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Auburn, Indiana | When we set up our discussion groups way back when our goal was to provide answers to questions so others could find them. We knew from experience that well over ½ of our support consisted of the same questions being asked over and over. While this seems to make web support easy using FAQs or something similar, the challenge was that the actual questions were constantly changing due to many factors such as new government programs, changing farming practices, time of the year etc… For us the discussion groups make sense as they give us an area where we can quickly answer questions in a manner that others can learn from. They also make sense as they give an opportunity for other users to respond to questions with their suggestions (it’s always great for us when a user comes up with something we’d never thought of).
The other advantage is that the discussion groups have provided us with a fairly easy way to get feedback from users. We still get plenty of face-to-face time at trade shows and training classes and via our dealer network. But the discussion groups are a great place to find out from a wide area what your customers are looking for.
The challenge at times with on-line discussion groups is understanding the question being asked and in return being able to explain something clearly. Unfortunately there are just some questions that can’t be answered via text and require a phone call.
On a slightly different subject, I’m curious if anyone reading this has had an opportunity to go through any web based training? I’d be interested in hearing your comments, both good and bad.
Just my opinion!
R. Scott Nusbaum
http://www.farmworks.com | |
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