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Zappos has built an empire that goes against the first person rule.

JeffO
– JeffO

2011-01-12 00:46:00 +00:00
Commented Jan 12, 2011 at 0:46
I don't know about Zappos, but it seems true enough for most companies. All I know is that if I'm frustrated enough to call tech support, I feel bad for the person on the other end of the line.

Berin Loritsch
– Berin Loritsch

2011-01-12 01:07:54 +00:00
Commented Jan 12, 2011 at 1:07
Never? As in never, ever? Even if you were a small company made up of salespeople and one or two developers? Not even if your developers were very strong communicators and liked talking with customers?

Bryan Oakley
– Bryan Oakley

2013-07-12 18:27:34 +00:00
Commented Jul 12, 2013 at 18:27
You want your developers to be perceived as knowledgeable--make them the second person the customer talks to. By then the customer will calm down some and behave a bit more reasonably. Now, if it's a customer you have a good relationship with and it's not the first introduction the developer has to the client, then it would be perfectly fine. First contact should be vetted through someone else first though.

Berin Loritsch
– Berin Loritsch

2013-07-13 18:03:14 +00:00
Commented Jul 13, 2013 at 18:03
As somebody who has been first-line support - I think the rule for the "irate caller thinking the first person who answers the phone is wrong" is not correct. Though, I can only speak from my own experience. The occasional irate caller who does think this either realizes their mistake (as long as front-line actually is knowledgeable) or they are simply not looking for a solution, but rather someone to blame - which means nobody can help them. I do still agree overall - developers should be the last contact, once it is determined there is a bug somewhere(or high possibility of one)

DoubleDouble
– DoubleDouble

2014-10-23 18:08:17 +00:00
Commented Oct 23, 2014 at 18:08

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