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Launching a brand new characteristic is an thrilling time at Buffer. It is the fruits of days, weeks and typically even months of the work that goes into constructing one thing new. There’s a lot of pleasure and quite a bit to rejoice. It is also a big time for our Assist staff. A product launch can generate a whole lot of conversations with our prospects. We wish to be able to deal with that ticket quantity, shortly reply any questions on any nuance of the brand new characteristic, and successfully channel suggestions to the product groups that constructed it.
Launching a brand new characteristic generally is a step into the unknown — our prospects are artistic and can use our product in methods we did not anticipate and ask questions for which we did not put together solutions. In some edge-case situations, they could uncover bugs we did not learn about or have nice strategies for future iterations of the characteristic that we might add to our product roadmap.
We have now refined a course of for engaged on launches, guaranteeing that the related folks from the product, assist, and advertising groups come collectively to work on the launch plan. On this publish, we’ll share a bit about what we do in preparation for launches to create the absolute best consequence for our prospects and our staff.
Reviewing new characteristic performance
Our Product staff continuously shares updates to our product roadmap — the define and timeline of the options we’re planning to construct. Transparency is one in every of our strongest values, and we share this timeline publicly with prospects right here.
At an early stage, a Product Supervisor will create a design temporary describing the brand new characteristic’s performance in order that the engineers and designers can begin planning their method to bringing it to life. The Buyer Advocacy staff may even have a look — because the staff that works extremely intently with prospects, we hear from our most vocal customers about what options they’d like to see us add or what components of their present workflow they’re seeking to enhance. We are able to supply worthwhile insights and strategies to assist form the characteristic.
Working alongside advertising
As soon as the product supervisor has put a supply date in place for a brand new characteristic, the Advertising staff begin placing the wheels in movement for the launch occasion. We usually wish to make a giant deal of a launch to make sure that as many current and potential prospects study it. The Product Advertising Supervisor will work with the Product staff to decide on the launch date, and the Buyer Advocacy staff will guarantee we have got good inbox protection for the proposed date.
The Product Advertising Supervisor will begin drafting the comms for the launch, together with the emails, weblog posts and social content material. Our Buyer Advocacy staff additionally will get to evaluate this, because it helps us to anticipate the shopper response. Past the brand new characteristic’s performance, the advertising communications shares the story of why we have constructed it and the way it advantages prospects.
Testing out the characteristic
The design staff will typically share a design prototype internally, an interactive preview of how the brand new characteristic would look and performance. The Buyer Advocacy staff are normally wanting to attempt it out. This helps us perceive the way it works and permits us to make strategies for any tweaks or adjustments.
Every week or two earlier than the launch, the product is normally prepared for some testing. Initially, that is inner earlier than we begin inviting prospects to have a look.Testing helps us be sure that the product is top quality and straightforward to make use of earlier than it will get into our prospects’ arms. It helps uncover any last-minute bugs or points we are able to repair earlier than launch. Some members of the Buyer Advocacy staff will normally be concerned in testing. We’re our prospects’ first level of contact after they need assistance, answering questions and serving to troubleshoot issues. So, we should have a very good understanding of the product earlier than it launches. That approach, we’ll be prepared to assist our prospects get probably the most out of it.
Creating exterior sources
Inside our Buyer Advocacy staff, we have now a buyer training staff. They will be concerned from an early stage to start out creating Buffer’s Assist Heart articles, getting ready customer-facing guides and sources that describe how the characteristic works to reply frequent questions. We regularly share these sources within the emails and weblog posts we create once we launch a characteristic. It can cowl extra technical element and the nitty-gritty together with any necessary technical limitations or advanced processes. The weblog posts and emails typically focus extra on the excessive degree options and advantages of the brand new characteristic.
Updating the interior launch information and coaching out staff
We create an Inner Launch Information for the Buyer Advocacy staff for every new characteristic that describes the way it works and highlights the good-to-knows, reminiscent of plans for future iterations. Relying on how prospects use it, some extra performance is likely to be deliberate for the longer term, and we’d anticipate questions on this. For instance, once we first launched TikTok publishing, we did not have entry to the TikTok API for direct publishing, and we used a workaround to assist share scheduled posts to the TikTok app. We knew prospects would ask about the opportunity of direct publishing, so we anticipated this query within the Inner Launch Information and shared the context across the limitations and the plans for the longer term.
The Inner Launch Information is a working doc, and it features a area for capturing buyer suggestions from our e-mail and messaging inboxes and an space for the Buyer Advocacy staff to ask questions. The Product Supervisor and Advertising Supervisor will evaluate the suggestions and reply any questions that come up there. Numerous the time, the shopper suggestions and questions that come up assist us develop our assist middle articles. We might not have anticipated all of the continuously requested questions forward of them really being continuously requested!
