[cw-discuss] customer expectations

[Jeremy White]

Hi Neil,

I've got a few points I'm hoping to clear up.  First, there
are two Jeremys from CodeWeavers on this thread.  I'm the founder
and CEO and chief troublemaker.  Jeremy Newman is the main web
developer here, responsible for making changes to our system.

Jeremy and I have both been replying, often with somewhat
different tones and perspectives, but we both agree that
the core problem is that it takes too long to get an application
submission approved.  That's because a good thing - a surge
in interest - is butting heads with another thing we value -
high quality data, and we're struggling to manage that surge.

Just so it's clear:  the message was received loud and clear,
it's a problem we're aware of, and very unhappy about, and we're
actively working to mitigate.

Further, there were a range of ideas suggested to help
us manage this issue.

Jeremy Newman is working on implementing two of those
suggestions - providing a feedback notice, and letting folks
review and edit their own applications, and see where they
are in the queue.

We had another suggestion of making all 'unapproved' applications
be public, which we are uncomfortable doing, because we fear
it will compromise the visible quality of the application database.

At any rate, I do appreciate all of the interest and the willingness
to help us improve this process; I think the suggestions we've
gotten so far will certainly help.

Cheers,

Jeremy

Neil O'Connell wrote:
> Dear All,
> 
> This discussion has been interesting.
> 
> It is typical of a support situation that customers want more information
> than the support team want to give out - I am aware this is not strictly a
> support scenario - nevertheless there are analogies I think.
> 
> Jeremy has a finite resource at his disposal who I am sure are professional
> in their handling of work. The customer base is usually responsible in their
> requests and yet there is a disconnect between aspirations on the one hand
> and the capability to deliver on the other.
> 
> The solution is to get the customers to do more work in order to get a
> program onto the support list etc. Redesign the database perhaps - or
> provide another one as a front end - which requires more of what is needed
> for CrossOver staff to do their job efficiently. If it were to take ten
> minutes to fill out a form with validated information it would deter
> frivolous requests, equally if a form is filled out sufficiently it might be
> possible to provide some feedback about waiting times immediately. I am not
> suggesting the solution here, just airing some thinking to perhaps aid one.
> 
> Jeremy you have a classic "managing customers expectations" situation, best
> handled by industry best practice. Don't try and reinvent the wheel is my
> advice - Google the solution. Having first accepted that your customers have
> a point of course, which is not always easy to do I know.
> 
> Anyway - just my two pennath'worth.
> 
> Good luck with it.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Neil O'Connell
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: discuss-bounces at crossover.codeweavers.com
> [mailto:discuss-bounces at crossover.codeweavers.com] On Behalf Of Jeremy
> Newman
> Sent: 24 May 2007 15:24
> To: jsbien at mimuw.edu.pl
> Cc: Jeremy White; discuss at crossover.codeweavers.com
> Subject: Re: [cw-discuss] Submission of new application don't work
> 
> On Thu, 2007-05-24 at 07:34 +0200, Janusz S. Bień wrote:
>> I strongly support the recent proposal to make the list of pending
>> submissions accessible from the user's account.
> 
> We are not going to make the list of pending applications public. That
> would be just asking for spam, graffiti, and dupes. If you saw the
> current list of pending apps you would see what I mean. >50% of what is
> submitted is duplicate information. The rest are either incomplete or
> inaccurate. What takes us so long is that we have to manually verify
> everything that is posted. Even then, we still get a few dupes through
> from time to time.
> 
> I know this stinks for the few apps that should get through faster since
> they are buried.
> 
> What I think I may implement is some kind of honor system. Known good
> submitters would get their apps flagged and we would approve them first.
> Hmm, seems like a handy idea.
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> discuss mailing list
> discuss at crossover.codeweavers.com
> http://crossover.codeweavers.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> You can be removed from this list by visiting the above web page, or by
> checking the 'subscriptions' tab in your account with CodeWeavers.
> 
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition. 
> Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.7.7/816 - Release Date: 23/05/2007
> 15:59
>  
> 
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition. 
> Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.7.7/816 - Release Date: 23/05/2007
> 15:59
>  
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> discuss mailing list
> discuss at crossover.codeweavers.com
> http://crossover.codeweavers.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> You can be removed from this list by visiting the above web page, or by checking the 'subscriptions' tab in your account with CodeWeavers.
>