Tips about a good customer support - Customer Service and Support

No matter if the app is free or paid, as a developer you want to offer a good support to the end users. Why? Because as long as they are happy they will continue to use your app and they will recommend it to others. So it is in your best interest to do your best and resolve issues that customers are reporting, implement requested features and solve as many bugs as possible.
To that end, you must ensure you provide easy to access means of communication between you as a developer and the end users. There are many ways you can achieve that and I will list a few I am using and the more you can provide the better so we can put together a list:
Create an email address or use one you already have (I prefer the former) and provide links on Google Play and inside the app. It is nice if you add an accessible menu item that says (Suggestions/Bug report/Support/Etc) that will start an intent chooser for sending emails to this email address
Use forums (XDA ) and post your app and frequently visit and answer suggestions/questions. There are a lot of helpful users there that will test the app and discover bugs, suggest new features and it is very good if you can keep the thread hot so you keep the interest up. Users like feedback and makes them feel important (which they are) so try to answer as many posts as possible even though you don't have a solution to the problem yet
Get social! Social networking is very helpful these days both for spreading the word about your app but also for customer support. Create profiles for the app on all major social networks (Facebook, Google +, Twitter, etc) and try to get as many users as possible. Post as many updates as possible and keep the users informed about changes to the app, answer to their comments and implement suggestions
Prioritization - build yourself a TODO list with priorities: for each update try to solve major bugs first that are heavily reported or that are causing big problems. Always find some room for improvements and user suggestions. Then fix small bugs and try to improve UI.
Localization is an important part of today's apps. Try to support as many languages as possible making easy for the users to understand the app and to better communicate their findings
Use the publish console to check for crash reports. Many users use this feature and send crash reports along with the stack trace and it is very helpful to keep track of major crashes and identify the root cause
Please reply with more tips so we can create a big list for everyone

Email is the number 1 way people ( from my experience ) contact the developer to ask questions, recommendations, etc. What I did in addition to all the things in the op was create a cheap 5 page website with Godaddy website tonight its like $100 bucks a year or something. They also auto optimize your site for mobile viewing!Then made a contact us page, were users can choose a reason for contacting us. This works really well and you can set up an auto responder to send them a message letting them know you got the email.
I always try to answer emails immediately (during business hours) but always within 24 hours. Having a great customer service program even if your a solo dev like I am will translate into 5 star ratings based solely on customer service!
Have a lax customer service program and you will see the negative 1 or 2 star ratings pop up again based solely on customer service. It shouldn't take anyone more than say 48 hours to re connect with someone and at least start the process of answering their concern.
You can see the contact us page here
Good policy will turn into good reviews and good downloads!
:good:

I've put a feedback page in all my apps.
You don't even need to create a new email address. Just use your personal email address and create an alias. That way it looks formal on the outside but messages go to same inbox as your personal one, only have to check one inbox everyday.

HMMMMMM!
FIRST OF ALLL EMAIL AND AFTER THAT XDA POSTS.........:victory:

email or the message box is very important. But it's also important to reply to their questions promptly.

Free Customer Service SDK
Replying promptly to customers is essentially the first step towards good customer service. If you are an iOS app developer, looking to impress your customers with excellent customer support, try out Freshdesk's Mobihelp SDK ( [freshdesk.com/mobihelp) you can snap-in to your app and start communicating with your customers from right within your app. I'm sure it will be of great help in your customer service efforts!

Thanks for the tips! Just a question: I have got one Crash report in google play console very early, but since then nothing. I have put email in the game and on the play store. But nobody used it. I do not have many installs, but I wonder what is the usual percentage of people who actually report bugs?

kulisgames said:
Thanks for the tips! Just a question: I have got one Crash report in google play console very early, but since then nothing. I have put email in the game and on the play store. But nobody used it. I do not have many installs, but I wonder what is the usual percentage of people who actually report bugs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my experience, if the app is something people desperately need (e.g. utility) or want (e.g. game) but it isn't working quite as they expected, they will be vocal. Not hearing anything from users is usually a warning sign that nobody was too excited about the app in the first place, or that not that many people downloaded the app in the first place.

