Zoho Support has a lot of happy customers. We keep hearing from them and we talk to them about a lot of things. But, for quite some time now, we’ve been meaning to regularize this engagement with our customers. So, we’re starting off with a weekly poll series. We pick a topic, ask you a question and wait for your opinions. You choose your view, let’s discuss it and we’ll all take back a wider perspective. We’ll do this every week. Simple, ain’t it?
What’s a better way to kick off our weekly poll than to ask a really important question! So, we picked one of the most omnipresent questions around. Here’s more:
Products that offer a ‘freemium’ pricing model face this debate, pretty often. Operations managers and Business managers constantly discuss this question. But, let’s face it. The question’s very tricky, per se.
‘Free’ customers need customer support. In fact, they sign up for your product only because they trust you to do what’s best for them. They believe that nothing will go drastically wrong. And, if something actually goes wrong, they believe that you’ve got their back. Customer support is really a part of the overall product experience. It’s not something external that you can plug in whenever you deem fit. It’s the customer’s right.
On the other hand, the business side of things suggests a different logic. Customers that sign up for a ‘freemium’ product know that it has a very dumbed-down experience. At that level, the product itself is pretty simple! Assigning and justifiably using customer support resources for ‘free’ accounts is not easy. An extremely-detailed-yet-really-simple knowledge base should do the trick. It’s a single-instance investment of time and effort. Yet, it stays around for eternity and can be looked up easily. Occasionally, though, personalized customer support can be offered for ‘free’ customers, depending on support load from paying customers. It’s not meant to be a part of the basic experience. It’s just a privilege.
Each side has firm reasoning to justify. What do you think? Tell us in the comments section below.
If you’re a Zoho Support customer, you should see the poll as soon as you login today. This week’s poll ends on Friday. Hurry! We’re waiting to hear from you!
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