In Praise of Gusto's Customer Service

In a sphere permeated by automated voice messages and droning elevator music, we’ve flirted with the verdict that there's no such thing as quality customer service anymore. This isn't an innate deficiency of trust; rather, it stems from repeated encounters with individuals who (ironically) appear to be doing everything in their power to avoid serving the customer.

Most frequently, our interactions with these people transpire when we notice a discrepancy with a product or service - an extra charge on our cable bill, or maybe an incompetent software feature. In some way, I guess, we may be allocating negative feelings about poor products onto the customer service representatives, and if that is the case: Apology extended.

It's worth being said, however, that dealing with terrible customer service is a common complaint. After reading this especially negative introduction, it will come with no surprise that when we finally experience genuinely helpful customer service, we’re beyond ecstatic. So ecstatic, in fact, that we want to yell from the mountain tops - which in 2015 translates to, “I’ll blog about it.”

If you’re not familiar, Gusto is “delightful, modern payroll,” and is taking small businesses by (a well-organized, beautifully designed) storm. It's a web application with aesthetics that truly satisfy even the most obsessive compulsive individual (ahem ... me). Thanks to current design trends that revel in clean lines and simplicity, great design has become abundant, so we quickly got over the visual love affair and moved onto Gusto’s core capabilities.

The software itself is, as promised, delightfully simple. It reminds its users of employee birthdays and work anniversaries, and automatically fills out each employee’s tax forms. In full hipster stride, it relays quirky facts on each paystub and articulates the dollar amount atop a tastefully-overexposed high-res image. They have this trend down pat, and I’m not mad.

But if I were, I’d be earnestly helped by possibly the best customer service team, which brings me to my main point behind this raving review of Gusto: This is a team of truly dedicated and knowledgeable humans.

I say 'humans' because there are actually humans doing all the work in their customer service branch! Whenever I have a question or concern about the Ten Forward account, I can email a real person who responds in a timely and congenial manner. Just last week, I was on-boarding a new employee and forwarded a seemingly generic email sent by Gusto’s Support Staff to my team members with an, “All done, Tim is good to go!” comment. Unexpectedly, Gusto’s Support Team replied, “Awesome! Let me know if you need anything else! :) Sincerely, Jennifer.”

This isn't the only wonderful experience we’ve had dealing with their support team, but it is the inspiration behind writing this review. The Ten Forward Team highly recommends working with Gusto (and I personally recommend that Gusto requests ownership of Discover’s “We Treat You like You’d Treat You” campaign slogan). We appreciate the personality of the Gusto team. They are a breath of fresh air in this congested realm of customer service and are an inspirational reminder to always treat our own clients with the utmost respect and assistance.

Like what you're hearing? Try Gusto for yourself!