We must live in alternate universes. Have you ever actually tried to use it? Over a month and ten messages in, I have yet to recieve a non-automated response. Maybe once upon a time, but currently, Facebook customer service pretty much DOES NOT EXIST.

As you start to gain a core set of customers, which include especially the “evangelical” fans & customers, ask them for feedback and begin the conversation about your product. Getting them involved in your application is essentially inviting them to take some level ownership of the app, and therefore some level of emotional investment in what it is you are, in reality, creating together.

Clearly, most developers do not do this; I state this without speculation, based on a non-trivial number of emails we receive for our app “Just Three Words”* that state how we’re the most responsive developers with the best customer service on FB the particular user has experienced.

This isn’t by accident – Paul Thiel, co-creator of JTW, ran a Professional Services program for a software company for several years. For us, customer service was baked into our design and business plan from day 0. And currently, while I’m geeking out on code he’s responding to customers as well as generating responses via active engagement of our customers.

Self-promotion aside, I highly encourage every app developer out there to consider, plan, and implement excellent customer service from launch-day forward. Respond quickly, and make your customers a part of your team. Let them know the’re a part of the team, and that they input is important. Which, of course, it is.

* http://apps.facebook.com/threewords/