Life’s too short to read the manual

Research conducted by Tommy Trinder into how window firms engage with software suggests that the instruction manual is ‘old hat’ and needs to be replaced with fast and responsive on-demand help.

The Tommy Trinder study, based on feedback from over 500 users of the firm’s Framepoint app, found that when it comes to learning how to use new software, the window industry is becoming more and more impatient.

The research reveals that the vast majority of users jump straight into using an application without watching help videos or reading the manual. And even novice users, it seems, would prefer to explore on their own rather than reading a series of steps on a page.

Chris Brunsdon, founder and CEO, commented: “Installers are busy fitting or selling windows; the last thing they want to do when they take on new software is to wade through help pages or, worse still, an old-fashioned instruction manual. When it comes to using software, installers want help when they get stuck. It’s that simple.”

The increasing demand for assistance in real-time has been reflected in the numbers of installers taking advantage of the firm’s live chat support service; a chat button within Framepoint that allows subscribers to access instant help within business hours.

Tommy Trinder’s live chat service received 2,305 help requests during the 2022, up 30% on 2021. The firm boasts that 99.2% of these requests were resolved to full satisfaction in under half an hour with a customer satisfaction (CSAT) score of 4.96 out of 5.

However, Chris said that statistics can only tell so much of the customer experience story: “Speed matters. But quality of support, matters too,” he explained. “We only employ people to man our live chat function that have had real world experience of selling, fitting, or making windows.

“Clearly, there’s no point in connecting an installer that needs help to a computer geek who doesn’t know a trickle vent from an add on.”