August 9, 2010 68 Comments

Business Relationships Yield Value

The other day, I went from being so frustrated with Disqus (the blog commenting system I use on [chrisbrogan.com]), to being very much happy that I’d built a relationship with the company, and with one of their main voices, @Giannii.

Disqus commenting platform

I had a problem. I was receiving several hundred spam comments on my blog. It wasn’t some kind of software glitch. I’m just lucky and lots and lots of people were directing their spam to my comments section. I was beside myself, being that I’d had to go back and manually delete over a thousand comments.

Giannii and the team knew I was frustrated, and that I was starting to get a bit whiny on Twitter (I’m willing to admit it). Instead of pointing me to a FAQ or a how-to video, Giannii very calmly walked me through the two things I had to do differently to fix my problem:

  • Moderate any comments with a link in the comment.
  • Use the restricted words list.

Once you see those options, and understand them, it’s clear that’s all I had to do. This would’ve saved me HOURS over the last several weeks, I should point out, had I dug in and found these options. But I’m not that way. And honestly, neither are most users of products and services. The percentage of people who read the manual is a lot lower than the percentage of people who get frustrated fast and complain even faster. (Wish it weren’t so, but I challenge you to tell me that’s not the environment we’re in.)

How Relationships Yield Value

Giannii and the Disqus team act as trust agents by talking people through their issues and getting them into better working order. This, in turn, keeps me on their platform and lets me promote both the individuals (hi, Daniel!) and the team overall for their efforts.

Customer retention is a calculable ROI, as is acquisition.

The next time you need to provide another proof point to the boss that social media relationship management matters, think about moments like the above. I’m a supporter and fan of Disqus because they use social media tools to get to the bottom of issues, and because they have a strong customer-minded focus. That’s bankable value.

(And before you pull the “yeah, but you’re Chris Brogan” line, go back and search their tweet streams. The Disqus people help everyone equally.)

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  • http://www.joshchandlerva.com Josh Chandler

    Chris,

    I wonder where the blogosphere would be without the innovations of Disqus’s commenting system. Such a great company.

    It’s amazing how it probably took Disqus only a few moments to see your complaint on Twitter, address it and retain you as a loyal user.

    It doesn’t get any simpler then typing in “Company Name” into search.twitter.com, loading it into Tweetdeck or CoTweet and watching and actively engaging with all tweets mentioning that name.

    If they hadn’t done that, you’d have been writing a VERY different type of blog post.

    Well done Disqus! :)

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  • http://jorgensundberg.net Jorgen Sundberg

    Disqus are great, the one reservation bloggers have is that unlike ComLuv you can't really reward the commenter. Anywho, I guess this comment won't go thru without moderation ;-)

  • http://www.spoilertv.com DarkUFO

    Totally agree, I have nothing but good things to say about Disqus, and I now only comment on sites and blogs that use Disqus.

  • http://www.suzemuse.com/ Susan Murphy

    Yep – @Giannii is in the process of helping me through a Headway compatibility issue (as is @ClayGriffiths from Headway, so kudos to him too! It's like I've got my own little tech support team in my back pocket.

    And I'm just l'il old Sue Murphy. ;)

  • http://geoffreywebb.wordpress.com/ Geoff Webb

    Wow. That's quite an endorsement!

  • paulmartin42

    Hey 1 like in 15 comments and I'm feeling great with my feedback rewarded to me from Disqus. Indeed I click through Google reader on ChrisBrogan (who I remember uses Disqus) to see if I might one day get someone else who likes me.

  • http://geoffreywebb.wordpress.com/ Geoff Webb

    …and the value continues: you write this post and I read it – knowing (in the back of my mind) that I'm going to have to choose a commenting software when I redesign my blog later this year…hmmm

  • http://twitter.com/sharisax Shari Weiss

    AGREED . . . Customer Service is King, i.e. Key. I wonder if Gianni & Diqus found you [through your Tweets] or did you ask them.

    This short story about your experience offers helpful insight on a variety of issues: customer service, disqus, comment systems, and How To avoid hours of frustration with “technology” problems. Thanks for sharing.

  • http://www.andicrook.com Andrew Crook

    Disqus is a great tool, mind you intense debate is getting better. I would like to see more articles on the net about how to use Disqus to grow your followers.

  • http://www.andicrook.com Andrew Crook

    I recommend adding a profile pic makes it more personal and helps to build relationships.

