In my experience the Silicon Valley approach to it is to optimize your product for the 98% of customers who won't need anything more hands on from you, throw some automation (in the form of documentation, chat bots, and phone menus) at the remaining 2%, and don't worry too much about anyone who falls through the cracks past that.
Which can lead to a great experience most of the time unless you're one of those unlucky leftovers, in which case the ground falls out from beneath you into a labrynthine Kafkaesque hell proportional in brutality to the size of the company and the extent to which you depend on it.
I appreciated his honesty. It was a cost center designed to not achieve a favorable outcome for the customer.
Good investors (I.e, the ones who make investments that turn out to be successful) care a lot about retention, as it’s the strongest indicator that the product/service being offered has enduring value/appeal.
Customer service rep turned engineer here. I think this true, but I also think that so many founders just don’t care about customer service. Investors are far more interested in new customer acquisition than retention, so naturally more resources are going toward customer acquisition.
Customer service is an afterthought cost center that barely pays and experiences high churn in 90% of the companies I’ve worked for in my career.