Great customer service can be a big selling point for any sales tax software. But if you’re overly familiar with how great the customer service is, you can end up feeling like you’re stuck in a revolving door. You go in, get a problem solved, go out, and there you are back in again with another problem. If that’s how it feels for you, it might very well mean that your sales tax software isn’t the best solution for you — or just doesn’t work very well. While first-name familiarity with your support rep might make you feel you’re being served well, if you’re calling every day it might be time to reassess. Spotting bad customer service can be quite easy: bad reviews and angry social media messages can warn you about bad service before you even talk with a software company.
Great customer service that’s an indication of other problems can be a lot harder to spot and significantly harder to fix. The best plan is to avoid it altogether. If you’re looking into a new sales tax software solution, ask other companies about how often they’re in contact with the software’s customer support. An answer that they contact them on a regular basis should throw up a red flag for your selection process. It still makes sense to ask what types of problems the company encountered and how quickly they were resolved, because you’ll still want to know this information. Nonetheless, you might need to file it under “Great service, Bad product.”
What if you already have customer service on speed dial for your sales tax software company? Take steps to resolve the problem at its root. First, explain to your regular customer service rep that you want to reduce the frequency of your calls for problems and see what solutions they can give you. After all, if they have great customer service then they might be able to fix your underlying problem. If the problem can’t be resolved, it’s time to switch to another sales tax software.
