One of the downsides of producing a solid, easy to use product is that we don't hear much from our customers. (One extreme example of this, we had a customer insist that they were not using our software. When we showed them an invoice they did a search and found we were part of a mission critical application of theirs. But it had been running for 3 years with no issues or questions so they forget we existed.)
One of the downsides of this is we will push out a new version and pretty much have to go with "no news is good news." But there are a few users who are happy to try out most new versions and give us their feedback. These customers are really valuable because it gives us a 3rd party real-world opinion. And there's also something reassuring about hearing from a customer that everything works (and that they love the new features).
For a couple of years Frank Buff was one of our best for this. It got to the point that when a new version went out, I would ask a couple of days later if we had received the "Frank Buff Seal of Approval."
Frank moved on from the consulting job he had and so we no longer heard from him. Then a couple of weeks ago he shot us an email (telling us where a link on our webpage went to the wrong page – he's got a talent). It was really wonderful to hear from him again.
We shot a couple of emails back and forth and I gave him a free copy of Windward. He was really appreciative to get it – and I'm thrilled that we might get him trying out new versions. Even more so, it was nice to hear from him again. (And to the Geneva Administration where he is presently working – you've got a superb individual in Frank.)
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