| URL | http://getsatisfaction.com/ |
|---|---|
| Type of site | Technical support, Customer service |
| Registration | Optional |
| Available language(s) | English |
| Owner | Get Satisfaction |
| Created by | Valleyschwag |
| Launched | September 2007 |
| Alexa rank | 2,232 (January 2012[update])[1] |
| Current status | Online |
Get Satisfaction is a customer community software platform for technical support based in San Francisco, California, United States.[2] It was founded on January 31, 2007 by several people, including Lane Becker,[3] Amy Muller, Thor Muller,[2] and Jonathan Grubb. It publicly launched in September 2007.[4] The idea for the service originated from Valleyschwag as a side project.[5] When the Valleyschwag service received over 1,500 subscribers, its customer service requirements increased dramatically. Realizing that customers were actually responding to the issues that other people brought up, the group behind Valleyschwag decided to create the precursor to Get Satisfaction,[2] first named Satisfaction Unlimited,[6] to take advantage of the community's enthusiasm for helping each other. The company describes its product as "people-powered customer service". On the website, anyone can ask a question, submit an idea or complaint, or give praise; all posts can be read by anyone. Companies can respond to issues regarding their products or services; official responses are marked as official answers to separate them from other responses. Users can rate responses based on how well they resolve the issue.[2]
Muller explained in an interview with BusinessWeek that the website aims to be simple, noting that most customer-service solutions are too complex. He continues by stating that many are reactive instead of proactive, requiring customers to think as if they were an employee or librarian to find their answers. In contrast, Get Satisfaction approaches the problem by helping companies think more like customers.[2] Muller explained, “We want to create a Switzerland for companies and customers, with specific tools that allow people to get answers to their questions. [...] We want the best answers to rise to the top, and not get buried in online discussion forums.”[7] The service, which is free for both companies and users to use, has already begun offering paid service plans to companies including Method Products, Timbuk2, Twitter, and Digg.[2] Several more companies later joined the platform, including Time Warner Cable, Verizon, Comcast, Mozilla, Mogo Money, Microsoft Hohm, AMC Theatres, Qantas, Apple Inc., Dell, and Facebook.[8] The company's CEO is Wendy Lea, its CTO is Muller, and its President is Becker.[5] The website, which received an initial round of financing of $1.3 million,[6] receives financing from investors that include First Round Capital, O'Reilly Alphatech Ventures, and SoftTechVC. In September 2010, the company announced Series A funding of $6 million from Azure Capital Partners with OATV and First Round Capital participating.[9] In March 2010, Get Satisfaction launched their Facebook application that allows companies and brands to put their customer community on their Facebook page as a tab.[10]