Petcube is now a multi-million dollar company with headquarters in San Franciso and offices in Kyiv, Ukraine and Shenzhen, China. But like you, they started out with just a tiny team and an awesome idea. Find out outsourcing customer support helped them grow into a heavyweight
Case Study: Petcube & Outsourced Customer Support
Since the conception of SupportYourApp – our goal has always been to help young startups (like ourselves) grow & be successful.
One of our examples is Petcube. Now, if you haven’t heard of Petcube (where have you been?) here’s a quick description:
“It’s a sleek-looking cube with a camera that allows you to easily watch & interact with your furry little friends – no matter where you are.”
Petcube started a Kickstarter campaign with the hopes of gaining some capital necessary to produce thousands of their products. Of course, we all know how the rest goes 🙂
When we first witnessed Petcube – a Ukrainian based startup blow up on Kickstarter.com (over $250,000 raised), we pounced on the opportunity to start working with them. Not only because we wanted to work with another emerging Ukrainian startup – but because we genuinely enjoyed their product.
Me, coming from a family with 5 dogs at any given time & SYA even having an office dog Beam (below), we were ecstatic to start supporting (especially using) their innovative product.
Petcube’s Struggles
Now despite their huge success on Kickstarter, Petcube ran into a few blocks in the road. Roadblocks like:
- Hardware issues that needed to be fixed before launch
- Factory cooperation problems
- Delivery provider needed to be switched a day before release
- Complications during the extensive testing of hardware & software
All of these complications delayed the release of Petcube to their backers by almost 3 months. Regardless, Petcube was honest & stayed transparent about all issues.
You can read more about their epic Kickstarter journey HERE
Where SupportYourApp Lent a Hand
At SupportYourApp, we understand that issues like this can plague any startup. We felt empathetic & set out to help them succeed & get past these roadblocks anyway we could. Since our business is customer support – we resolved all calls/emails regarding any tech issues, pre-sales, installation, troubleshooting, etc.
And we did it at a special price for Petcube for 5 months until they got back on their feet
At SupportYourApp, we value our clients’ success & our relationship with the client. So when issues like this spring up, we understand & make compromises to ensure our client’s & especially their customers stay as happy/successful as possible.
So How Does The Story End?
Now… despite Petcube being a unique case for us, we still took all of the same measures that we do for EVERY client to give the highest level of customer support for them & especially their customers.
It all starts with working closely with their team to learn exactly how their product works & any issues that we could possibly run into.
By using their existing FAQs & our own technical knowledge – we composed email templates that we use to answer a wide range of questions that we might run into. We also answer phone calls on their behalf to resolve all issues from troubleshooting & installation.. to pre-sales.
Since their Kickstarter launch:
- Petcube is now available for purchase at huge retailers like Best Buy and Amazon
- They have expanded to the U.S. & China by establishing their headquarters in the Silicon Valley & manufacturing facility in Shenzhen, China
- They currently have a huge following of happy, pet-loving customers
- And they still use our outsourcing services to take care of those customers 🙂
If you have any questions or feedback – please let us know in the comments below:)
About SupportYourApp
SupportYourApp provides scalable customer support solutions for Apple, Windows and IoT software startups. Reach out to us at hi@supportyourapp.com to learn how we can help improve your customer support!