If I see a crash on Google Play I assume that the same crash occured for 10 others who didn't bother reporting it. So I try to fix it ASAP.
You could use Google Analytics to report crashes without user prompt.
Regardless of the above, it sounds like you have a general marketing challange which is much more critical than that crash report, so you should investigate marketing and promotions in general.
kulisgames said:
Thanks for the tips! Just a question: I have got one Crash report in google play console very early, but since then nothing. I have put email in the game and on the play store. But nobody used it. I do not have many installs, but I wonder what is the usual percentage of people who actually report bugs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Bad reviews on google play
slackydroid said:
No matter if the app is free or paid, as a developer you want to offer a good support to the end users. Why? Because as long as they are happy they will continue to use your app and they will recommend it to others. So it is in your best interest to do your best and resolve issues that customers are reporting, implement requested features and solve as many bugs as possible.
To that end, you must ensure you provide easy to access means of communication between you as a developer and the end users. There are many ways you can achieve that and I will list a few I am using and the more you can provide the better so we can put together a list:
Create an email address or use one you already have (I prefer the former) and provide links on Google Play and inside the app. It is nice if you add an accessible menu item that says (Suggestions/Bug report/Support/Etc) that will start an intent chooser for sending emails to this email address
Use forums (XDA ) and post your app and frequently visit and answer suggestions/questions. There are a lot of helpful users there that will test the app and discover bugs, suggest new features and it is very good if you can keep the thread hot so you keep the interest up. Users like feedback and makes them feel important (which they are) so try to answer as many posts as possible even though you don't have a solution to the problem yet
Get social! Social networking is very helpful these days both for spreading the word about your app but also for customer support. Create profiles for the app on all major social networks (Facebook, Google +, Twitter, etc) and try to get as many users as possible. Post as many updates as possible and keep the users informed about changes to the app, answer to their comments and implement suggestions
Prioritization - build yourself a TODO list with priorities: for each update try to solve major bugs first that are heavily reported or that are causing big problems. Always find some room for improvements and user suggestions. Then fix small bugs and try to improve UI.
Localization is an important part of today's apps. Try to support as many languages as possible making easy for the users to understand the app and to better communicate their findings
Use the publish console to check for crash reports. Many users use this feature and send crash reports along with the stack trace and it is very helpful to keep track of major crashes and identify the root cause
Please reply with more tips so we can create a big list for everyone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
how can we deal with bad reviews on google play, reviews that comes from pepole that didn't understand the meaning of the app?
Thanks.

If you're looking for app support best practices, contact a big startup like Buffer or Squarespace and see how they respond to your question. Notice the friendly tone of voice, the detailed answers they try to give you, and the call for action at the end of every support ticket - whether it's to try and recreate the event that caused the bug or read a FAQ section. Do that a dozen times and you'll learn more about 'proper' support than any how-to article can teach you.

dimnikolov said:
If you're looking for app support best practices, contact a big startup like Buffer or Squarespace and see how they respond to your question. Notice the friendly tone of voice, the detailed answers they try to give you, and the call for action at the end of every support ticket - whether it's to try and recreate the event that caused the bug or read a FAQ section. Do that a dozen times and you'll learn more about 'proper' support than any how-to article can teach you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep makes sense in my experience - personalise as much as possible and reflect the tone of voice of your app. Users will really appreciate it. Stay social.

Why not have some kind of in-app help?
Having a suggestions/feedback menu item seems to be the common thread here to provide good customer support.
But wondering - why not some kind of in app help itself? Sort of a Whatsapp inside the app? I feel email being a separate channel breaks the context - help within the app itself and in context would be so much easier for the end user.
Thoughts?

I know it is an old thread but there are SDKs that help you integrate a support chat right within the app. I have seen zomato use one of these.

Thank you for a list!

Related

[App] Prepay Widget needs testers!

Hello everyone! I am the developer of Prepay Widget, a powerful app that allows you to monitor your account balance through USSD requests.
You can find more info about USSD on Wikipedia, but basically these are short, SMS-like messages used by most GSM and some CDMA providers to deliver information
or control account services. The actual information comes to you in the form of popup toasts, which thids app hides and parses into widgets.
You can find the apps landing page on XDA at the following thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=12348102
However, i want to stress that its important that we get some device-specific feedback, so please post in this thread if you have issues,
this helps me keep track of bugs and requests better.
You can use the Lite version of the app - it has all the functionality of the full version apart from automatic updates (not really that important imo).
As I haven't got one of these phones in my pocket, I need some testers to track down problems. Please, use this thread to comment or
suggest features. It is my belief that addressing issues is best done individually by phone, so if something doesn't work, let me know and I will fix it ASAP.
Market link:
https://market.android.com/details?id=fahrbot.apps.ussd.widget.lite
Debugging:
Please use the "Write to developer" item in the Settings menu to send logs. Enable debugging, reproduce your error and then send the logs.
Make sure you include a description - the more detailed the description the better.
Screens:
The PERFECT APP. Glad i found this, its working very well!
Well thank you! Any suggestions?
Whats with 1.1.8? Any issues?
Guys, you know i appreciate feedback...
Any issues with the latest update?
Oke i am testing
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Please let me know what you think...
No no issues - works perfectly.
I use all the time to test my themes and things
Anything to report?
1.3.3.0
Added full Russian translation
Fixed many small errors from user logs
Fixed rare radio restart issue on some ICS builds

