The team established to support the software products released and used by the customer is called the maintenance team. As can be understood from the purpose of the team’s establishment, the first evaluation of product-related requests or complaints is carried out by this team. Among other software teams, the maintenance team qualifies as the customer support hotline.
Let’s examine the points to be considered in customer management under sub-headings:
Team Availability
When the customer makes a request and/or encounters an error, the channels through which they can communicate with the team should be well organized and the customer should be able to reach the team easily. Since the maintenance team provides support to a live system, there may be situations where the customer needs to be constantly informed. The important thing here is that this information is made in a timely manner. Thanks to the answers given without delay, the customer will be aware that they are taken into account and their satisfaction will increase.
Collectability of Requests/Errors from the Customer from a Single Channel
Not making request/error notification through a single channel will complicate the manageability. The team needs to determine its own recruiting format. One of the ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) tools can be used for this. Thus, the works will be received from the customer on a regular basis, there will not be an overlooked issue and an environment of chaos will not occur. If the customer insists on making the notification from many places, it should be clearly stated that only requests sent through a certain channel will be considered.
When the customer comes to you with any request/error notification, even if you have started the work, the customer will think that you are not interested in the issue unless you inform. For request notifications: ‘your request has been received by us’, for error notifications: ‘we are aware of the current problem, we are trying to solve’ patterns can be used. Even if it is known that the error cannot be resolved immediately, it is important to get back to the customer.
Evaluation of Requests from the Customer
Every request from the customer should not be accepted directly. First of all, what exactly the customer wants should be understood and necessary analyzes should be made. If it is a demand that is suitable for the structure of the system and is really needed, the customer can be informed that improvements can be made. However, if there are other solutions in practice to meet this demand or if it is a request that does not really require a need, this should be explained to the customer in an explanatory language and the request process should be terminated so that customer satisfaction is also ensured.
Unless the requests from the customer are considered urgent, the work plan made by the team should be added to your work list after being evaluated within the team in a way that does not deteriorate. The customer should not voluntarily manage your business plan.
Immediate Concluding of the Urgent Labeled Jobs from the Customer
Because a live system is being dealt with, sometimes there is work from the customer that needs urgent attention. In such cases, that subject should be placed first in your business list for a quick solution. One of the responsibilities of being a maintenance team is to respond quickly to the urgent requests of the customer. The customer should also be informed that due to this additional work, the deadline for the other work in the work list will be extended.
Informing the Customer about Implemented Improvements
While updating a new version of the application, the customer should be periodically informed about the improvements made. Thus, the customer can follow the progress of the application and in addition, the work of your team can be made more visible to the customer.