Today may be April Fool’s Day, but at Live Oak 360, we’re serious about Customer Care. So serious that when we sat down at the end of 2009 to discuss product ideas for 2010, we decided to devote ourselves to BearHug. We spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours last year trying various customer care solutions and none of them seemed to be a good fit for our business. They were too complicated, too bloated, too expensive. Like “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, we wanted something that was just right.
What is BearHug?
BearHug is a Customer Care platform that is focused on establishing, nurturing, and growing relationships with your customers. We prefer “Customer Care” because it’s more than just Service or Support, it’s about Caring for your customers. The greatest brands in the world are known not only for the industry that they serve, but for how they take care of their customers. When you think of Southwest Airlines, you not only think of on-time flights, free luggage, and low fares. You also think of the smiling faces, funny stories, and how they take care of their customers. Rackspace is an amazing managed hosting company, but they are specifically known for their Fanatical Support. Their #1 goal isn’t to be known as the best or most innovative technology company in the world. Their goal is to be the best service company in the world.
Live Oak 360 has created BearHug because we believe that organizations need a Customer Care solution that will do more than be a collection of complaints, problems, and frustrations. Customer Care is about relationships.
How is it Different?
Most customer service and helpdesk solutions are focused on break/fix. Someone reports a problem. Someone fixes it. Case closed. Most Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are focused around the relationship between sales and the customer. Smart businesses know that the real relationships are formed from the Customer Care team. When customers have problems, Customer Care takes care of them.
Most organizations see supporting their customers as an obligation and a cost center to their business. It’s a “necessary evil” of doing business. Smart businesses know that Customer Care can, and must be a profit center. That doesn’t mean that your support team is always selling to your customers. Every marketer knows that you make more profit by taking care of your existing customers than through acquiring new customers. Customer Care becomes a profit center when your team is focused on taking care of their needs, when they have the knowledge to make a difference, and when the experience is so enjoyable that your customers rave about you when asked (or even unprompted!).
Why “BearHug?”
Most experiences with customer service and support feel more like a flogging than a warm embrace. When we talked about how we wanted our own customers to feel after a support experience, we described it as “how you feel after someone gives you a big bear hug.” The name stuck and BearHug was born.
Who is it for?
BearHug was originally designed for technology companies, SaaS providers, hosting companies, service companies, and those organizations that need to communicate and interact frequently with their customers. We believe in the Fortune 5,000,000 model made popular by 37Signals (in case you aren’t familiar with it, the Fortune 5,000,000 is the big part of the bell curve often overlooked. It is the millions of small businesses that power the economy today and represent the greatest opportunity and market).
The reality is that anyone can use BearHug. Large or Small. Customer-facing or as an internal application for your company or department. Non-profits, schools, and teams. BearHug is for anyone who loves their customers and is looking for a better solution to tend to their needs.
The BearHug Roadmap
We are launching BearHug with 2 of the 12 modules we have identified as significant game changers for organizations in need of a Customer Care solution. The other 10 modules will be launched throughout 2010, along with continual updates and improvements to our first two: Status and Answers.
BearHug is a platform, fully hosted and managed by our team. There is no software to install. All you need is a browser and a smile.
We have done a lot so far this year, but we have a lot further to go. For now, we invite you to visit GetBearHug.com, sign up for a free trial, kick the tires, and let us know what you think.
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I believe this was a pop up from another page of advertising.
This sounds like a perfect concept. It’s so important to take care of our community and not “flog” them for asking questions or even making demands. The more we do this I think the better our relationships and customers will be. Great concept.
Jerome Bethea
TheiMillionaire.wordpress.com