In the third of our five part series, we take a look at how FeeSynergy’s customer centric ethos has been embraced by the Product team as their guiding development principle.
For the Product team, customer service comes in a number of forms:
- Product fit
- UX and CX
- Reliability and uptime
- Security
- Support
FeeSynergy’s product team maintains regular contact with clients to validate that they are delivering products and feature enhancements that will make their lives easier. As an agile development team, they are able to make tweaks to the Collect platform “on the fly” based on user suggestions. The client “wow” reactions are gold to the team.
Introducing the Product Team
FeeSynergy’s product team, lead by Angela Johnson, oversees the design and technical development of the FeeSynergy Collect platform. This team of exceptional developers is dedicated to delivering the best possible solutions which enhance both the user and client experience.
Putting Customer Experience at the Forefront
FeeSynergy is committed to placing customer experience at the forefront of its software development. Unlike many other software companies, FeeSynergy doesn’t just pay lip service to user experience; they genuinely live and breathe it. They emphasise the importance of designing solutions based on user needs rather than assumptions.
Customer-Centric Development
One of the standout approaches of FeeSynergy’s product team is their collaboration with end-users. When developing new features, they start by asking, “What business problem are we trying to solve?” rather than presuming solutions. They also work with a carefully selected group of highly engaged users to seek their input when designing new features. The goal is always to make the product easier to use and more efficient. When launching new features such as the IDV module these user groups help make sure that every user of FeeSynergy Collect will benefit.
“When we come up with a new feature for the product, we will workshop it with the end users as well.” “We will reach out to certain clients and say – we’ve got this idea, can we give you a sneak peek of it?” “We get good, honest feedback and the users will let us know if we’re on the right track. They may have suggestions to change and improve the design, and often, that’s how we build it.”
Proactive Customer Support
FeeSynergy employs Zendesk for customer support. The Product Manager personally reviews every ticket that comes in, looking for recurring issues or user inquiries. By closely monitoring tickets, they can identify areas where their system might need improvement, either through better user guidance or new features.
“We look at every ticket. Every single ticket that comes in.” “We recognise if for example, that’s the third ticket this week where they’ve asked us the same thing, “Can the system do this?” If it’s a new feature, we recognise the user need, and build it in’.
Leveraging Hot Jar and User Behaviour
The product team uses screen recording software to analyse user behaviour. Developers spend time each week watching these recordings to understand how users interact with the system. This allows them to spot user frustrations or areas where the system can be enhanced. Often, this proactive approach results in system improvements before users even report issues.
“There’s been six or seven things we’ve released that have been a direct result of developers watching end users use the system and going, “Hang on a second! That’s a bit clunky, and we could make it better”. So we’re preempting the needs before they even ask.”
Don’t Just Take Our Word for It
“Banks Group implemented FeeSynergy Collect in March 2018. The results were instantaneous with 90 day debtors reducing by 25%. The agile technology enables changes to be made as we make suggestions for enhancements whilst working on the platform.”
General Manager – Banks Group
“We have had a long association with FeeSynergy and we implemented their Collect software platform several years ago to streamline our credit management function and manage our online payments. This was easy as FeeSynergy is fully integrated with our Xero practice management system. In 2018 we participated in a FeeSynergy lead workshop with many other accounting firms to help FeeSynergy design an Engagement Letter solution that they were building for their accounting clients. We were using another popular engagement letter solution however when FeeSynergy released their product in 2020 it was a simple decision to switch to FeeSynergy. Our firm issues hundreds of engagement letters and proposals every year and the FeeSynergy system makes it quick and easy. The free digital signatures and very low direct debit and credit card fees also save us a lot of money each year. I am pleased to say that FeeSynergy has designed their engagement letter solution to meet the specific needs of accounting firms. They listen to their clients and it is fun to see my own suggestions find their way into the software.”
Klara Rosaline – Corporate Finance Manager – Grimsey
“In early 2021 we were looking for software solutions that would enable us to enhance services to our clients as well as systemise back-office functions such as debtors management. We came across FeeSynergy and quickly recognised that their Collect platform provided everything we needed to automate cash collections, take online card payments, set up direct debits and manage our engagement letter process. We use MYOB AE for our practice management system so FeeSynergy’s approved integration with MYOB was extremely important to us. The engagement letter process in FeeSynergy Collect is fantastic as it enables us to easily create, send and audit track engagement letters for all our clients. The free digital signatures and integrated recurring direct debits speed up the return of documents from our clients and further improves our cash flow. One thing that has really impressed me is that FeeSynergy regularly seek feedback from their users to enhance user and client experience. It is very satisfying to see some of my suggestions be added to the system.”
Ben Teitzel – Austax Business
