The Reality of Customer Communication on the AppStore

ImageXY recently received a 2 star review on the App Store. It’s not the first, and it probably won’t be the last. As a software developer you learn to not let these things bother you. At least not too much.

However, the frustrating thing about most 2-star reviews, is that a simple email to support beforehand could solve their issues and turn an unhappy or dis-satisfied customer into a happy one. At the very least it would open a dialogue with the customer for ways to improve our products.

While the AppStore has been great for customers and developers a like, I do miss the ability to know *who* my customers are. Unfortunately, there is no easy way for developers to get in contact with all of these new AppStore customers. In the case of ImageXY, being AppStore exclusive, beyond the handful of customers that have tweeted to @ImageXY on twitter, posted a message on our fan page, or emailed support directly, I have no way of getting in contact with customers. Contrast this with Jisho, where I have some customers I have been emailing for years, and have even met for coffee on occasion.

To remedy this situation and open customer dialogue, we have tried adding in menu items under the help menu to contact us directly for support. In our help book, we have also included links to Twitter, Facebook, and support. While I am hesitant to force dialogue with a popup on first or second run to follow us or encourage customers to “be social”, it might not be a bad idea to make these menu items more prominent in the future.

If you have a question about how to do something in any of our products, or just want to drop a line to say hello, do not hesitate to to get in touch.

Twitter: @ImageXY

Facebook: ImageXY Fan page

Email: support@sugoisoft.com