  • http://twitter.com/kyleplacy Kyle Lacy

    Customer Service is so important! Especially in such an instant gratification society. Disquis is a valuable tool and it's nice to know that they care about the customer using it.

  • http://www.andicrook.com Andrew Crook

    doesn't ComLuv invite spam?

    Disqus cuts out a lot of rubbish only people that are serious leave comments.

  • http://4thress.com Carl Thress

    Remarkable customer service is essential to company growth in every industry. I always relished my role as problem-solver when I worked in customer service/support. Helping a customer discover an aspect of a product or service they did not know about or fully understand before felt great. That “aha” moment really got the blood pumping. Similarly, a simple word of thanks or appreciation from a customer I'd helped to overcome a challenge that might have been outside of their control could always turn a bad day around. As could finding a way to tweak a certain piece of code to meet a customer's specific needs or desired outcome. I lived for moments like that. Making someone else's day made mine.

    Turning dissatisfied, uncertain, or even indifferent customers into raving fans is the ultimate joy for any customer service rep. It's something I miss now that I'm not in day-to-day customer support anymore. It's good to read about those kinds of victories for others in the trade, as well. In a way, it gives me a similar rush, if only by proxy. So congratulations, Giannii and everyone at Disqus, on a job well done. And thank you, Chris, for sharing this story with the rest of us.

  • thomsinger

    This is not a “yeah, but your Chris Brogan” response story, this is a Chris had a human relationships and dialogue in advance story. It shows how if you interact with people up front, and treat them like humans, they will respond in kind. Lots of companies have good customer service and we should all praise them when they help us as Disqus helped you.

    But there are legitimate times you write stuff that “yeah, but you are Chris Brogan” is a totally appropriate response. There are advantages that come with the level you have achieved. To dis that with your PS is kinda petty and dodging….., is says “hey, those who think I get some perks and those effect my business are petty”. Relish in the advantages you get, dont act like it is not real.

    I don't mean this to be overly harsh, I like you…but that line seemed snarky… and you are usually not snarky (even to those who jab at you).

  • http://nateriggs.com nateriggs

    I don't know. While I still think there's a ton of companies out there that “help all customers equally” like Freshbooks, Disqus, Tungle, etc., it still doesn't hurt to have a blog with a reader base.

    Most of the other folks I know who I consider to be serious bloggers (even those in their first few years) rarely ever have issues with customer service with online technology.

    If you want good service, having a presence online definitely helps. I don't necessarily think that size matters as much as it used to. Listening tools have gotten better, and more companies are using them – as long as you have something for them to pick up.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    I saw the same with @Adobe the other day, though. They help lots of non-internet-famous people, too.

    And I still think that the effort is important.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    It's just that every time I put up a piece of information showing a company that does a great job responding, I get the first four or five comments that say “yeah, but you're Chris Brogan.” The thing is, when you go back and read the stream of any of the companies I praise, they respond to plenty of non-Chris-Brogans, too.

    Snarky? Maybe. But it's just annoying that people throw out an example of good customer service done well because they think it's favoritism.

    Yes, there are many days where it doesn't hurt to be the king, so to speak. But I hate when that invalidates my experiences.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    I don't know that Disqus grows anything for me. I know that it makes it relatively easy for people to bring their identity to my comment stream.

  • http://twitter.com/rich_barker Rich Barker

    Yeah @adobe was super responsive to my comment and how great Air is. If you ever have trouble with adobe air tweet to @AIR and she'll help you out right away!

  • http://twitter.com/rich_barker Rich Barker

    When you coming back to the CLT? I enjoyed your LinkedIn seminar at Charlotte Business Journal. Find me on Twitter @rich_barker

  • http://www.sytaylor.net sytaylor

    I've had similarly good experiences with Disqus, even from asking them stupid questions like that are well covered in the FAQ like basic settings changes. What this shows on a larger scale is something big business really needs to learn. @lesanto is having a battle with o2 (The UK equivalent of AT&T). He has a simple request “Please help me with a billing query”.

    The normal customer service channels cannot help him, the twitter account @o2 have only fields questions they can answer easily… so now he's stuck. Stuck with months left on a contract for a service that isn't working. He's taken to contacting his lawyer about breach of contract, and is genuinely in despair.

    Big business could have solved this very quickly, in a very human way. “Hi Glenn, I don't know the answer, but I'm asking around and I'll have someone contact you”. Corporates fear Social Media, but they can gain so much value from it. So much energy is wasted inside the big machines wondering what a customer wants, or is asking for but not actually speaking to them. It's seen as a bad thing to go back and ask. Surely, that is relationship building!!

