The 2 biggest mistakes we have made... 🤯
I wish I had known sooner...
You can listen it, up here:
⏳ Current status
👥 Active users: 1371
📝New Developments: Audiobook Accelerator, Web Application
Now you know our story and who's behind BookBase.
It's time to dive into our experience so far, including 2 of our biggest mistakes. ❌
It's important to know that when you develop something, there are bound to be minor - sometimes major - problems.
We had both, but that's how we learned!
Right away, our first mistake was:
🔐 The Login
Our first and biggest problem was when, due to the complexity of the system, people couldn't log in because there were some who registered on the website and some who registered in the App. And the system couldn't coordinate this so 1-2 people couldn't log in...
The problem was that they were paying members, which is kind of a bummer...🤦🏽♂️
Imagine paying for something and not being able to use it!
I'd probably get a little freaked out or at least frustrated...
💡 Side note: The only thing we could rely on here was, that people knew me and trusted me that I really wasn't trying to scam them. If this had been a random App with a random audience, this issue could have run the whole thing into the ground! So, thanks again from here! 🙏🏻
Since we felt this as a burning issue it needed to be addressed immediately, so we got Edu on it. True to his speed, we have found the solution in about 2 hours. But Apple had to accept that too.
We used every channel - phone, support email, chat – in order to make the whole process quick and they actually got it made it in about 4 hours, which was pretty good!
However, the tragedy has only just begun...🤯
Edu wrote the code so fast that he messed up a line and I didn't check it (so my fault 😔) so the Application update been released so now NO ONE could log in...
Now this was the time when my pulse skyrocketed, but not just for ME, I think everyone’s in the team. The fixation came quickly, but it was actually weekend, so Apple support didn't respond.
Days went by, more messages, more emails. 💬
We were getting more and more desperate. 😰
I called Apple Ireland daily, but nothing...
4 days went by, no one could log in and then suddenly the Apple picked up the phone.
They tried to bounce me, but I wouldn't let them, I kept talking until I got to the Internal Team and asked them to look into it and let the App through because the future of the whole business depends on it!
📕Book Recommendation: Chris Voss is a former hostage negotiator at the FBI, so he's pretty sharp when it comes to negotiation techniques and lo and behold, what he teaches, really works.
After the call, I was relieved, but still nothing happened.
Hours went by and nothing...😔
I still remember, that I met with a friend of mine, Taki at the evening and were going to the city, and he even spotted out how stressful I am. I was just telling him the story when a notification came:
"Apple has accepted the new version, you can now publish it on AppStore."
No kidding, I was jumping like a little kid!
I screamed with joy!😅
Then the Update came out and finally... and it actually WORKED!✅
📚 Lesson: It's very important to keep communicating with your audience in critical situations so they know what the problem is. And yes... let's own up when you've done something wrong, because most people are very compassionate and actually try to help where they can.
💡Side note: When the Pakistanis were developing the App, there was a similar bug, but back then EVERYONE could log whether they had a subscription or not... And of course, it was only discovered few months later, but anyway, at least no one complained about it! 😅
💡Side notes 2: The Web App for BookBase is being developed right now, so you can have the same experience on the web as you do use the App and it will fix all the inherent login problems 110%!
❌ Mistake 2: The Cancellation
Here, the problem was that people didn't know where to unsubscribe from the application.
They were looking for it inside the App, but they couldn't find it, as it can be done in the AppStore and Play Store. Because they handle all the subscriptions.💸
We get the membership fees only 1 month later and already Apple - Google takes their share (15-30% who has what)🥲
There were plenty of members who just tried the App but in no way wanted to pay, which was of course fine. I wasn't mad at them at all because at least we could learn from it.
The problem arose when poor Dani at Customer Support was getting 10-20 of the same messages each day, which was very tiring.
So, in the previous update, we had to fix that too, by creating a cancellation process within the App, which explains step-by-step how to cancel subscriptions within AppStore, saving Dani 1-1.5 hours a day!😉
📚Lesson: Assume, that people don't understand anything and you have to teach them, clearly, step-by-step using instructions. They will never get in trouble; at most they will be grateful to you for helping them. Look at what they have the most problems with and solve it as soon as possible. This leaves more time for your staff who are dealing with the complaints.
🧪A new experiment
An interesting system idea popped out of my head, as you can vote below how much you liked this Post. This will hopefully show us whether you like this current style or if we need to change a bit. 🙏🏻
⬇️ Please vote below (you may only be able to vote on the website)
✍🏼 And write a comment on the page and tell us what you would change!