[APP] Prepay Widget testing

Hello everyone! I am the developer of Prepay Widget, a powerful app that allows you to monitor your account balance through USSD requests.
You can find more info about USSD on Wikipedia, but basically these are short, SMS-like messages used by most GSM and some CDMA providers to deliver information
or control account services. The actual information comes to you in the form of popup toasts, which thids app hides and parses into widgets.
You can find the apps landing page on XDA at the following thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=12348102
However, i want to stress that its important that we get some device-specific feedback, so please post in this thread if you have issues,
this helps me keep track of bugs and requests better.
You can use the Lite version of the app - it has all the functionality of the full version apart from automatic updates (not really that important imo).
As I haven't got one of these phones in my pocket, I need some testers to track down problems. Please, use this thread to comment or
suggest features. It is my belief that addressing issues is best done individually by phone, so if something doesn't work, let me know and I will fix it ASAP.
Market link:
https://market.android.com/details?id=fahrbot.apps.ussd.widget.lite
Debugging:
Please use the "Write to developer" item in the Settings menu to send logs. Enable debugging, reproduce your error and then send the logs.
Make sure you include a description - the more detailed the description the better.
Screens:
So guys, app is now in Top New Paid on the market
any comments or issues?
It deserves it! No issues to report, the best!
Yep, im now a sensation owner as well, so this app will ALWAYS work
Has everything been fixed in 1.1.5?
Guys you know i released a new open beta today? Call Master:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1291587
Anything to report?
Working perfectly for me! Thanks, this is absolutely top class.
No problem. Please dont hesitate with issues or suggestions!
Everything OK with yesterdays update?
Anything to report?
1.3.3.0
Added full Russian translation
Fixed many small errors from user logs
Fixed rare radio restart issue on some ICS builds
So guys - any issues with the ics update? Everything working ok?
Anything to report?
Any issues with yesterday's update?
Everything working as it should?

Gmail users: Make Google fix the contact picture quality issue

Hello folks,
since all other threads concerning this topic are either outdated or are about trying to fix this problem by themselves I've decided to open a new one.
The problem mentioned above should be well known to almost any android user who uses Gmail to manage and sync their contacts.
Because Google ignored earlier requests I'm trying to spread this one single request as far as possible. If enough Gmail users read and star this thread Google has to react in any way.
Link to Google-Discussion
Link to direct suggestion of features for Gmail<-- German, but don't hesitate to like the feature suggestion there too!
If you are registered in another major forum please share the link so we reach as many frustrated users as possible.
Regards,
rabbit
Voted.
In fact i've added my support to many threads like this on the Google Forums over the last year, as have hundreds of other users. I find it utterly baffling how after all this time, Google still haven't addressed this issue.
If Google were to increase the contact picture size even by merely 10 pixels, they would need massive amount of additional server space.
I'm not saying it's not doable, just not as simple as we'd like to think.
iR¡[email protected]!* via Tapatalk
Actually I thought of that point too, but I made a quick calculation.
I am able to get a decent picture quality (JPEG,256x256px,8bit,quality 65) at under 15kb per picture.
Now imagine you are having 1000 contacts, it would be around 15MB of data just for the pictures. And now take into consideration that any Gmail user already has over 7,6GB(!) of free storage. Would anybody miss 15 or even 50MB?
But all this has already been written in the request thread
thanksd xzss
Come on people, just 22 people within 1.5 days starred this issue. We need more than that!
New link in OP! Please follow it and click the like button on the page it redirects you to!
bump bump...............................
Really annoying google
And bump
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
We need to put some pressure on Google to fix the Low resolution contact images that are synced with using GMail.
Please +1 the following post: https://plus.google.com/109941711245...ts/PwRx3SHNbjR and try to get #AndroidLowResContactPics trending.
(and for reference: http://productforums.google.com/foru...il/MIt6-tdZZPk)
Tell your friends
still no solution for this problem...?
still nothing....
any other solution?????
For info, the problem is now solved. Google fixed it.
I just updated my pictures contacts via the website (I guess it also work directly on the phone), and pics are now in correct resolutions!

