![\"Customer](\"\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/15_01_21_support_06.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
We fell into a trap.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a trap that seems to catch Obviously, helping your existing customers is essential. But that\u2019s just part of the story…<\/p>\n How your team treats customer service and your support documentation impacts everything<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 from acquiring users through to\u00a0how likely they’ll be to recommend you.<\/p>\n Think about the last time you were deciding on a new tool. Did you check out their support site to find out if they had a specific feature? Did you look to see if they integrated with that service you use every day? Or if new feature X\u00a0was on the horizon?<\/p>\n If you\u2019re anything like me, I\u2019d say the probability was pretty darn high you looked around their support site. If you were convinced enough,\u00a0maybe you\u00a0even shot them an email to find out more.<\/p>\n Scroll down for 5 key reasons to combine customer service and marketing efforts<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all too common to see a company\u2019s support docs telling a very different story compared to their marketing site.<\/p>\n \u201cGet set up in 30 seconds<\/strong>!\u201d does not equal<\/em> 10 steps of integration instructions that require developer assistance.<\/p>\n \u201cEasy enough your whole team will use it<\/strong>!\u201d does not equal<\/em>\u00a0a 15 page \u201cgetting started\u201d mini-site.<\/p>\n \u201cIntegrates with all the tools you already use<\/strong>!\u201d does not equal<\/em>\u00a0an integration with 2 services \u201cright now\u201d with \u201cmore\u201d on the way soon.<\/p>\n In most companies, the marketing team run the marketing site, while the customer service team manage the support docs. But for\u00a0your\u00a0potential customers or drive-by visitors, they don\u2019t see separate teams or sites.\u00a0They see one company, they see one product, and they should<\/em> see one consistent message.<\/p>\n Marketing and customer service are basically the same thing \u2013 you can’t think about one without the other.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve written about Dave McClure\u2019s Pirate Metrics for startups<\/a> before. Pirate Metrics is a simple framework for thinking about the metrics that impact your business.<\/p>\n Incredible customer support will\u00a0impact every part of the funnel.<\/p>\n Note: it\u2019s called Pirate Metrics<\/em> because the initials of the key terms form an anagram of \u201cAARRR\u201d.<\/p>\n As a Software as a Service business, when you think about acquisition, you imagine the natural journey for new users going something like this:<\/p>\n Unfortunately, this is rarely<\/strong> the journey visitors take to sign up.<\/p>\n Assuming you’re doing some sort of\u00a0inbound marketing<\/a>, a user’s decision to signup actually\u00a0takes\u00a0hundreds of factors into account over a long period. They think like this:<\/p>\n It\u2019s no surprise, when you think about the real customer journey<\/strong>\u00a0that a significant percentage of unconvinced visitors stumble onto\u00a0your support site.<\/p>\n If a potential customer gets that far\u00a0and doesn\u2019t find what they\u2019re looking for, what are the chances they will be back?<\/p>\n In your support docs, don\u2019t underestimate the value of good titles, easy navigation, and easy-to-digest content for\u00a0SEO.<\/p>\n More than 50% of visitors to the GoSquared support site came from a Google search. They\u2019re often looking to see if GoSquared offers support for a specific feature, but they\u2019re often not users of GoSquared at all.<\/p>\n 1,000s of people\u2019s first impression of our company, and everything we stand for, is our support site.<\/p>\n First impressions matter and this is why customer service and marketing are so closely linked. If our support docs have the wrong tone, aren\u2019t helpful at answering questions, or lead to a dead end, then we’re annoying all our existing\u00a0customers. But\u00a0even more concerning \u2013\u00a0we\u2019re turning away potential new<\/em> customers before they\u2019ve even had a chance to get to know us.<\/p>\n Takeaway<\/strong>: A support doc may be the first impression someone gets about your business. Don\u2019t underestimate the importance of a great heading, easy-to-read content, and intuitive navigation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There’s rarely a smooth path from 14 day trial to credit card details, a monthly subscription or even an annual plan.<\/p>\n Most SaaS tools require some level of integration, onboarding and setup. If your users get through all of that without needing to contact a real person or visit any sort of help or support site, then you\u2019re holding something very special.<\/p>\n Chances are, though, that your new users will want to help themselves and get setup quickly. Most people don\u2019t actually enjoy emailing companies to then get\u00a0help.<\/p>\n Takeaway<\/strong>: In your onboarding process, think about the possible pain points and the questions that a new user might ask. Write content on your support site that helps users through the process\u00a0and link them to it. If it\u2019s not easy to get to your support site from your app, it\u2019s useless!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Being there for your customers\u00a0through thick and thin is essential for building a strong relationship with them.<\/p>\n Once the honeymoon period is over and your customer is integrated and set up, don\u2019t forget about them. The only path that leads to is a quick and messy divorce\u00a0\u2013 an account cancellation.<\/p>\n It\u2019s common practice to automatically send emails to users and customers who are slipping away.