Supporting the “things” – The key to long-term connected product success

The Internet of Things and connected products are the rage at the moment. From products like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home to SureFlap’s Microchip Pet Door Connect which lets you remotely control your pet’s access to the house, connected products are everywhere.

At both the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and Mobile World Congress (MWC) this year, IoT and connected products were the biggest trends. Everyone was showing off their newest  product – whether it be connecting light systems like Lutron, connected appliances by Whirlpool or anything in between. Everyone seemed to be trying to elbow in on the action, which wasn’t surprising. What was surprising was that they all seemed to be focussing on Amazon and what it was doing with Alexa.

Every single company I saw discussed how they were either building on AWS or integrated with Echo. A few years ago, apps were the channel of choice but today, voice command rules the roost and Amazon is the de facto interface. Opening your phone, finding an app and instructing it to carry out a function has become too long and laborious. Especially when you can just say ‘Alexa, turn on my lights’. It is much cooler and very satisfying. Hence why everyone now owns (or is at least thinking of) an Alexa or Google Home.

The other thing that surprised me and had me slightly worried was that so little was focus on supporting these products.  How easy are they to set up?  Maintain? Integrate with other products?   There were lots of conversations about the products and all the wonderful things they can do but little was said about what happens when they don’t work.

The reason why I was surprised by this is that I am certain that these things were extensively discussed by these companies internally but it was clearly deemed to not be a priority for promotion or competitive differentiation.

Connected products have been climbing the hype cycle for some time now and we are moving past the knee-jerk ‘wow factor’ stage, but  for IoT to really become mainstream, customers will need to stick with these products. Like every other technology, connected products will have their hiccups and users need to know the manufacturers will support them. If consumers buy a product but have a hard time with onboarding or if they simply won’t work, the value they bring won’t be worth the hassle.

Buying an Alexa (or any other connected home product) and plugging it in is all well and good but it’s a different ball game for someone interested in building a full-fledged connected home. Adding connected lights, appliances, security system and the like requires a unique ID and their own app. Getting these devices to talk to each other is no easy feat and there are many points potential points of failure.  Just one of those can turn a customer off for good.

Beyond hyping up these  devices, product companies need to also make the process of owning them as easy as possible. They must be easy to use, easy to install and easy to maintain. Every company looking to embark on a connected product or product line needs to take a good look at the customer services and support strategy and make sure it can meet the unique needs of the new age of connected users and the products that come with them.

We have only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to connected products and how they will change the world around us. And a strong, immediate and innovative customer service and support strategy will be the key to success. It’s a lot of pressure, sure, but it’s also a really great opportunity to play an important role in transforming an industry.