What your support inbox tells you about your product that analytics cannot

During the year of our business I answered all the support emails myself. It was hard. I did not like it. Looking back it was the important thing we did and I almost handed it over too soon.

Analytics showed which buttons were pressed. The inbox showed which actions users wanted. These are two types of information. One day a user wrote: "I expected the export button to send the report to my accountant." Our button saved a file. No one would have ever noticed this difference in the funnel chart;. In the next month three other users had the same issue. We added an email button. The problem went away.

Now I keep a spreadsheet with four columns. The words that the person uses the screen they were on what they were hoping for and what actually happened. Patterns start to appear after forty entries. It is important to write down the words since they will become your landing page copy and button labels.

There is a risk. Support emails are more likely to come from customers and less likely from happy quiet ones. That feature no one ever asks about could be the thing that keeps everyone coming which is why I look at the email box along with the retention numbers not instead of them.

There is another benefit too. Personal replies build a connection and those early users turn into your first supporters. Two of them wrote reviews without being asked.

Who deals with support, in your team. When did you stop reading support emails yourself?