Ms J Ferguson

Joleen Ferguson

Date of interview: Mar 31, 2016

There are two major components to a great customer experience in business accounting software - a product that works and the service to back it up.

For Joleen Ferguson, of Walla Walla, Washington, USA, CashManager has consistently exceeded her expectations for both. The customer service aspect has been particularly important for Ms. Ferguson, as she is blind and requires accessible software.

The importance of accessibility

With handling personal finances and as the treasurer of United Blind of Walla Walla, Ms. Ferguson found a lot of use in accounting software. However, as someone who is blind, she has had some less-than-stellar tech support experiences from software providers in the past.

"When you call the bigger companies, well they're trained to know what they know. When you say you're blind, they don't really get it. They'll say, "Look at the blue dot." I'll say, "I can't see the blue dot; I'm blind." They reply, "It's on the upper left of your screen.""

That type of interaction is frustrating, but a working product can make up for it.

That was the case for Ms. Ferguson. Back in the 90s, she used other software that worked quite well. Unfortunately, after a few updates, that program was no longer nearly as accessible.

Neighbourly service around the globe

After those software issues, Ms. Ferguson asked around and found a trial for CashManager. She's been using it ever since, thanks in part to the customer service she's received.

"The tech support has been absolutely over-the-top fantastic. Even though you're around the world from me, it's like you're right next door," she said.

"I've called and e-mailed for help, and whether through a phone call or a Skype call, I've received very fast, knowledgeable and friendly help."

Ms. Ferguson hasn't just been impressed with the technical assistance; she's found that the people at CashManager are incredibly responsive to feedback.

She identified some fixes that would make it easier for a blind person to use the program and passed that along. In the next update, some of those things got implemented. That truly made an impression on her.

"I think they're a company that does listen, hears what we say and makes changes accordingly," she said.

A happy customer is often one of the best marketers for a company, and Ms. Ferguson is no exception.

"I never miss an opportunity to say how helpful it is and how much I like the product," she said.