    @scottgould wrote a blog post today on how a business can create an ecosystem. The number one way is to ensure your customer is your advocate. By being human. In a way I thank you Chris for helping me understand this idea… and yet at the same time, before bad customer service was a fact of life… now it ruins my whole day ;o)

  • http://www.kathyhogeveen.com/ Kathy Hogeveen

    Great example Chris. I`ve had a similar experience with Disqus and enjoy working with people that are committed to finding solutions. I must say GoDaddy does a phenomenal job with their customer service. I`ve called them numerous times to deal with domain names, transfers, hosting of wordpress sites, etc. Each call was handled professionally and more than once they informed me of a way to do things that saved me money! I highly recommend doing business with a company that provides value and ensures their customers are happy.

  • http://nateriggs.com nateriggs

    @Rich – that's an interesting point. You mention that you have to tweet @AIR. AT&T has a similar sort of framework with @ATTCustomerCare and a few reps who fall under Molly's direction and have similar twitter names.

    Yet most customers probably have not been taught “the process” to tweet at those accounts. I'd bet a good majority of either brands customers aren't even following them. for instance AT&T's has just over 4000 followers. (and it's freaking AT&T!)

    What do you think? It's it effective when a company provides a online customer service framework or better to just listen and respond?

  • http://successbeginstoday.org/wordpress John Richardson

    Thanks for the update on Disqus. Comment spam is the bane of all bloggers. I use the Intense Debate comment system on my blog and have had great results with their customer service too. There is nothing worse than finding mega spam comments showing up on your recent comment list. Thankfully they offered a workable solution.

    • http://woodworking-books.org Woodworking project plans

      I think that Disqus is by far the best comment system. The look, feel, and usability make it a must have.

    • http://woodworking-books.org Woodworking project plans

      I think that Disqus is by far the best comment system. The look, feel, and usability make it a must have.

  • http://www.kaplancopy.com/blog Jodi Kaplan

    I think it's really whether a company cares enough about what people think of its service (Chris Brogan or Joe Blank). About a year ago, I complained (in public) about rotten service at a very splashy lingerie store. They didn't care. I'm never going to shop there again.

    Or, sometimes, it's the followup that fails. My mom got a gift beautifully “wrapped” in a hat box with a gauzy bow. She liked it so much she wanted more boxes. The company refused to sell them to her. In an few minutes. she went from delighted to disappointed and unhappy. Why? Because there was nothing in the manual about selling boxes and the rep didn't have the sense to abandon the manual and try to help.

  • http://pixelcurrents.com Annie Boccio

    I had a minor Disqus issue that involved an overlooked checkbox (oops) a few weeks ago and I got a friendly response very quickly. Stuff like that makes all the difference. I do know Giannii but he wasn't the one who responded- their help team is on top of it.

  • http://rubken.net rubken

    I can confirm that Disqus are proactively helpful particularly through Twitter. It's the proactive bit that really matters. I used Twitter to blow off some steam and got an @reply. This kind of experience is much more powerful that simply having a good customer services department. I didn't seek them out. I just had a therapeutic whine and it lead to a solution.

    Retention is calculable and valuable but inspiring the kind of goodwill that leads to word of mouth recommendation is very valuable indeed. Harder to quantify but useful all the same.

  • http://dogandogs.com/ Dino Dogan

    Hey Chris (and ya’ll :-)

    I love DisqUs….I dont understand why it isnt a default comment system for WP…

    I wanted to comment on the ad supplied via google ads to newsletter subscribers.

    I’ve noticed your newsletter is advertising tomshoes.com (I just ordered a pair btw).

    @chris I was wondering why you chose Toms as your google ad? Great choice, dont get me wrong…Im just curious and would love to know how its been working out? (money wise).

    P.S. If the money Q is too crass feel free to ignore that part :-)

  • http://dogandogs.com/ Dino Dogan

    Hey Chris (and ya’ll :-)

    I love DisqUs….I dont understand why it isnt a default comment system for WP…

    I wanted to comment on the ad supplied via google ads to newsletter subscribers.

    I’ve noticed your newsletter is advertising tomshoes.com (I just ordered a pair btw).

    @chris I was wondering why you chose Toms as your google ad? Great choice, dont get me wrong…Im just curious and would love to know how its been working out? (money wise).

