Featuring the newest, coolest, most capable shiny object doesn't guarantee that your company will be a success.

Delivering innovative products sets up an opportunity for success. But true success will come from your customer advocates, from those who love to share their love for your offering.  And this will only come with outstanding fulfillment.

Case Study : Archos

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Archos, a French portable media hardware manufacturer, has been one step ahead of the game when it comes to portable media functionality for nearly a decade.  Their devices are remarkably cool, exceptionally capable and generally the most advanced on the market.  My first three hard drive based mp3 players were Archos products.  But I no longer purchase Archos products.  Because while all these products worked well out of the box, none of them lasted more than 18 months.  When calling product support, my average wait time was approximatley 20 minutes.  And their answer was always Your warranty is no longer valid.  My answer was Neither is your company. 

Key Takeaway: We don't care about warranties, we just want functioning solutions.

Case Study in Action: Twitter
Twitter is one of the hottest growing tools/communities/destinations on the web.  But complaints around their customer support are growing at an alarming rate.  When heavy hitters like Orli Yakuel and Allen Stern are not receiving satisfactory service, one can't help but wonder where Twitter's priorities are.  Twitter is offering an innovative product, with strong out of the box satisfaction.  But if they want to maintain their appeal in the longer term, they need to think beyond the honeymoon, they need to build for success.  Twitter has an opportunity get social bigwigs to sing their praises.  All they need to do is pick up the phone.