Ten years of support in ten sentences

I led support teams for a decade before starting Queuekind. Things I would tell every founder doing their own support:

1. Reply fast with "I am looking at this" rather than slowly with the answer.
2. Use their words back to them.
3. Never say "as per my last email".
4. A refund given quickly costs less than a refund given after an argument.
5. The angriest ticket is usually from your most engaged user.
6. Write the help article the second time you answer the question, not the tenth.
7. Tag every ticket with what it was really about. Read the tags monthly.
8. "It does not work" means "I do not know what to do next".
9. Close the loop when you ship the fix. Almost nobody does.
10. You are allowed to fire a customer. You will do it twice in a decade and feel better both times.

Number 9. I kept a paper list of who asked for what and phoned them when it shipped. People stayed for fifteen years over a phone call.

Number 4 saved my company. In June 2024 I refunded every restaurant for the month without being asked. Thirty-six stayed.

Number 8 should be printed above the desk of everyone who builds AI support tools, me first.

Number 8 is my one-star review exactly. "Does not work." They had not turned it on.

From recruiting, number 10 applies to clients as well. I did it once. The relief lasted a month.