How much does customer service cost?

NorthIowaWebsites · May 1/2007 2:58 pm

We are in the process of building a brand new Web 2.0 application that I am hoping will have the clean look of something like FB and also the easy use like FB.

Honestly, I don't know what it is going to cost to build.

I was trying to work on some various pricing structures based on what the competition is doing and what I feel is right, but I have come to a dilemma. What kind of price tag do you put on customer service?

My competitors are charging anything from free to $30+ for their services. Very few offer phone support and forums, but almost all have a contact form (which I think is the lazy man's way out) or e-mail contact which you can reply to.

I am thinking $19-$29 per month and have phone and forums.

How much does good customer service really cost?

Aaron

Fresh Mike · May 1/2007 6:05 pm

Aaron...can you tell us more about the business...what is it and how much support do you need to offer?

NorthIowaWebsites · May 2/2007 1:47 am

Mike -

Without going into too much detail, its basically a calendar program that I brought up several months ago (If you remember). I haven't found a suitable solution on the market yet, so I have decided to create my own. It, like FB, will be VERY simple to use and have great functionality for small and large groups alike.

It's won't be difficult at all to use, but we know how some people can be. They won't be calling to ask about technical stuff, but will rather be asking about "How do I do this?" type of stuff.

Of course we will have a forum and a knowledgebase, but we we know how well people read. Truly I do want to offer phone support, but I don't want people to abuse it or spend days and nights on the phone answering "How To" questions.

Thanks Mike! I truly respect your opinion and what you have done with FB.

Aaron

PS - I don't know if you personally still do consulting or not, but that is something I would potentially be interested in when the programmers get the program done and we start working on beta testing and rolling it out.

Fresh Mike · May 2/2007 8:46 am

Well...why not try it and see how much it costs? Track the number of calls and the average length. I expect it will be less than you think, and especially when you are launching a product, direct feedback from phone from your customers is invaluable...you may find the calls go longer than you expected because you and/or your staff are asking a lot of questions like:

1. how do you like the service?
2. what's the one thing you would change if you could?
3. what were you using before?
4. how did you find us?
5. is there anywhere you visit regularly or anything you read where we might advertise and find more people like you?

Time on the phone with customers is GOLD. I expect people will spend more time with you asking about your company, not the product (i.e. how long have you been around, why did you build it) in a effort to reassure themselves that you are trustworthy. For the record I see personally support as an asset, not a cost. It's pretty much falls into our marketing bucket because it leads to referrals and improves the customer experience so those who call are likely to be long term customers.

I hope that helps.

Re consulting: sadly I'm all full up focusing on FreshBooks - thanks for the offer though , good luck and feel free to post questions here in the forum and we'll try to help you out.

- Mike

#1 May 1/2007 2:58 pm

How much does customer service cost?

#2 May 1/2007 6:05 pm

Re: How much does customer service cost?

#3 May 2/2007 1:47 am

Re: How much does customer service cost?

#4 May 2/2007 8:46 am

Re: How much does customer service cost?

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