Mayday Made a "Button" Revolution

Introduced in autumn of 2013, Amazon Mayday intrigued the whole population. Not only Kindle users were interested in the support button.

And all this has been done for differentiating from the competition. While we used to say that competition is one click away, now we can also say that the best customer service is one button-press away.

“Help” buttons are becoming an important sales tool. In the future it may become a must for many companies. This can have two explanations: people keep hands in pockets to get replies to their questions themselves or life became so busy that we have no time to lose.

Several months passed with positive and negative reviews. Mobile in its turn became an important tool with more and more people using it.  So, at the end of April 2014, mimicking Amazon Mayday, Salesforce added the SOS button, which allows companies to offer service via a mobile app. It’s a one touch live video support with an on-screen guided assistance – what else is needed for the best customer service?

Although there is no pricing announcement for the service yet, Salesforce SOS has support for both iOS and Android.  Similar in concept to Amazon Mayday button, the Salesforce SOS also allows other companies apply the button on their own customer support system. A great tool to boost customer loyalty and satisfaction through better support.

What will the next company call the ‘‘help” button? And when? I guess we’ll not have to wait long.

Kindle on Fire – Mayday Needed!

While chat solutions exist for years, Amazon decided to make a customer service revolution. It announced about a new support service available on Kindle HD products called Mayday.

Many people know what Mayday is, but I’m sure not all are aware about its being an emergency word used internationally. It derives from the French expression “venez m'aider", which means "come to help me".

“It’s a little odd when a company selling a new gadget says one of the most exciting features is its “help” button”, mentions “The Seattle Times” tech columnist Brier Dudley. Yet it’s a revolutionary new functionality, which will change Kindle’s future and… why only Kindle’s?

Will this button really help Amazon sell more stuff? In general opinions differ and it’s a normal procedure: some are happy to have a virtual assistant like “Amy” helping them; others express their negative feedback and make many people alter (Amy's real name is actually Amy - Amy Paffrath).

How “Mayday” Works

It’s so simple: you just click on the “Mayday” button and an expert connects with you and it is 24x7, 365 and totally FREE. The goal is – 15 seconds response time. The expert will ask the user to verify his identity before offering to help. You can see the expert on your screen. While some may be concerned about privacy, Amazon assures that the experts will not be able to see you. It’s up to the user to allow the Mayday expert control the screen and even change settings.

From Negative to Positive

People cannot think the same and if opinions don’t differ our life won’t be so interesting. First I’d like to mention negative sides: the Mayday functionality works only with Wi-Fi access and there are people who don’t want to see the expert and more...

• “I am not sure if this is a feasible solution because it would cost the provider a lot of money to provide this level of support for free” (source - Quora)
• "Mayday" is a pretty poor choice of a name for a product/service” (source - Commercialsihate) 
• “I don't want Amazon CS accessing my tablet and looking through my internet history” (source - NeoGAF) 

In opposite to the above said some intriguing software enhancements:

• “This feature is amazing and needs to be in every piece of tech”
•  “As the tech head in my family I wish every single electronic device came with this goddamn button" (source - NeoGAF) 
•  “What really caught my eye is that not only she can help you by telling what to do but she can point stuff in your screen” (source - Youtube) 

• “Just got my Kindle Fire HDX and am trying out the #Mayday feature. Now THIS is customer service. Wow!”(Facebook comment)

And with this “Wow” opinion let’s take every innovation for granted.

"Knowledge is true opinion" Plato