No One Wants Support

No One Wants Support
Andrei Radulescu
@JobsTBD
linkedin.com/in/radulescuandrei
#innovation
#marketresearch
#JobsToBeDone #JTBD

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A deep-dive into the obvious:
People may need support but no one wants it.

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What Is a Chore?
Chores and Support
Getting Support Is an XL Chore
What Does This Mean?
Myths About Support
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A chore is work imposed on the consumer by
a solution he/she selected to make progress in life.
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Progress
If you choose to use a personal car, you can buy one that updates over the Internet but you can’t
buy one that registers itself with the local government. That’s for you to take care of.
Chore

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If you choose to enjoy a natural lawn, you can buy grass that grows in the sun or in the shade but
you can’t buy grass that doesn’t grow. You must take care of cutting it.
ChoreProgress

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If you choose to wear more than a fig leaf, you can buy clothing that doesn’t wrinkle but you can’t
buy clothing that doesn’t get dirty. You must take care of cleaning it.
ChoreProgress

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your initial
circumstances
your desired
circumstances
A chore is part of a detour in making progress.
It results from a solution’s inability to
get the job done perfectly.
Chore
weeds; no grass
beautiful lawn
Mow lawn.
overgrown grass

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People don’t want solutions to chores.
They simply don’t want chores.
Therefore …

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We seek support to:
• Learn how to use a product/service
Learn how to use the infotainment system in my new car.
• Find information about a product/service
Find the available credit on my card.
• Make a change to a service
Change my flight.
• Find the delivery status of a service
Find the status of my insurance claim.
• Troubleshoot a problem with a product/service
Troubleshoot slowness in my Internet connection.
• Correct the outcome of using a product/service
Dispute a fraudulent charge.

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The chore of:
• Learning how to use a product/service
Learn how to use the infotainment system in my new car.
• Finding information about a product/service
• Getting help with making a change to a service
• Finding the delivery status of a service
• Troubleshooting a problem with a product/service
• Correcting the outcome of using a product/service

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Learn how to use
product/service.
No one ever said, “I can’t wait to read the user guide of my infotainment system before I use it.”
Learning how to use a product/service is a chore in itself.
I have a new car with an infotainment
system that I have not used before
I had an enjoyable and
productive ride
I know how to use the
infotainment system

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vs.
well-designed interface +
interface already familiar to the user =
learning-free progress
Who is winning in
the marketplace?

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The chore of:
Find the available credit on my card.

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Find information about
the product/service.
No one will ever say, “I don’t want an Apple Card; I enjoy calling Customer Service to get my available credit.”
To use many products/services, people need information about the state of said solutions
— e.g. the available credit on a credit card, the air pressure in the tires of a car.
I [finally] found what
my available credit is
I’m ready to make a purchase but
I don’t know if I have enough
credit available
I made the purchase knowing that
I had enough credit available

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vs.
payment device +
integrated app =
informed progress
Guess who will win
in the marketplace?

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The chore of:
Get help with changing my flight.

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Communicate to the service
the change needed. be in NY on Wed
be in NY the
following Mon
flight is
updated
Desired Progress
I have a flight to NY booked for Wed
but my plans have changed

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Get help with making a
change to the service.
Communicate to the service
the change needed.
The communication of the change to the service is progress and will be an invariant across
all possible solutions. Having to summon help to do it is a chore.
vs.
be in NY on Wed
be in NY the
following Mon
flight is
updated
Desired Progress Progress When Getting Help
I have a flight to NY booked for Wed
but my plans have changed

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The future will likely look like …
“Alexa, please change my flight to New York to
the following Monday.”
virtual assistants =
chore-free communication

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The chore of:
Find the status of my insurance claim.

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Find the delivery status of
the service.
No one will ever say, “Who cares where my claim is? This FEMA shelter is a freebie!”
What is going on
with my claim?
I know the status
of my claim
I filed a claim with
my insurance
My claim is resolved

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Keep an eye on them.
Where some deliver lemons, Lemonade delivers worry-free progress.
lemonade.com

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The chore of:
Troubleshoot slowness in my Internet connection.

