an arrogant bartender

Traveling for work is fun (don't tell my wife).

I like good beer and finding new places to try new drinks.

On a recent trip, I found a bar. And then I made a mistake. I stood at the bar and didn't know which beer I wanted. Unhappy bartender.

I picked one. The bartender asked "What size?" while looking past me into the dining room.

I made another mistake. There were no sizes on the menu. So I shrugged and we stood in silence for a moment.

"I'll take the biggest you got."

That got a laugh. Then I took my beer and sat down to write this email.

Here's how I liken this to Saas.

Support and service is often treated like a cost center. A thing to be reduced to a it's most efficient, mechanical form.

We build self-service support portals in the hope that nobody asks anything new. That everybody knows all the rules of the game.

We focus on deflection rates and mean-time-to-resolution. We focus on speed and efficiency.

We don't focus on feelings and empathy.

You've gotten copy/paste answers to support queries, right? Impersonal and not 100% accurate. Maybe they point you in the right direction, but it's not the answer you need.

Maybe you've even gotten the Saas equivalent of the arrogant bartender. Too busy or self-important to bother asking what you want or need.

Deflect! (Or 'Bing!' as my 3yo says when the bullet from my finger gun bounces off his armor)

Unless you don't need your customers, it's worth asking what they need and how you can help. Every. Single. Time.

The thing is, until I experience shitty service I don't think about whether or not I'll go back to a bar. Or use a piece of software again.

The moment I feel 'less than' or like an inconvenience, I start deciding whether or not to stick around and come back.

If the bartender asked me what kind of beer I like and then suggested a size, I wouldn't write this email. I'd go back to that same bar.

If you give a customer a reason to believe that you care about what they want and need, they'll come back even when things aren't perfect. Because they know that at least you care enough to help.

How's that for a stretch? I bet you'll never get another email with 'arrogant bartender' and 'mean-time-to-resolution' in it.

To being helpful,

Peter

PS: Is an email like this helpful? Is it entertaining? Or is it a waste of time? Your feedback matters and I promise to listen.