The Secret to (Actually) Getting Fanatical Support from Rackspace
I'd like to start off by asking you: Are you one of the people who are sick of seeing this message?
After my case study analysis of Rackspace Fanatical Support, we received a number of disillusioned, irate, and even hopeless reader comments (read them below the article here). Now it's time to report back, share our experience since then, and give you a likely solution. This article outlines our roadmap for getting true, Fanatical Support, as advertised by Rackspace.
Yes, I'm pretty confident you can get it, and it's not too hard. You just have to know the "secret," which really isn't supposed to be a secret at all.
Priacta's Recent Experience
Many of our site's reliability problems continue. They have improved somewhat, but from time to time they revert back to their old ways, like the Mr. Hyde side of Dr. Jekyll.
However ... something huge changed along the way.
Here's the big difference: Priacta was assigned a Rackspace Cloud account manager who 1) owns our issue and our account, and who 2) definitely acts accountable to us. (If you want this level of support yourself, read on ...)
RESULT: We feel like we are getting true fanatical support, in spite of the continuing issues.
SPECIFIC IMPROVEMENTS IN SUPPORT: Now someone is validating and responding to our concerns. We are getting regular updates from Rackspace on the status of the issues, setbacks, and progress made. We have some contact with front-line techs and engineers in the email chains. We are able to provide data and work with them to help resolve the issue. And there is progress... definite patterns are being discovered in when and why the issues surface, and likely causes identified and pursued.
ANALYSIS: It's interesting that even though the problems are not yet solved, we are much more willing to live with the pain when we see that Rackspace is definitely listening, letting us help resolve it, and trying as hard or harder than we would. It creates hope. There is no pain like the pain of uncertainty and hopelessness. Remember this principle for your own business: if your people are distressed at the size of the waves, give them an oar and ask them to paddle. When we feel like we are at least doing something about our problems, we don't feel as afraid of them.
CONCLUSIONS: 1) Adding accountability (to the customer) and 2) Rackspace taking ownership of the issue does, indeed, restore a "fanatical" level of support in the client's mind.
What About the Rest of You?
I believe that this is not just special treatment for us. Instead, there seems to be a gaping chasm between Level 1 and Level 2 Rackspace on a few critical, high-profile issues that you have to cross on your own. Why? There is no automatic escalation path. (Level 1 support was decent for a very long time. It only became bad for a couple of specific, company-threatening issues that they did not know how to handle.)
RECOMMENDATION TO RACKSPACE: Create a tech who owns this particular problem and is accountable to anyone reporting it. This tech's mantra should be: "I'm the 'No Suitable Nodes' Engineer. My mission is to find enough nodes, all the time, for everyone, no matter what. I want to hear your experience and give you Fanatical Support on this issue." Then tell your Level 1 techs to refer people to the "No Suitable Nodes" Engineer. Give her/him a face and name, a blog or web page, then let people post comments there and let him/her respond to them all at once with a running discussion. Channel all the complaints to one place where you can do excellent damage control and give people the same relief we're feeling now!
Escalating It Yourself
Rackspace reps have said that this kind of support is their plan, they have a policy of complete transparency, and they have an open door. But the real problem, in my opinion, is that this just isn't true right now for Level 1 support. Instead, you have to escalate it to the next level yourself by contacting management. Fortunately, their management contact information is public. Here is what Angela Bartels said:
We do keep our contact information public, including our leadership. Our GM, Emil Sayegh, publicly responds to customers and posts his contact information freely, and frequently. You can reach him at emil.sayegh@rackspace.com or via Twitter @esayegh. All of our contact information is here as well: http://bit.ly/8utwKW.
Her complete post and contact information is posted in the Comments here.
Try The Experiment and Report Your Results Here
If you're having troubles, let us know here. Then contact Rackspace using the contact info above to escalate your issue. Report back here in the comment section on how well they responded. After trying this approach, I'm betting you will get the Fanatical Support they promise.
Kevin Crenshaw is a business consultant and executive coach. As author of the blog "Strategy in Principle," he shares insights on hot topics in management and productivity tips for business owners. He is also CEO of Priacta, Inc., a time management company that helps you get an extra two hours out of your day—for life. Follow him on Twitter for more tips in all these areas.
