Insight into CD Baby's Customer Support - An Interview with Derek Sivers

http://blog.supportbee.com/2011/06/14/cd-baby-customer-support-an-interview-with-derek-sivers/

by nithyad • 15 years ago

53 10 15 years ago

blog.supportbee.com

jevinskie• 15 years ago

After spending over 100 minutes on hold with Comcast last night, reading this article dramatically lowered my blood pressure. It is nice to know that some people still care about customer /service/!

nithyad• 15 years ago

@jevinskie I can so relate to you! It was such a pleasure talking to him. The fantastic part was knowing that his team actually had fun all the while. It was like they never had a drab moment:)

jasongullickson• 15 years ago

Is "CD Baby" related (in any real way) to "Film Baby"? I had a less-than-stellar experience with the latter...

sivers• 15 years ago

FilmBaby was started by a CD Baby employee. I let him use the name.

I haven't talked to him in years, so I don't know if it's part of CD Baby now or not.

random42• 15 years ago

What exactly do you mean by "let him use the name"? Do you have a trademark on the word "Baby"?

jbk• 15 years ago

I wish it was the same for all companies... This is really different from my experience with major music companies...

Do they have an API for selling their music?

Shenglong• 15 years ago

CS experience really differs. I worked at a company that had its Sales department outsourced to Canada, and its CS department in India. When I was working Sales (for the few months) the most common first-question I got was "Are you in India!?!", and the most common exclamation I heard was "Thank god!"

The worst CS experience was Paypal. Most frustrating experience in the world. In case you've been lucky enough, it goes something like this:

- Long wait - Non-English speaker picks up - Non-English speaker repeats a script to you - You ask a question - Non-English speaker tries to answer your question with a scripted answer that doesn't apply - You can't understand, so you ask for clarification - Non-English speaker repeats scripted answer that doesn't apply - You phrase your question in a different way - Non-English speaker repeats scripted answer that doesn't apply - You rage, and ask for a manager or someone who speaks English - Non-English speaker tells you no one is available - You rage some more, and demand a manager - Non-English speaker hangs up without answering your question.

If you have to call customer service, tell them you have a claim issue with someone overseas. They'll transfer you to a department that actually speaks English. :)

microtonal• 15 years ago

I ordered an album from CD Baby twice, once digital, once on disk. Browsing and buying from CD Baby was a joy, because their love for the music was so apparent.

It's also one of the rare sites where artists were seriously engaging with their customers. I posted a (favorable) review about one of the two albums, and ended up discussing not only his album, but also buddhist meditation.

It feels good to be treated as a human, not a mindless consumer.

shaunkoh• 15 years ago

Reminds me hugely of what Zingermans does: http://www.amazon.com/Zingermans-Guide-Giving-Great-Service/...

Insight into CD Baby's Customer Support - An Interview with Derek Sivers

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