Customer service is a core tenet for our team at Shugo. Personally I’m fanatical about exceptional customer service. I think it’s part of the reason why I keep my cell phone close to me at all times (even when I struggle to sleep some nights). I don’t want a client to ever go more than a few minutes without a response from us if they reach out for help (which is the reason my it’s taking me a bit to write this post since I just answered two client emails). Even if we don’t have an immediate answer I want our clients to know we’re on the case and will get them the correct answer shortly.
So what really prompted my rant was a recent project we took on and how we ultimately chose the vendor we are working with. Today we’re announcing the integration of automated billing in FileGuardian. This is no small task and there are plenty of players in the industry to choose from (I scoured the landscape of the payment industry and it’s FULL). We thought we had the “one”, a recommendation given to us from a friend. Unfortunately after working with this firm, I didn’t have a comfort level with their level of service.
Again — I’m fanatical when it comes to customer service. When an email went unanswered by this vendor for over 12 hours — red flags went off in my head. I know, I know, I’m fanatical! But that length of time just wasn’t acceptable to me and we decided to move on from that vendor.
We then switched gears to vendor #2 — probably the vendor we would have originally picked if not for the initial recommendation. I’ve been SO impressed with this company. Emails go no more than 30 minutes without a response. Follow-ups happen after the fact. They’ve been so helpful — even if they didn’t have the “answer” I was hoping for.
To me, customer service is more important than price. I’d gladly pay a bit more for that vendor I know will deliver when we have questions.
Thoughts from Boda 