<\/p>\n When you send an email to an inactive user, though, you had better make it a good email. The shorter the email the better.<\/p>\n Try writing a set of support docs based on feedback from inactive users and group them together with compelling headings.<\/p>\n In your future emails to inactive users, link\u00a0them\u00a0to these support docs. The user gets a short and snappy email and they can jump into a bunch of focused content at their own pace. Once they\u2019re on your site again they might just remember why they signed up in the first place!<\/p>\n Takeaway<\/strong>: Don\u2019t bombard inactive users with essays automatically sent via email. Keep your retention emails short and snappy and encourage users back with relevant and well planned docs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Customers don\u2019t just email you or visit your support site if they’re stuck or have hit a bug.\u00a0They\u2019re often searching for a feature to\u00a0help them get a job done.<\/p>\n The features they\u2019re looking for may not exist yet. There may be a workaround for it. \u00a0Or it\u00a0might be in your product already but it’s not something you shout about.<\/p>\n Your support site and your email communication with customers can be a huge opportunity to increase both customer satisfaction and revenue.<\/p>\n There are\u00a0always\u00a0too many features or\u00a0options to fit into a “simple” pricing grid on your plans page. \u201cEnterprise\u201d tier features (the ones you always need to hit \u201cContact us\u201d to find out about), or less excising features (we call them \u201cB team features\u201d) \u2013 they don\u2019t have to be a complete secret. Don\u2019t be afraid to talk about optional extra features and product offerings in your support docs. Don\u2019t be afraid to offer them to existing customers as an optional extra.<\/p>\n Takeaway<\/strong>: Every day, there are people looking for the features you offer that are hidden behind your \u201cContact us\u201d button. Find out which of these \u201cB team\u201d features are popular by mentioning them in your support docs and analyse the traffic to those pages. You may stumble upon your next big revenue generator.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, knows a thing or two about customer service. His quote above works both ways \u2013\u00a0if you wow a customer they can be just as (often more<\/em>) vocal on the web as when they\u2019re frustrated.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a no-brainer that responding to customer support enquiries quickly and with helpful advice is going to make your existing customers happier.<\/p>\n What most companies don\u2019t consider, however, is the impact of having great support documentation. Often when researching and comparing different tools and services, the easiest thing for potential customers to share with their colleagues is a link.<\/p>\n Do you want potential customers discussing your product and your features, or do you want them discussing how hard it is to find anything about your service without sending an email?<\/p>\n Takeaway<\/strong>: Visitors, trial users, and customers are likely to share your support docs around \u2013 sending them to team members, sharing them on Twitter, and printing them off for their managers. Make your support docs as easy to read and understand as your marketing site. Every article on your support site is another opportunity to convince an uncertain potential customer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Here’s a few other companies that have support docs that are so great they do the job of marketing their respective services:<\/p>\n Hopefully you’re now inspired to improve your own help docs and review how you think about customer service in your business.<\/p>\n If you’ve found a business that has blown you away with their customer service and support docs, make sure you share it with everyone in the comments!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We fell into a trap. It\u2019s a trap that seems to catch a lot of most companies out \u2013 the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1585,1208],"tags":[96,1122,592,608,1121,860],"class_list":["post-5531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-customer-success","category-marketing","tag-analytics","tag-customers","tag-marketing","tag-metrics","tag-service","tag-support"],"yoast_head":"\na lot of<\/del> most companies out \u2013 the notion that customer service, and your support docs, are only<\/em>\u00a0there to help out your existing customers.<\/p>\nSupport docs \u2260 marketing site<\/h2>\n
![\"Why](\"\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/15_01_21_support_04.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/14_12_09_inbound_03.png\")
<\/p>\nHow can customer service impact your marketing funnel?<\/h2>\n
1. Acquisition<\/h2>\n
![\"Inbound](\"\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/14_12_09_inbound_02.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
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Huge opportunity for SEO and awareness from search traffic<\/h3>\n
2. Activation<\/h2>\n
Helping customers help themselves<\/h3>\n
![\"Example](\"\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/15_01_21_support_01.png\")
<\/p>\n3. Retention<\/h2>\n
Proactive customer support reduces churn<\/h3>\n
4. Revenue<\/h2>\n
\u201cB team\u201d features, and discovering new use cases<\/h3>\n
5. Referral<\/h2>\n
![\"Jeff](\"\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/15_01_21_support_03.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCustomer service that\u2019s so good your customers do your marketing for you<\/h3>\n
Support docs your customers will want to share<\/h3>\n
A few examples of great support sites<\/h2>\n
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Go forth and help<\/h2>\n