The document discusses the importance of effective customer support as a critical feature of a product. It emphasizes learning from customer interactions to improve both the product and support services, while warning against adding features that cannot be adequately supported. The text highlights real customer experiences that showcase the impact of responsive and knowledgeable support on user satisfaction.

1. How to Make Customer Support
Your Product's Greatest Feature
EIRIK BJØRSNØS | CHIEF SCIENTIST | KANTEGA | @EIRBJO

2. Ssolbergj, CC BY-SA 3.0 (no.wikipedia.org)

3. Photographer; Source (example.flickr.com)

4. Photographer; Source (example.flickr.com)
“Machinist”

6. We’re computer
science students.

7. How hard can it be
to make something
better?

8. Hmmm…

9. Hmmm…
2 years later..

10. “Let’s just make
something that works”

12. Eirik meets Real Customers

13. ONE WEEK AFTER LAUNCH:
From: Gøril
To: Developer list
Subject: WHERE ARE MY 10.000 CHARACTERS?!!!!

14. The Bigbang Interview
Interview
Notes
Copy / pasted research
Older versions
Photo: Torstein Frogner; CC BY-SA 2.0 (no.wikipedia.org)

15. > 216
MySQL TEXT column

17. Lesson learned:
Customers Do the Darndest Things

20. That’s a plugin!
Usernames & passwords
replaced with Windows Single
Sign-on.

22. LARS

23. Everybody needs this!
Let’s make a product.
LARS (ENTHUSIASTIC SYSADMIN)

24. But..
Will people
pay for this?
EIRIK (SCEPTIC DEVELOPER)

26. Budget
Time
Improvements
Constraints

27. Just shipped a
new feature!

28. Still trying to
support your last
one!

29. Drowning by
support
If you can’t support your product,
you’re on a sinking ship

30. Kerberos 101

31. 1 WAY TO GET IT RIGHT, 100 WAYS TO GET IT WRONG

32. 1 WAY TO GET IT RIGHT, 100 WAYS TO GET IT WRONG

33. KERBEROS TEST PAGE
Identify problems
Point out hard-to find
misconfigurations
Provide self-help
Suggesting solutions allows
customers to solve problems on
their own.
Support info
Simplified our support work for
those who still needed us.

34. ACTIVE DIRECTORY TEST PAGE
Service account
Correct account settings?
Encryption types
Keytab matches account?
Key versions
Is the key version correct?

35. We were leading customers
down the wrong path
Then fixing their problems

36. Point customers in
the right direction
Make it right the first time

37. Meet with Atlassian
Alex
UX designer

38. FOCUSED TASK PATTERN
Specific task
Distraction free
Several screens

40. Support
team:
💚
Customers?

41. The setup was amazingly easy and the
instructions were clear.
It just worked, I was able to setup
Kerberos integrated authentication without
any problems.
CUSTOMER

42. NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University; (nasa.gov)

43. Email
ping-pong
Monday
Tuesday
Thursday
Friday
From: Jane <jane@customer.com>
Subject: SSO problems
Some of our users just see a blank page when logging
in with your add-on.
Please help!
Jane

44. Email
ping-pong
Monday
Tuesday
Thursday
Friday
From: Support <support@kantega.no>
Subject: Re: SSO problems
Hello Jane!
We need some more information:
Could you please send us a screenshot showing ….
Cheers,
Eirik.

45. Email
ping-pong
Monday
Tuesday
Thursday
Friday
From: Jane <jane@customer.com>
Subject: Re: SSO problems
How do I grab a screenshot of a blank page?
Thanks,
Jane

46. #@!%
email!

50. Minutes
“Damn you guys are fast!”
Week
Monday
Tuesday
Thursday
…

51. Support
super-powers!
💚
Customers?

52. Naming my next child Eirik,
boy or girl!
CUSTOMER

53. Customers will
find bugs
How do you fix it?
How do you deliver the fix?

55. Tools are great when solving
specific problems

56. Speed

57. Damn you guys are quick.
CUSTOMER

58. Impressive how fast you
could solve our problem,
thank you.
CUSTOMER

59. Thank your very much
for your fast and
successful help.
CUSTOMER

60. Teaching the customer to fish

61. Appreciate the details that you
provided. Helps me troubleshoot
other issues as needed in our
environment.
CUSTOMER

62. Solution
partners

63. The level of support your team
always provided was superb!!
That's why we continue to offer
your add-on to our clients
PLATINUM SOLUTION PARTNER

64. Delivering
bug fixes

65. From: Support <atlassian.support@kantega.no>
Subject: Re: Confluence user unable to..
Ben,
Version 1.77 has been made available on Atlassian Marketplace.
Happy SSO`ing!
Cheers,
Lars

66. You are absolutely
incredible! What a support.
I'm impressed.
BEN, CUSTOMER

67. Do not add features
you can’t support

68. Is it possible to combine
your plugin with a SAML
authentication provider?
CUSTOMER

70. Software is not a one-
man show

71. Customer support is a
feedback loop

72. Your support, on the other
hand, is phenomenal, and
helps restore faith in humanity.
HAPPY CUSTOMER

73. Thank you!
EIRIK BJØRSNØS | CHIEF SCIENTIST | KANTEGA | @EIRBJO