Customer support is often overlooked during the software buying process. It’s common to see robust support during the sales phase, with frequent check-ins from your representatives of the software sales team, almost suffocating you - right up until you sign the contract. But once the deal is done, you might find yourself feeling all alone, navigating a complex implementation process that expects you to handle most of the work.
Here’s another sobering thought, even if you get everything set up correctly, ongoing customer support can be the difference between smooth sailing and rough waters when challenges arise.
Implementation
Let’s start with setting up the software. It’s essential to know what level of support you’ll receive during this critical phase. Some vendors, like Goose, offer a white-glove experience where they handle almost everything—setting up your data and creating an environment tailored to your needs. All you have to do is approve, and you’re live.
Other providers may leave you largely on your own after a couple of kickoff calls, expecting you to carve out the time to learn their software and make the implementation successful. If that’s the case, be prepared for the process to take up a significant chunk of your time, potentially delaying your launch.
Setup should also include data transfer from your old system to the new one. Unless you’re starting from scratch or have minimal data, you’ll want to transfer as much information as possible to your new system—ensuring that key customer details, recent transactions, and existing bookings aren’t lost in the transition. Here are some critical questions to ask about data transfer:
Training and Onboarding
Installing the software is just the beginning—your team needs to know how to use it effectively. Ideally, you’ve chosen software that’s intuitive enough to require minimal training. However, training can become complicated when the software’s core services operate in unique or unfamiliar ways. Not long ago, most pet care providers focused on a single service, whether boarding, grooming, or training—daycare wasn’t even on the radar. Fast forward to today, and most facilities offer multiple services by default.
Providing onsite training at Urban Pooch
Many legacy systems, built for a different era, have separate processes for each service. This increases training time since you’re essentially teaching your staff to use multiple systems, even though they’re part of the same platform. Additionally, these older systems may not communicate well with each other, so if a customer cancels a reservation involving multiple services, you might need to manually update inventory across different modules.
Support
Even after installation and training, you’re bound to encounter new situations or forgotten details during the transition. For a pet care facility that’s been using the same software for years—even if it’s not ideal—the idea of changing how you do things can be daunting. Having someone you can reach out to can help you quickly overcome obstacles and get back on track.
It’s frustrating when a simple question leads you through a maze of automated bots and technical documents just to speak with a human. While your software provider should have extensive online resources, they should also offer multiple support channels, including phone, email, and chat. You need to be able to reach out during stated hours to resolve issues, not just receive a how-to video or document, which is all too common.
Problems can arise after hours, so it’s crucial to know how to reach someone when you need help. I recommend assessing the availability (24/7 or business hours) and responsiveness of the support team during off-hours. Specifically, ask about their off-hours support and compare it to your busiest times—what might be your peak period could be when their support is least available
At Goose, we find that our customers often prefer engaging with us through our in-app chat because it allows them to address issues immediately and receive a response within minutes.
Documentation is still important, and the quality and upkeep of this content can determine whether you solve a problem quickly or end up waiting for after-hours support. So, be sure to evaluate the availability of training resources, like tutorials, documentation, and videos, alongside live support.
Customer support is an essential, yet often overlooked, part of the software buying process. From seamless onboarding to accessible training and ongoing help when things go wrong, the quality of support you receive can make all the difference in how smoothly your business runs. Before committing to a provider, ensure they offer the level of support that matches your needs— whether that’s 24/7 availability or in-depth resources for your team. In the next article, we’ll dive deeper into the technical side of software platforms and engineering. Understanding how your software is built and maintained can provide valuable insight into its performance, scalability, and long-term reliability.
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