In case you’d prefer to take a peek on the template we use for the Inner Launch Information, you’ll be able to obtain a replica in .pdf format right here. Be happy to make use of it and adapt it to your wants – I’d love to listen to from you in case you do! I’m on Mastodon right here: @[email protected]
Along with the Inner Launch Information, we have now inner coaching classes for important or difficult product adjustments.
Anticipating inbox quantity
Once we launch a characteristic, we anticipate a rise within the quantity of questions and tickets on the assist channel in response to the advertising communications on e-mail and social. A day or two earlier than the launch, we goal to double down on the inbox to cut back the amount upfront. For a big characteristic launch, we’d goal to maximise staff protection. Tuesdays work nicely for us, with the very best quantity if staff mates obtainable, and we’d keep away from any syncs or conferences that might take us away from the inbox on today.
[Callout: We work a four day work week at Buffer. See how our Customer Advocacy team works just four days a week while keeping up customer support.]
We’ll additionally put together macros and snippets containing pre-written sentences and phrases to assist us shortly reply to anticipated questions. These work nicely as a method to constantly share the steps wanted to navigate explicit settings, for instance. These all get added to the Inner Launch Information to share inside the staff.
Launch day
Making a devoted channel for the launch is an effective way to maintain everybody knowledgeable. It helps maintain observe of what’s occurring with the launch and makes it straightforward for the staff to entry details about it. We have now a devoted Slack channel for launches, and we’ll share important milestones and timings, reminiscent of:
- the preliminary rollout to five p.c of customers (necessary final examine for any surprising points!),
- roll out to 100% of customers,
- the weblog publish is reside,
- launch emails are despatched
- and so forth…
This screenshot shares just a bit sneak peek into our #launches Slack channel:
It is also useful to have one place to direct staff members who’re in search of data. The Buyer Advocacy staff will probably be working of their common channels and utilizing the Inner Launch information as a useful resource for asking questions and sharing non-urgent suggestions.
Abstract
When a brand new product or characteristic is launched, there’s typically a whole lot of pleasure, and hopefully many comfortable prospects! The Buyer Advocacy staff will probably be working with customers who’ve varied questions, and a few might have considerations or run into points, if there are some surprising bugs or bother. We do our greatest to make sure the staff is ready to deal with all of those conditions, and thoroughly planning product launches makes a giant distinction to how issues go on the day of the launch and the times quickly after. Having a plan, and dealing intently with the product, engineering, design and advertising staff alongside the entire journey of bringing a product to market, provides our Buyer Advocacy staff the very best probability contributing to a profitable launch day. There’s at all times extra we are able to do to arrange for a launch, and we take time to replicate after each. It’s at all times a studying expertise.
Right here’s a run down of our present method:
- Evaluation the exploration/discovery temporary as soon as the product staff have mapped out their plans for the brand new characteristic. At this stage the Buyer Advocacy staff can supply worthwhile insights, in addition to doubtlessly put the product supervisor straight in contact with prospects who might need some nice views to share
- Evaluation the design prototypes. These typically give us our first thought of the feel and appear of the brand new characteristic and it’s our probability to supply suggestions and views to the design staff.
- Create an Inner Launch Information, to explain the options, together with the ‘good to knows’, and create an area to reply questions and accumulate suggestions.
- When the engineering staff is completed, the Buyer Advocacy staff run thorough testing to ensure the whole lot works as anticipated
- Put together the Buyer Advocacy staff to give attention to the inbox, ‘all hands on deck’ fashion, each forward of the launch to clear any inbox backlog, and in the course of the launch to maximise response occasions
- Create an inbox filter in order that that members of the product and advertising groups can regulate the responses to the launch emails
- Collect the staff in a particular launch Slack channel on launch day, to share the thrill and comply with together with the rollout and bulletins
- Evaluation the suggestions and questions which have come up within the Inner Launch Information. This usually helps us evolve the shopper going through Assist Heart sources in addition to retaining everybody updated and knowledgeable.
As Buffer has grown, our product and engineering groups have additionally elevated in measurement. And as our product turns into extra highly effective, we should work collectively to roll out a brand new product or characteristic efficiently. Launching a brand new product is a whole lot of work, nevertheless it’s price it once you see prospects utilizing it and getting worth from it. And as a Buyer Advocacy staff, it is much more gratifying to assist them each step of the way in which.
What does a product launch seem like for you? I’d love to listen to your tales! You’ll be able to attain me on Mastodon right here: @[email protected]
This publish was initially revealed on Buffer’s buyer assist weblog.
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