The UI of product support via Facebook

Discussions
#1

We have a Facebook product page. Some people like to ask support questions there. I’m very impressed with how streamlined Facebook has made this process.

  • You can easily see the customer history
  • Tagging, private notes, saved replies (snippets) are all implemented in a lightweight way.

I wish I didn’t have to split support effort between emails and Facebook. But if that is where the customers want to write, then I’m glad Facebook is doing this well.

I wish our helpdesk software (Freshdesk) did these things as well as Facebook does.

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#2

:scream: You are not with HelpSpot! Ian will be having a word soon. :laughing:

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#3

I guess you have to go where the customers are, but I hate the idea of building customer support on a platform I have so little control over. Are they showing your customers ads for competitor products?

#4

I hate the idea of building customer support on a platform I have so little control over.

I agree wholeheartedly.

I am, however, envious of the smooth, feeling-light-yet-powerful user support UI of Facebook has implemented in their product pages. I wonder if the helpdesk software (@ian @jitbit) makers amongst us have noticed and how their products compare… :slight_smile:

#5

@SteveMcLeod do you mean Facebook’s end-user support? (the one called “Support inbox” I guess) or some other tool?

#6

I mean, the tool that lets us support via Facebook of our end-users.

eg.
Customer x sends a message to our Facebook product page (https://www.facebook.com/pokercopilot) and write “Your product doesn’t work! What can I do?”

And then we answer. I’m referring to the UI that I use when answering.

#7

Maybe it’s just me, but I find Facebook’s admin pages to be amongst the most unreliable UIs I have used.

It’s touch and go whether the Ad Manager works for me.

Post scheduling seemed totally broken until recently - it was random whether a post could be scheduled or not. (This seems to work now).

#8

That messaging interface is OK but it can be pretty minimal as it only has to deal with Facebook. I don’t see Facebook only support as a real option for most companies, but there can be edge cases where it’s possible.

#9

My $0.02 - fb-messaging doesn’t work when you have a TEAM of support people. Fine for 1on1 support tho.