On 1/28/2013 4:58 PM, Nathan wrote:
But we (or maybe just I) have one big disadvantage compared to someone who does support for a living. I'm financially and emotionally vested in the product and have the tendency to take things personally. Therefore, my first instinct for responding to a challenging email is probably not right. And my second one probably isn't either. And the one I finally send might be the one that gets me reported to my supervisor even if I see nothing wrong with it even after reading it over twice.
Yeah, it's hard to deal with an irate customer. After you delete (but do write -- it's therapeutic) the email where you tear him a new one, I find it useful to step back an imagine what the real problem is, and answer the question as if it had been phrased politely.
I got one email where the customer was calling my game various names due to frustration, and I sat back and replied that I was sorry he was frustrated, that the level he was stuck on was particularly difficult, and I pointed him at a YouTube video showing how to solve it. He was super happy with my reply -- or that he got a civil reply at all -- and it turned a frustrated/mad customer into one who promised to get all of his friends to play.
In a sense, it's a game you're playing. And if you get mad and the anger escalates, no one wins. So play to win. ;)
It does get easier after the first few successes. AND, grain of salt: I'm talking about support for a game, and I know some of you guys have far more serious products that could really mess up someone's day if they weren't working as expected, so the stakes can be higher.
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