Customer Service 2.0

Question, are people who use your product or services for free customers or simply users?  and why is there a difference?

If you consider Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Quora, or many of the new technology companies who monetize indirectly from advertising revenue; the Customer seems to be getting left behind.  A recent article in the NYTimes: http://goo.gl/aRHoY highlighted the issue on the lack of any phone support.  Google and Facebook have repeatedly stepped over privacy concerns and even went as far as to 'hijack' customer email addresses (in the case of Facebook: http://goo.gl/s8Dlm).

Many people will say this is fair game since the customer does not pay for the service.  In other words, if you don't like it, don't use it.  Moreover, others have claimed that there is an expectation of a customer to "pay" by loosing some privacy, having ads (how is Skype doing with that?), or overall deterioration of the product itself!  None of these options appear to be a sustainable business practice.

Treating your non-paying customers as simply "Users" is bad policy.  Not only is it bad policy, but its bad for business.  I have seen first hand from my days at Cisco Corporation working in the Customer Loyalty program and my time at AVG Technologies.  At AVG, we offer customer service (incl. phone support) to all of our Free Customers.  Not only does this generate stronger trust in our brand, but it also has added profit to our bottom line and increased retention substantially.

One last example, I was reviewing my bank statement this evening and found a charge from Hulu.  I haven't used this service in sometime and was surprised to see they were still charging me (Auto-billing strikes again). Good news, is that their phone number was in the description. Two rings and a nice woman answered, found the issue, and refunded me my money.  Here's the kicker, she not only refunded me for the monthly bill for this transaction, but had noticed I had not used the service for over a year and refunded me ALL the fees totaling over 50 USD!!!

One great example of customer service and I am always looking for more.  If you experience good customer service, I'd love to hear about it!

Joel