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Troubleshoot a problem with
the product/service.
This is really slow!
I am making
smooth progress
A chore results from a solution’s inability to get the job done perfectly.
Troubleshooting is a chore by definition.
I need to find something
on the Internet
I am done in no time

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We’ve maintained operational accuracy and stability of
.com and .net top-level domain resolution services 100
percent of the time for more than 21 years …
“
verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/domain-registry/index.xhtml
Where there is a will, there is a way.

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The chore of:
Dispute a fraudulent charge.

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Correct the outcome of
using the product/service.
A chore results from a solution’s inability to get the job done perfectly.
Correcting outcomes is a chore by definition.
I’m ready to buy with
my credit card
I’m charged for
what I bought
I see an additional charge
that I never made

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vs.
There is no turning back …
encrypted card information =
mishap-free use in any physical location

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Getting Support Is an XL Chore

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Getting support is at least a chore.
See getting help with making a change to a service.
Support is a solution to chores.
See: • Learning how to use a product/service

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Having to get help with a chore adds insult to injury.
Chore
Chore
Get help with chore.
Learn how to use
product/service
Chore 2x Chore

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People don’t want chores.
Eliminate chores.
Eliminate the need to seek support.

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Improve the product/service.
Eliminate the need to seek support.
To improve the support experience, eliminate the need to have it!
Everything else equal, a dollar invested in your product/service to eliminate
the need for support is a better investment than a dollar invested in support.

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So, how important is it to eliminate chores — e.g. seeking support?
How much value is there?
2018
Sales: $25.7b
Operating Income: $7.3b
Business model:
100%
Chore Elimination

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What if it is technically unfeasible or
financially ruinous to eliminate all support?
Minimize customer effort.
(in this order)
1 — Ensure resolution on first customer contact
2 — Minimize the customer’s time commitment
3 — Minimize the time to achieve resolution

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Support is something that concerns the support organization.
Support is a product decision.
Support is a design decision.

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Getting support = Contacting Customer Service.
Getting support is also:
• Learning to use your infotainment system
from a YouTube video.
• Asking your geeky child to troubleshoot
the slow Internet connection.
You may not have visibility into all the support that your product/service demands.
Find a way to get it!
Customer Service
and more …

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Online FAQs and video tutorials + No Customer Service =
We have minimized the chore of getting support!
To eliminate Customer Service, improve the product/service
to eliminate complex support chores.
Minimize the chore of getting support by delivering support
through the channel best suited for each type of chore.
Clean-up my financials in the
aftermath of identity theft
Understand my monthly
credit card statement
Online FAQs and
video tutorials
Customer Service
Match the chore with
the support channel.

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Customers want omnichannel support.
Customers want first contact resolution.
If customers are switching channels, it means they are contacting you multiple
times. First contact resolution is the problem you need to worry about!
Help customers select the support channel that is best suited for their chore —
see also the previous slide.

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Customers demand support in social media.
We need to provide it.
Customers want to be satisfied not appeased.
Most people taking to social media with a product/service issue are either
complaining or venting. Both of these are chores imposed on them by your
current support processes that do not get the job done.
Fix the #rootcause!

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Customers want support for things they
do not want to do themselves.
Customers need support for things they
cannot do themselves.
Give a customer support and she will be happy for a day.
Help her avoid support and she will be happy for a lifecycle.

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The customer experience is the experience of getting support.
The customer experience would be much better without
the experience of getting support.
Support
Needed

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We must delight the customer
in the support interaction.
When I don’t want to do something, the most delightful thing is having to
spend the least amount of time and effort doing it.
We must minimize customer effort

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We can build loyalty in the support interaction.
Corollary: Asking an NPS question about a support interaction is meaningless.
We can mitigate churn and negative word-of-mouth
At least their
support was
excellent …
People are loyal to products/services that get the job done for them.
Having to get support means you did not get the job done!
But we have the best support in the industry …
That does not make customers loyal,
it just makes them captive.

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We can generate revenue in support.
COVERED POTHOLES $1 EXTRA
This would be the sign that you can generate revenue in support.

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Closing thoughts … just in case it is not clear
There is nothing trivial or undesirable in the hard work, customer focus, and excellent service that
support professionals provide daily. In most organizations, they are unsung heroes that
compensate with empathy and insight where the organization's products/services fall short. And,
in many cases they may be the most important reason their company is still in business.
Throughout my career, I had the privilege to work in support and with support professionals and
these experiences have had a formative role for me.

No One Wants Support

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