as bad a strategy as it might seem on the surface. I’m not a customer of yours, but if I understand things right, part what 37Signals sells is an awesome user experience. If The Other Guy is selling just a big feature list, then they may look more impressive without trying.
I’d assert, however, that even if you added a bullet to the BaseCamp feature list: “Awesome User Experience” no one would believe it or count it as much as it actually counts. User experience is a lot more important, I think, to people than they know; it’s also hard to quantify so it’s hard to tell how much it’s worth to you ahead of time.
So what you’re actually doing is not inviting them to leave your store (so to speak), but inviting them to look at your comparative advantage: how wonderful the design of your software is. Sounds frickin’ smart to me. The honesty points probably don’t hurt, either.
Anonymous Coward
on 20 Aug 08IMHO, “voting with your wallet” is the right thing to do when a competing product (or no product) is a better fit—for whatever reason. But its nice to let the vendor know why you are choosing against their product.
And when a product is the best fit but is still lacking in some area, letting a vendor know your position is in everyone’s best interest. Where it gets obnoxious is when you communicate your needs in an obnoxious manner. (Or when you threaten to leave but never do.)
Of course, good professional communication goes both ways. For example, providing offline functionality may or may not be something a vendor thinks it should provide be. But blog posts with the title “you’re not on a f*ing airplane” are not the best way to respond.
Geoff
on 20 Aug 08Fred Reichheld has a great book on this topic. He describes something called “Bad Profits.” Customers paying you money, but speaking ill of your product. Just because someone is paying you and you’re making money on them, doesn’t mean you are doing great. You need both profitable and happy buyers to achieve sustainable growth. Here’s a mock-up of a primitive version of one of Reichheld’s diagrams.
Daniel Gibbons
on 20 Aug 08Perhaps this sounds like an odd thing to say, but increasingly one of the main criteria I use in the “stay or go” equation is whether or not I like the company behind the product. For example, in Canada our wireless carriers seem to relish the extent to which they can stick it to customers, provide awful websites, bottom-feeding tactics for hiding fees and charging for things that should be included. I’d sacrifice all the functionality in the world except basic phone calls for a wireless provider who was simply nice and respectful to its customers.
The other point here is that it’s much more exhausting to deal with bad service and support than it is to put up with functional limitations. These days I’ll always pick service over features.
Keith
on 20 Aug 08Great point. You can only deliver what you’ve got and sometimes that is going to be at odds with the needs or desires of a certain type of customer. Chasing after wallets is a cop out to policing your own product. Once you chase one…why stop?
I always hear people reference the flexibility of saleforce.com. Saleforce, for lack of a better word, sucks. The fact that it requires so much training to use is a testament to that. Particularly given that every organization I’ve ever been with that has used it…has never done so without requiring 1 person who “gets Salesforce” to go in behind people and clean up their mistakes.
Great post.
bochgoch
on 21 Aug 08(playing devils advocate…) A great sentiment, but are you sure that’s an area where you practice what you preach? There are alot of old, unanswered threads in the support forums for example…
JF
on 21 Aug 08A great sentiment, but are you sure that’s an area where you practice what you preach? There are alot of old, unanswered threads in the support forums for example…
Yes, we read every post in the forums, but the forums aren’t for official response. They are primarily for customers to help one another.
From the Forum sidebar:
Brett
on 21 Aug 08I’ll let a bit slide if the company is honest, they respect (not necessarily agree with) me, and they’re passionate about what they do. If they’re busting their chops to do something innovative and/or disruptive, great, even more so. But, if my principles are offended, they won’t get a cent!
Max
on 22 Aug 08One must give 37s that their products suck the least out there. That’s why I have rented Basecamp and Highrise.
The two serious problems I have with 37s:
1. The lack of integration of the different products reminds me of computing stone age. This is mainly a “philosophical” decision on 37s’ part. Likely they have painted themselves into a corner on this one, but it isn’t “impossible” to get out. It’s a matter of priority. Think about it this way: What would the 37s-fanboys say if e.g. MS decided that every single software product in the Office suite has to maintain its own addressbook and data transfer happens only via manual, lossy vcard-ex/import?
2. Pricing: If I would use the 37s-product like I would like to, I would easily shell out $100+ a month. I am bootstrapping my fledgling mini-business, and $1200+ a year is a no-go.
So, well, I still am a customer, but one who is constantly on the look-out for an alternative. This wallet is voting Chicago… for now.
This discussion is closed.