BUILD SUPPORT INTO YOUR PROJECT AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE IN THE DESIGN AND PLANNING PHASE:

Support for your user community (any community on the web actually) is ongoing, and starts well before you launch the product or start taking registrations.  Viral marketing, social networking and buzz-creation are all keys to success of the ultimate launch of your new system.  And they need to be a part of every consideration during the planning and development phases of the project. 

Designing in and incorporating multiple means of communicating with users and clients is essential to the success of your online property and the resulting satisfaction your users experience while on your site.  IM, Forums, Blog comments, voice phone, smart phone email and web forms all need to be planned for and work together to make the "TOUCH" between your firm and your clients or prospects as natural and simple as possible. 

GIVE YOUR CLIENTS AND VISITORS REASONS TO PASS ALONG YOUR PRAISES:

CompeteSoft has launched and managed several online systems and has a comprehensive grasp of the marketing, advertising, promotional, needs you will encounter.  And we also have some invaluable 20/20 hindsight gained by doing (and in many cases screwing up and re-doing) that we bring to your program team.  Let us guide your thoughts and selection of methods and tools to get the best user and prospect interaction EXPERIENCE possible for every exchange, every query, every purchase process or simply every visit to your site for the first time. 

ABOVE ALL, DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK USERS HOW YOU ARE DOING:

Wouldn't you rather they tell you where you need improvement than go on a rant and spam your reputation to thousands of others?  Yea, you get the idea.  You are NEVER going to be right all the time.  But you can ALWAYS make it right by engaging the agreived party in a timely and sincere manner.  The right tools and early warning indicators will be worth their investment for that one time they turn a hater into an advocate who realizes that you really do care about their experience with your firm and that there are real people behind the digital facade.

USE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS TO COMPLEMENT AND ENHANCE YOUR SUPPORT FOR CLIENTS AND FANS

"Support" is more far reaching than simply dealing with angry customers these days.  You digital "reputation" is something that can take a lifetime to build and a minute to lose forever----so it should be in the forefront of management's mind whenever negative (and positive) situations occur.  FIXING the problem is essential.  But LETTING OTHERS KNOW about it is sometimes even more important to preclude skewed versions or flat out malicious attempts to damage your image.  Using all the tools available to you is important.  And having them all working together is the goal of our support services approach when designing a solution for our clients.