{"id":2382,"date":"2018-07-11T16:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T16:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=2382"},"modified":"2023-10-18T17:35:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T17:35:43","slug":"customer-service-strategy-before-product-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/ca\/blog\/customer-service-strategy-before-product-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Set Up A Stellar Customer Service Strategy Before A New Product Launch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Companies tend to make big promises when they launch a new product — about its powerful features, the cost benefits, the way it will change customers\u2019 lives — and if they fail to deliver any of them, the service team is likely the first to hear about it.<\/p>\n

In fact, it would be understandable if customer service teams cringed a little at the thought of a new product to support. Particularly in small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) where resources are tight, there\u2019s likely already enough work handling questions and complaints about the existing product portfolio. Having to learn the finer details of something else — something that might trigger a fresh wave of frustrations and disappointment — might only seem to make their jobs even tougher.<\/p>\n

Companies can\u2019t afford to put off customer service plans until after the launch, either. As we noted in our post on marketing tips for new product launches, the awareness-driving tactics will likely continue well after the initial announcement is made. That means whatever the company said about the ease of use or performance of the new product will be fresh in their minds as they try it out. Given that customers today have many different channels to share their experiences with a new product on social media and word of mouth to friend and peers, you\u2019ll want to avoid any risk of backlash from disgruntled early adopters.<\/p>\n

The initial instinct might be to create as big a mass of support materials as possible and train staff until the wee hours before the launch. When you consider how technology has evolved to streamline, automate and analyze the way customer service strategies are developed, however, you\u2019ll begin to see what a less stressful approach might look like.<\/p>\n

These are a few of things you can do to maximize your customer support resources well before you launch your next product:<\/p>\n

Learn From Launches Past<\/h2>\n

Even if your organization has only been in business for a few years, you\u2019ve likely been down this road before. For SMBs, their first product launch might have coincided with the launch of the entire company, which means you\u2019ve been collecting some kind of service data from the very beginning.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve launched multiple products since launch, on the other hand, you\u2019ll have a better sense of the volume of queries from early customers as they get a new offering in their hands. If you use tools like Service Cloud<\/a>, sorting through and getting a clearer perspective on this data will be even easier. Keep an eye out for:<\/p>\n