Millions of startups launch around the world every year. Most of them are setting up shop in the tech industry. They aim to provide their target markets with apps, gadgets, and other products of the digital age.
Given how every year sees the launch of head-turning hardware and game-changing software designed and developed by boutique-sized ventures, it’s safe to say a steady number of these startups are doing something right. However, there’s no denying the fact that statistically speaking, the odds are stacked against the overwhelming majority of newly minted tech companies.
There are countless factors contributing to the success or failure of a tech startup. Two are of utmost importance and apply to virtually all businesses across all industries: providing an outstanding product and backing it up with exceptional customer service.
Providing an Outstanding Product
Ensuring the product being developed and sold is not only satisfactory but outstanding is key to achieving success as a tech startup. For this to happen, most businesses will need some form of product management put into place. To ensure its effectiveness as well as minimize the potential (and often inevitable) tug-of-war between the product owner vs product management mindset, tech startups need to utilize product management software. What’s more, they need to find a solution which includes a product roadmap tool.
A product roadmap is a visually-informative breakdown of the path a product offering is expected to take over time. It’s an expressive document designed to show how a product will grow and is often used to get employees, investors, and other parties of interest on the same page. At its most basic level, a product roadmap is used to explain what the product is and why it exists. From there, the roadmap reveals who the product is for, how they will learn about it, and where they will buy it.
Offering Exceptional Customer Service
Turning to digital resources to improve product management will come naturally to software engineers and others working for a tech startup. This is because they are quick to understand and appreciate how product management software takes a complicated process and streamlines it for better efficiency. As aspiring providers of technological solutions themselves, they can relate to its purpose.
Unfortunately, many tech startups make the mistake of thinking software can solve every problem they encounter. This approach is especially erroneous when applied to customer service. An over-reliance on chatbots and an avoidance of direct company-to-customer contact is a deathblow for tech startups. No matter how technologically advanced the product might be, consumers still want to know there are real people behind it all.
While there is nothing wrong with supplementing traditional customer service channels with automated and otherwise artificial systems of correspondence, tech startups have to be able to rapidly reply with an authentic and caring company voice. If outsourcing customer service to a third-party call center, quality control needs to be prioritized and routinely analyzed. Furthermore, stipulate certain issues and problems be passed along to the company in order to handle especially troublesome circumstances in-house.
With so many tech startups being created, it’s no surprise that success means beating the odds; there are simply too many ventures for the market to handle. But becoming a successful tech startup, like many other businesses, boils down to two very simple things: offering a great product and equally terrific customer service. If these two things are achieved, a tech startup may very well end up being one of the lucky few.
