I think exceptional customer support is one of the most critical and yet most overlooked aspects of running a startup. It's how you turn customers into fans, and fans is often the difference between winning and losing.

Through our previous app (http://fivesecondtest.com) and our current (http://bugherd.com) I've always tried to go above and beyond. Every time we have an unhappy customer I go so far above and beyond to help them that I more often than not turn a hater into a fan. Turning a negative support request into a positive Tweet shout out is a major win for me.

I can't count the number of times we've resolved a customer complaint and had them the very next day start paying us money. Yesterday we found a customer complaint in the "spam" folder from 3 weeks ago, we responded, apologised and let the customer know that we're changing to Zendesk as a result. Today they signed up to our top tier plan. THAT is a customer support win.

Today someone responded to our "how are you finding Bugherd?" email saying they hadn't had time to try out the app, so we extended their trial without them even asking. We do this all the time. It costs us nothing, and may win a paying customer.

We'll offer refunds to users who we can't help, we'll give discounts when our plans don't suit, we'll give away free months when a customer is waiting for a feature we haven't built yet. Anything to ensure that customer becomes a fan. Even if it turns out they leave us, we want to ensure they leave happily.