    P.S. If the money Q is too crass feel free to ignore that part :-)

  • jessicaswanson

    Yeah, but you're Chris Brogan! (Just kidding :) There's NOTHING like personal attention. Can you imagine if all companies acted in this manner? Once the head-honcho CEO behind a company takes the time to respond and personally interact with their customers, they've created a “sticky” company and most-likely a customer for life (as long as their product really is a good one).

  • krusk

    I'll agree this was definitely not a case of “but you're Chris Brogan”

    I had issues with Disqus almost two years ago and someone responded right away and gave me great attention in figuring out the problem and solving it. In fact I wasn't even using it on my blog at the time–it was issues with commenting on others' blogs. For the record I now gladly use Disqus on my blog too.

  • http://trafficcoleman.com/ TrafficColeman

    Howdy Chris,

    You know I just switched over to Disqus just today, and I know now if I come across an big problem like this. I will know that they have an team of people who will be willing to give me that hand I need to get going again.

    Building relationship is what most successful people do, this is the most lackey thing people don't do on day to day basic..

    Make a conjunct effort to build relationships, or your business will not grow.

    “TrafficColeman “Signing Off”

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  • thomsinger

    Rich… I would love to come back to CLT. Last fall I spoke there twice. Great city, amazing people. I will let you know if I get a chance to come back.

  • thomsinger

    I did not mean to be harsh (I had a friend DM me and say “dude, don't call out CB like that” (ha, I laughed… I figured you were okay with my comment)….. but I think there is a balance. Sometimes you do get special treatment, and my point was do not ignore or discredit that, as people get put off when famous people discredit the perks they get as just “normal”. On the flip side I see your point that someone like Disqus gets the short side of the credit/praise when they help you because some see it as “perks for famous people”…. when in reality they do it for everyone (noticed by the number of comments from others on here).

    have a great day, Chris!

  • http://www.unikapparel.com unikapparel

    Personal attention is all we want when we have a problem with a product or service. I get so tired of companies ignoring their customers. I don't think they realize that if you treat us badly we are going to tell everybody we know how much they suck at customer service. Same thing when they do a great job like Disqus did for you. Great post!

  • Dara Bell

    I think it shows you the power of responding. Some people obsess about -how to repond- but just responding is the candle that illuminates relationships. I think people who fear they are not Chris Brogan. Should routinely complain abit more and not just to the Customer Rep but the Customer Relationship Manager the manager or how about the CEO if you are brave that day. I bet your great at that Jessica.

    I am slowly training myself to insert the word “I would like to see to the manager” into each sentence of an altercation with Customer Reps. You will be surprised what happens in the future, the other day I had Microsoft ring me up with a fault, I was only slightly erking me. I have tend to now get the manager come and open a bank account for me now. This is not becaise I read the Secret.

    Dara

  • Dara Bell

    Afterthought
    Disque has been bothering me too! (VENT IT!!!)

  • http://obscurelyfamous.com Daniel Ha

    Bothering you how? Please vent or contact our support for help.

  • http://www.andicrook.com Andrew Crook

    Surely in a way it helps to expand communities between services and sites?

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    I love your comment. By all means. I'm just making sure that it doesn't sully the main point, which was that even for people who aren't me, they do top shelf work.

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  • http://twitter.com/andelman Bob Andelman/MrMedia

    Chris, thanks for posting about Disqus. I bit on the service based on your note and look forward to taking it for a spin on Mr. Media Radio!

  • http://twitter.com/jackalopekid Adam Smith

    I switched from intensedebate to disqus a few weeks ago and absolutely love it. Thanks Chris for even more assurance that I made the right choice.

  • http://jorgensundberg.net Jorgen Sundberg

    It doesn't invite spam but it does invite people commenting just for the heck of it. Completely agree that Disqus is the best solution but when you're starting out ComLuv is useful just to get the momentum going.

  • http://www.engageyourstrengths.com wdaunheimer

    I use Disqus and love it, love your site too, and yes – I like your like button. :)

  • http://www.locations4business.com/europe Doing business in Europe

    I find your post interesting for business aspects. I would love to go through all of your topics.Well some more clarification required to me regarding business relationship yield value.

  • http://www.ann-sense.com/ Ann Marie van den Hurk, APR

    Real customer service is important. The folks at Disqus listened and responded. Even. Though I'm not Chris Brogan, I get the same great customer service for them.

  • http://www.ryanhanley.com/about Ryan Hanley

    I think that Disqus is by far the best comment system. The look, feel, and usability make it a must have.

    I've never had to contact their team directly but its nice to know they are helpful.

    Relationship is everything!

    Ryan H.

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