Geezeo is the first web-based application that allows you to securely aggregate your checking, savings, loans, and investment accounts. They use Campfire as a live chat tool to interact with existing (and potential) customers. We talked to Geezeo's Peter Glyman about it...
How does Campfire help you provide support?
Most customers have questions that can be handled in real time and since our team is in Campfire all the time anyhow, this extra customer facing room is great for our visitors. Having this real-time interaction also creates a great opportunity to talk to visitors that might be "on the fence" about signing up. Once they get to see the team in there and we can address any questions they might have, they are very likely to have a greater comfort level about becoming a Geezeo user.
Why is it better than other options?
The ability to have multiple members of the Geezeo team in Campfire is great when one person can't answer a question. For example, if something gets too technical for me, we can usually tap one of the other guys to jump in. It's also great for chat history and ease of use.
What did you use before and why did you switch to (or add) Campfire?
We were using [an IM application] which had two big limitations. We couldn't have multiple members of the Geezeo team. In fact if someone decided to "man" the chat and someone else on the team was in on it, it would kick the other out. Even if they were in a chat with a user. There was also no chat history.
Do you use group chat in other ways besides support?
We use Campfire daily for development and straight up team discussions. Our team (pictured to the left) is in 4 different states (MA, CT, IN, PA) so we're always in Campfire to stay connected.
Any tips or tricks for other Campfire customers?
I think it's important to keep things light. When customers come in, make them feel like part of the team. Have fun. If you have any power users you can ask them to jump in when it's convenient. They might even be able to support or evangelize to your customers. We're also going to start looking at scheduling specific events using Campfire. Great to have guest speakers or topics that users might want to plan on attending.
Geezeo explains why security is no problem to a new customer.
Dave Woodward, Geezeo's "Ninja Code Poet" (great title that), also offered his take on why Campfire is a great fit for the team:
Campfire is a great way for us developers to talk directly to the users. There is no faster way to troubleshoot a user's problem than having the person who wrote the code also be the one asking the questions. User also really appreciate this close contact because they feel like their voice is actually being heard, and not just filed away in the back of a system somewhere. It also helps keep us developers on our toes and fix the issues that are effecting the users quickly.Campfire has also helped our development effort immensely both for keeping in touch with each other (as Pete mentioned, we all live in 4 different states) as well as all piling on when we have a critical problem. We had some performance issues a few months ago and having all of the developers, the server guy, and even the co-founders in the same Campfire room really streamlined the process of troubleshooting and resolving the issue quickly while keeping everyone informed.
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