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Small Software Companies: The other side of the coin
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Posted by Phil
Mar 7, 2007 at 06:55 PM
I think that some of the previous threads have evolved into a conversation about how software companies treat us, and about how we treat them. I have a few thoughts on this topic and will start a new thread.
I know that most of these companies take legitimate and thoughtful suggestions and concerns very seriously, so I assume that some of you are not advocating that they should smilingly accept some of the hypercriticism they sometimes get. In fact,
sometimes I think that a large number of the posts on any given product’s forum are false users from competitors who are there to insult the product with hypercritical nitpicking, erode its business, and spam their own products. Most or all of these posts are uninformed and unproductive. But, fascinatingly, these companies are expected to pay for the privilege (it costs them to run and staff the bulletin board) and are looked upon as somehow illegitimate when they don’t have one….Unfortunately, all of this puts off new users and clouds good discussion of real suggestions and concerns.
So, why do we have such massive expectations from small software vendors? I can only guess, but I suppose its because people think that software is easy to develop and assemble and has low capital costs. The truth is that its cost in human capital is much higher than for many products.
What other businesses are any of us consumers in where we have such expectations? Some examples…
—The iPod’s battery is designed to be unreplaceable so that Apple can encourage you to buy a new one every year (re-purchase of the iPod by consumers yearly is a stated goal of Apple).
—We’ll drop $50 on a mediocre meal or a lousy movie with the family and never mention it to anyone.
—If we buy the R1000 DVD player today, we don’t expect Sony to give us the R1001 six months from now for free.
—If you make a product suggestion to some of these large companies, how often do you get (or expect) a response? Do you even bother?
—Where else do you get to try a product for 30 days for free? Many products offer a return policy, but most want the money up front and provide the refund only if you ask for it.
Obviously I don’t want to lay down $100 on new software an see it disappear from development in a year, and I’m disappointed if that happens. On the other hand, much of the software we talk about on this forum is incredibly useful for its price, if you use it to a productive end. If you write one article with an UltraRecall, Ideamason, or Whizfolders, its organizational power probably was worth its cost in the time and energy it would have cost you to do the job with a less efficient tool. (Of course, if you just endlessly move piles of info from one piece of software to another year after year, it probably does start to look a little pointless). I also, like Jan, don’t think the solution is to buy sofware from the one or two very large companies (like MS) and assume everyone else will be highly proprietary or out of business.
All of which leads me to the conclusion that I’m not sure the economics of the modern software market makes sense, as it currently stands, with consumers having the expectations of it that they do. I would say that dan7000’s medium scenario of $250,000 or so in yearly sales are quite optimistic and probably rarely achieved. And then, we blame them when (as dan7000 so aptly put it), they tire of the constant flaming and proportionally low rewards and either give up or check out.
Of the participants in this forum, there are some excellent advocates for small software companies, and there are those whose expectations far exceed what any company is able to deliver, let alone companies in their first stages of business. As the avant garde for this sofware, I think we need to start looking at our own behavior as consumers and ask ourselves why we’ve been getting the results we’ve been getting; I don’t think that it is because the vendors entered the market to become crooks—the work is probably way too hard for that.
—Phil
Posted by Daly de Gagne
Mar 7, 2007 at 08:44 PM
Phil, I will reply in more detail to your post later—I think you raise some good points.
However, as one of the more vociferous ranters re ADM, I wish to make it abundantly clear I am not working for any of ADM’s competitors, or trying to undermine anyone’s market. I also see nothing hypercritical in what I am writing, and my posts are not those of the uninformed, but come from personal, hands-on experience.
Also, with regard to the others who have posted with re to ADM here, having conversed with them over the last few years, and having seen their posts, I can make the same claim for them as I do for myself.
So I hope that you are not suggesting in your quote below that what you are saying in any way applies to us. If indeed you are, then I suggest that an apology to each of the people who have posted here at length about ADM is in order.
If, in fact, you are not applying your statements to us, and I have misinterpreted your comments, you have without hesitation my apology.
Jan and Dominik, in particular, went way beyond the extra mile in voluntary work on ADM’s behalf. Stephen Diamond made some relatively simple and reasonable suggestions to Eric about features, as well as asking some diffcult questions. In retrospect, Stephen was right, and from familiarity with his posts in all sorts of forums I know he was trying to be positive and supportive.
I consider each of these men as cyber friends, would gladly sit down and buy them a beer if that occasion should ever arise. Thus my chagrin if in any way your comments are meant to apply to them or me.
Daly
Phil wrote:
>I think that some of the previous threads have evolved into a conversation about how
>software companies treat us, and about how we treat them. I have a few thoughts on this
>topic and will start a new thread.
>
> In fact,
>sometimes I think that a large number of
>the posts on any given product’s forum are false users from competitors who are there
>to insult the product with hypercritical nitpicking, erode its business, and spam
>their own products. Most or all of these posts are uninformed and unproductive. But,
>fascinatingly, these companies are expected to pay for the privilege (it costs them
>to run and staff the bulletin board) and are looked upon as somehow illegitimate when
>they don’t have one….Unfortunately, all of this puts off new users and clouds good
>discussion of real suggestions and concerns.
