The Blog of CoSupport

I’m just going to be honest here, because it’s time someone said it outloud: Web content strategy is total bullshit.

Those words! Those icky, icky words declaring “strategy” for your web “content”! Ugh are we seriously ok with this being someone’s job description? Are you a writer, or are you just someone pushing words into a box and changing the alignment? Are you a creative thinker, or a master of the SEO thesaurus?

Calling your online writing “content” strips it of any creative meaning and discernment. Calling yourself a “strategist” means you exist to study problems, and then tell people about those problems. Strategy is an action plan based on research of an obstacle. It is not - I repeat! Not! - implementing a solution.

Putting these two words together means content strategists are people who focus on your website as a container, evaluate the empty space, and advise you how to fill it up. By this rationale, content strategists aren’t innovators, they aren’t creatives, they aren’t even calling themselves writers. They are just there to “strategize” the most efficient way to fill up blank space.

Here’s an acceptable list of people who can call themselves Content Strategists:

• Fertility specialists
• Frank Sobotka
• The guy who makes those big candy jars for people to guess how much candy is in the jar

If you’re not one of the above, stop referring yourself as such immediately.

CoSupport isn’t a network of content strategists. We don’t create “content” any more than you make shiny toys for the internet places. What you do is create beautiful, productive apps that make people’s lives more efficient. What CoSupport does do is write compelling, informative text that will effectively support your product.

Are you ready to strategize with us? Sorry guys, that’s just not what we do here.

SEE ALSO: This is not content.

It’s almost time for us to launch our rocketship to space! If you can’t wait until we’re open for business, get in touch and we’ll see if we can get you on the books.

Let’s be honest: If you’re a programmer, you probably don’t like talking to people very much. It’s ok, there’s nothing wrong with this. Let’s all just admit it and get it out there in the open and own our own strengths. No one is going to judge you.

If you’re development-centric, your focus needs to be on just that: development. If you break up your day into increments of developing, writing user guides, replying to customer emails, reading app store reviews, and trying to market your product, you’re never going to get anything done. Ideally, your day should be a series of blocks of uninterrupted time: Development Time, Business Time, more Development Time.

Conspicuously absent from this schedule is time for Quality Customer Support. Where does that fit in? Probably in a tiny sliver of Business Time, right before bedtime, right after reading a few neutral reviews or dealing with Twitter replies or GAHHH PEOPLE KEEP WRITING ME EMAILS WHEN I’M TRYING TO WORK!!

Sound familiar?

Really great developers want to get lost in an ocean of code and creation. Rarely do they want to come up for air and be pummeled by the sea beast of customer support. There’s a solution to this and it doesn’t have to be hiring a full time support person.

Here’s a few pro-active tips if you’re launching an app and are feeling overwhelmed with all those customer details:

1. Start with a really clear, friendly online Help section. If you answer obvious questions in advance, you cut out the potential for anyone to email you for an obvious answer.
2. Create friendly email scripts to cut your replying time in half. You can save yourself 40 hours a month of typing if you have templates for the most commonly used responses. Templates should include things like, “Hi __, Thanks for buying our app!” and “Sorry to hear you’re running into this trouble.” (Pro tip: Include your name in a signature block so you don’t spend all day typing your own name over and over.)
3. Point people back to the answer in your online Help section so they can educate themselves on their own. Done and done.

Still feel overwhelmed with all these words? Don’t worry, we’re here to help. Just go back to your programming and let us handle everything else. Think of CoSupport as your friendly junk yard guard dog, keeping all these interruptions at bay.

Usually customer support for a web or mobile app is the last thing to check off on the looming start up to-do list. Design the app! Code the app! Sell the app! Support the app?

What’s that last part about?

Listen, you’re a designer or a programmer. You’re a visionary. You’re not a customer support expert. Your job is to build a life changing, addicting, productivity enhancing app, right? It’s your job to come up with a brilliant idea and turn it into a brilliant product, not to answer 1,000,000 emails from people who can’t figure out how to reinstall it on their phone!

Here’s where CoSupport steps in. If you’ve launched an app recently or you’re about to launch an app, we can help in a billion ways. Here’s a few services we’ll be starting out with next month:

- Hire us to write your online Help section and FAQs. We can do it fast!
- Get immediate, top quality review and revision of your app store copy and preparation for future customer issues and needs.
- Bring us in to help your existing team learn the basics of amazing customer support. We’ll train on speedy replies, coach on writing human-sounding support emails, and making customers beyond happy.
- If you’re really overwhelmed, hire us to do your support for you for the first 6 months. Then we’ll hand it over to you with training, help documentation, and expert advice to get you going.

The sad fact is online support is typically an afterthought to building a great app, but it’s typically the first way customers interact with you or your product. It’s also one of the most simple problems to solve - that is if you’ve got some great help. And that, dear visionaries, is what we’re here for.

Sounds like we’re going to change your life, huh?

Prices for our online copy and support services are going to start at a flat fee of $2,000. Contact us to be the first to signup.

When you’re launching a new web or mobile app, you usually don’t have the brainspace to write detailed instructions and answer new customer questions. We have that brainspace, in fact we’ve got a surplus of unused brainspace we can rent out to you for a while. Maybe you need total support training because you’re drowning in customer emails. Maybe you just don’t write very well and you’d rather pass it off to a spunky, attractive, dark haired maven of a girl who enjoys long walks on the beach and frozen margaritas.

What?

Keep spunky, scratch the rest.

CoSupport is a hub for all support related goodies for web and mobile apps. Purchase a total support package that includes writing of your Help sections and FAQs, training your current support team and even outsourcing your online support to our team for a few months. Pick one thing for us to focus on at a small fee, or let us do everything for a not-as-small fee.

CoSupport will be launching in the upcoming weeks and will offer support packages on a flat fee, month to month basis. Keep your eyes peeled as we pepper this blog with thoughts on customer support, info on our available packages, and cookie recipes.

CoSupport is the brainchild of Sarah Hatter, former awesome blogger, former support guru of 37signals, current mad support scientist.

You can get in touch for more info and sneak previews by emailing info at cosupport.us