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A few nights ago, in a frustrated rage, I posted some not-so-nice things about Microsoft and IE7. I still agree with what I wrote, but I’ve learned a little bit about customer service.

My blog ranks well in search engines. I’m no SEO guru, but if I post something, there is usually somebody who will find it through Google. I know that, and quite honestly, it’s why I get up on my soap box most of the time. This time, my plan backfired.

Typically, this user who would find me would find my frustrations with IE7 would post something negative about IE7 (or about me) and move on, continuing his search for an answer to his problem. Microsoft ruined my scheme.

Dean (who works for Microsoft [he has a @microsoft.com email address]), does regular searches on Technorati for people who are blogging about IE7. My blog showed up, and he helped me find the solution to my problem.

Microsoft has succeeded in 3 areas:

1. A customer who didn’t ask for help got the help he needed. This is huge, because (typically) a company can only help people who ask for help. Now Microsoft is listening to customers and responding to what they say.
2. All of the people who find that post (while searching about trouble with unsigned ActiveX controls) will see my frustrations, will see Microsoft’s proactive response, and will have a solution to their problem. Microsoft comes away looking like the superhero. And, in this case, they are.
3. They fixed my problem without getting into the “better browser” war with me. I’m certainly not going to change my stance on the awesomeness that is Firefox, and Dean would have just added to my frustration if he had tried to argue for IE7. Instead, he just offered a solution.

This led me to realize how easy it is for companies to listen for chatter about their products:

1. Do a search on Technorati.
2. Click the RSS link.
3. *Poof* now it’s in Google Reader, and can be easily monitored by the support staff.

Kudos to Microsoft on this one. This is excellent customer service.

[And, for the record, Firefox is still the better browser.]