How to support your software and customers in a one man shop? [closed]

Question

Background

I'm a one man shop (a micro-ISV). A week after putting my product online I get a mail from one of my customers about a bug. It was an obvious fix and I fixed it in 5 minutes but I realize that the reason why the bug was reported so late is because the only contact I have with my users is through mail.

I feel I need something more but I have difficult time finding the right solution.

I was checking out some solutions, but I would like some feedback from the community

Question

What do you use for a micro-ISV (both online and built into software) when you want to give good quality service and support to your clients?

Answer 1

Have an issue-tracking system that your customers can use through a web page. (You do have a web page, right?) Alternately, if your software is interactive, have a menu entry "Submit Bug Report" which will email you what the user says, and perhaps other useful things (users very frequently omit things like software versions, OS versions, that sort of thing). Or both.

Also, your customers are likely to feel happier if they have a standard way to report problems.

Answer 2

If you want to go beyond the "email us" link, you might consider putting up a bulletin-board or even wiki-style forum on your site for your clients to use. Make your own list of Frequently Asked Questions the first post. I'd recommend using an off-the-shelf package, instead of rolling your own. A pre-existing solution should include the spam-filtering and moderation tools that you'll need.

Another idea would be to start a company blog, and invite users to leave feedback.

Answer 3

You fixed it in five minutes? Sounds like you're already giving good quality service / support. But if you really want a tool, I would check out if Unfuddle.com has a public bug report feature. I love that site.

Answer 4

This is a subject I've thought a lot about (since I'm contemplating doing just what you're doing), and there's considerable precedent for how you could proceed.

• Set up a feedback page on your website
• Set up a dedicated email account for your website
• Set up automated opt-in bug reporting and crash reporting for your software
• Set up a twitter account; and conduct twitter searches for your software name
• Set up a Google Alert to track when a website or user references your product, and respond to them.
• Set up a Uservoice account for your software/website (it's free for a 'small' company).