[APP][4.0.3+] Riilo is in Beta, feedback is greatly appreciated

Hello ladies and gents,
We have developed Riilo, an app which (we hope) will create a new way of interaction between individuals. The idea is to allow anybody, to reach any location on Earth, and interact with people from that specific place.
For example, Riilo allows anyone, no matter where they are, to talk to people who are in Times Square, New York, or who pass by Times Square.
Similarly, Riilo enables one to interact with local people and find useful information, just by asking. For example, if one wonders whether the local groceries store still has a particular product, he/she can just ask people who are at the store right now.
We are in the very beginning and we need feedback on the concept, as well as the app itself. It would be greatly appreciated, if you joined Riilo Beta Community on Google Plus (just search Riilo Beta on g+). Once joined, please follow instructions on how to download the app from Google Play.
Our little app is quite easy to use too; here is how it goes (refer to the attached image):
1. The user on the left (with nexus 5) taps the map at the Eiffel Tower and asks what the fox says
2. People from around the Eiffel Tower can see the post
3. Somebody from around that location (the user with HTC on X) will reply to the post
This is how Riilo aims to bring the world closer together, by giving individuals the power to reach the entire World!
Many thanks to everybody who joined the Riilo Beta Community and even more thanks to those who installed the app, you are great!
Based on the feedback we received so far, we will be working over the weekend and will release an update late Sunday, or early next week.
More feedback would be even better, so we would be super happy if you wrote us what your thoughts are, on the concept and app in general.
You can do it here, on the community wall, or write to [email protected]
arcanesoul said:
community wall
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
link to community wall - Click here
Bug found
The following bug has been reported by two users running KitKat:
After completing the "tutorial/introduction" a black activity is shown (see attached screenshot). Can anyone help reproduce this?
Many thanks!
Many thanks to all great people who downloaded the app!
We would very much appreciate it if you wrote us a couple of words saying what you think of the concept as well as the app.
You can do it here, on the community page (search for Riilo Beta on Google Plus) or send an email to [email protected]
:cyclops:
New Update
A fresh update is now available on Google Play. We have fixed a few things and done minor improvements.
The NEW thing: on the map, you can now see some silhouettes. They are meant to show in which areas there are users or where users have been. As more and more users install the app, and the more the app is used, the more silhouettes will be shown on the map.
Nonetheless, you should still post to places that have no users shown on the map; even if the app shows there are no users in that place, people could still have the information you seek, and so they will be able to help.
If you have any questions or feedback, we would love to hear from you! :cyclops:
Riilo is published
I have now published Riilo on Google Play. You can download it here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riilo.main or just search for Riilo in Google Play.
Feedback is greatly appreciated!
If you like the concept and you think the app is worth it, maybe you can +1 the app on Google Play or perhaps even leave a nice review
Many thanks!
New Update
Riilo on Google Play just received an update. It contains a redesigned UI, as well as some optimizations and bug fixes.
Let me know what you guys think :cyclops:
This is a very interesting concept. I will have to look more into it soon
Sent from my LG G2 using Tapatalk
This is such a cool concept. Don't know if things functionality is in yet but the ability to send pictures to back and fourth would be awesome.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Unfortunately you cannot add images, videos or audio files yet. They will come, although it will take a while as it does require quite a lot of work.
Thanks for your suggestions :cyclops:

STAPPZ- What's live near you - location based app - early cm adopters needed

Hi,
I'm Tim and we developed an Android app and started a startup in Germany. However, the app is free. Therefore, I hope that posting about the app in this forum to search cyanogenmod users is ok. If not, please delete this post.
I post here, because I, myself, love cynongenmod custom roms and would like to find out more about the compatibility of our app. Therefore, I search people that like to try new apps that report if it works from them. The app is location based and in beta (so not perfect yet) and for my cm10.1 on an Lg P990 and cm on a Galaxy S3 it works. I'd be curious about other phones. Therefore, I thought this forum here is the best place to find like minded people that use cm - Maybe even someone has the onplus one and can test it
We have the app for beta testers open and you can get it on our page STAPPZ com or find us on facebook (STAPPZ)
OK- now i talked so much about what we would like to test - here a brief description:
What is STAPPZ? In short, it is answer to the question: “What is live near me?”
With STAPPZ you participate in an open conversation with pictures and text at your current position. You create and perpetuate your own STAPPZ: Moments, noteworthy facts or any other information that you consider relevant.Nearby fellows (other STAPPZ users) see those STAPPZ and respond to them by posting something themselves or by saving them in their profile.This way, the people joining STAPPZ enrich and weave the world, collaborate and take advantage of the knowledge that others left around them.
However, if you like the app and have some feedback in other directions or you want more info or to blog about it, please let us know.
We'd be so glad to get feedback if it runs on your cm devices.
Kind regards
Tim

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