>
>
>—Phil
Posted by Tom S.
Mar 7, 2007 at 09:03 PM
Phil wrote:
>—If you make a product suggestion to some of these large companies, how
>often do you get (or expect) a response? Do you even bother?
>—Where else do you get to
>try a product for 30 days for free? Many products offer a return policy, but most want
>the money up front and provide the refund only if you ask for it.
Ahem, well… MS? :)
I actually usually do get responses from support at bigger software companies. But truthfully there’s nothing quite like emailing a developer and getting a personal email response, then seeing a minor release the next week with your bug fixed (which has happened to me). Its very empowering.
But bottom line I have to agree with the sympathy that was posted in an earlier thread. You have to go with the software that suits your needs best. IMO you should never, ever choose to not use a good piece of software just because it was developed by a big company.
IMO the good news for the small developer is that by being nimble and personally interacting with a smaller, known body of users, they have a much better chance of customizing their software to meet their needs. If you use OneNote (as I do) and you want to see a change, that change may or may not take priority and it may be years and years before you see the it (if at all). That is much less likely to be the case with a small developer with whom you have developed a more personal, if still professional, relationship.
Tom S.
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Mar 7, 2007 at 09:41 PM
Phil,
You make some good points, but overall I have to disagree with the major thrust of your post. I’ve worked in customer service related positions in two companies, and I can tell you that customers are ALWAYS nitpicking, whether you’re selling bicycles or software or whatever. That’s just the nature of consumerism, I think.
I agree that there are times when people make unreasonable requests. I’ve seen that on some of the forums you’ve alluded to, but a developer with a good sense of his or her product can easily brush them off. For example, check out the Personal Knowbase forum. The two people who seem to be principals of that little company have a very specific idea of what PK is and kindly but firmly reject suggestions from users which don’t fit that vision.
Smart developers learn from their customers to make their products better and more competitive. David Michael, the developer of The Journal, is very actively involved with the Yahoo Forum for his software, fielding questions, taking suggestions and learning quickly about bugs that need fixing. David and Marck, the developers of Brainstorm, have a similar approach… they don’t seem to fear or resent feedback at all.
In fact, bigger companies in other fields probably envy the ability of software developers to get this kind of immediate feedback.
As for unreasonable expectations, I’d say that we users are more forgiving than you give us credit for. Just look at Zoot users. We have had a ton of patience waiting for the 32-bit version of Zoot to come out. But Tom Davis, Zoot’s developer, earned our trust and patience by creating a great product, and supporting it with superior responsiveness to the end user’s feedback. Everyone understands he’s a one-man shop, and few, if any, complain about how long this process has taken.
The complaints (or rants) you’ve seen on this site relate primarily to gross mis-use of our trust and good will. I don’t care how small your company is, or how much pressure you’re under, you don’t take people’s money without providing the product. And if you don’t intend to respond to customer questions and comments, then don’t start a forum or provide a customer support e-mail address on your website.
I participate in many forums for software, and I rarely see the kind of crazed criticism you talked about. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, but it is not common with the software I follow. In fact, where I see the most negative comments is with the products from the bigger software companies (not big, like Microsoft, but bigger than the one- or two-man operations), companies like MicroLogic and AskSam. I think this happens because people, in fact, do expect more from these companies and are more forgiving with the companies that are smaller.
Steve Z.
Posted by Jack Crawford
Mar 7, 2007 at 11:29 PM
Interesting thread Phil. Thanks for the comments.
I’ve been in customer service management for many years so I have a particular interest in this subject.
My take FWIW -
The principles of good customer service are universal - and are independent of the particular industry. Product quality, value for money and service come to mind. It is not rocket science - just good business.
Consequently, I get impatient with companies like ADM who break every rule in the book. They have not earned any right to customer loyalty and IMO should be dumped without a second thought in favour of those who really care and run their business professionally and without forcing customers to jump through the hoops.
However, as Steve Z. said, customer service cannot be limitless (you’d soon go out of business) and should be managed in the context of the particular market in which the software vendor wants to operate. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve made feature suggestions only to be told - thanks but’s that’s outside our plans for xyz product. That’s fine by me - I now know what the obectives are for that bit of software. It’s when you’re told nothing or a pack of porkies that customers have a right to feel aggrieved.
Phil - I regard the trial/purchase/upgrade software model not as an element of customer service but the particular business model in which vendors operate. The software offer to customers is different from the iPod offer or the plasma screen offer. Software is just code, not a physical thing that you can hold in your hand. It has led to some companies offering service subscriptions just like a a magazine or gym. The model also allows software vendors to sell products that are still under development and would not be tolerated in other markets. Indeed we now expect continuous development and shy away from Version 1.0s. A certain company in Redmond made a fortune that way. That was why OneNote was unusual - it was quite mature from the very start.
I could go on - but the point is that the software business has some unique features that make it difficult to compare with other business sectors. Good customer service though should not be negotiable.
[Here ends the reading ...]
Jack