[6d0debc071]

For a given level of service, customer support costs a certain amount C * scaling costs S your predict return on investment is R / probability P.

If C * S > R / P, then don't play.

It wouldn't make sense, for instance, for a company like Google to treat all its customers the same way that enterprise SaaS companies treat their more precious customers. S is too big for them. That level of service is manpower intensive.

On the other hand it's probably something you can afford to at the beginning, when you have few customers - an advantage of being a startup, (as I recall being told a few years back, 'You are your own slave labour.')

[neltnerb]

I have found China to be paradoxically fantastic at customer service, especially for small clients. They're willing to put in the time and effort on relatively small companies because any income is good income, and building that relationship could mean good references later on with bigger contracts. I have only had two chinese factories turn me down for projects because I'm too small, and the ones that don't I will hopefully be able to award with increasingly large projects as I grow.

[6d0debc071]

I wonder what their figures are in terms of customers / expenses, that would be very interesting to see.