

Ask YC: Is a particular methodology of customer service advocated at YC? - JoelSutherland

I've noticed that a number of YC funded startups are known for their fanatical customer service/support.  ( Posterous, Wufoo ...) PG also has the issue as #24 for startups he would like to fund:<p>http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html<p>Is there some institutional knowledge or methodology that YC has that is specifically useful for web startups?<p>Does anybody else have good systems that ensure quality customer service?
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pg
To us, Wufoo is the model for customer service. So the one sentence version
is: do whatever Wufoo does.

The most conspicuous thing they do is to respond very rapidly. Meaning in
minutes. But they are not just fast. They listen to their users, and
understanding what they need guides their future development.

That's probably the most important thing to know about customer service. It's
not just something to make users feel better. It's an incomparably valuable
source of information. One of the reasons we advocate launching quickly is to
get access to this information quickly.

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ken
I've seen the same from Tipjoy. I got better support from Ivan in 20 minutes
than most tech companies provide in any amount of time.

~~~
ivankirigin
Wow, thanks :)

