Our customers pay for everything we do. Their success funds our salaries, our product development and our future. Our first priority is to keep our paying customers satisfied, respected and confident that choosing Avalonia was the right decision.

We want our customers to speak highly of us, to recommend us to their peers and to feel proud of using our technology. That does not happen by accident. It comes from all the small interactions where we show that we care about their outcomes, not just our own convenience.

Most of the issues our customers experience are related to our own software. Bugs in Avalonia, XPF or Accelerate are our responsibility, not the customer’s. Our default stance is to own the problem fully, resolve it quickly and ensure the customer is happy.

Core principle

When a customer has a problem, every team member is expected to do everything reasonably possible to make it right. It does not matter what your role is, how long you have been here or how you see your status in the organisation. You are empowered to take ownership. If you spot a customer issue, you own it until you have either resolved it or clearly handed it to someone better placed, and confirmed it is in motion. Our default is to lean in and fix things, especially when the root cause lies in our products, never to stand back and assume someone else will deal with it.

We take inspiration from the service culture of top hospitality brands. Luxury isn't marble floors, it is how people feel. We are not a luxury brand, but we are a premium product and our customers are entitled to feel well looked after.

Trust and empowerment

If you work for Avalonia, it is because we believe in you and trust you. We value your perspective and believe you are a net positive for the organisation. We expect you to think and act like an owner, not a ticket processor. This policy is about trust and using your judgement in the best interests of our customers and the company.

You have our trust to use your judgement to delight customers and resolve issues quickly. You do not need to wait for a formal escalation for every concession, gesture of goodwill or act of extra effort.

You may, in good faith, offer reasonable gestures that help repair trust or create delight. Examples include extending a licence to compensate for blocking issues, upgrade a license, arranging a quick call outside normal process or offering a modest discount or credit when we have clearly fallen short.

You will not be disciplined for using your discretion in good faith, even if the specific action in hindsight was not perfect, provided you acted honestly, proportionately and with the company’s long term interests at heart.

The purpose of this empowerment is not to give away the company’s revenue. It is to remove fear and bureaucracy so we can act quickly, humanly and intelligently when something is going wrong for a customer.

Product specific tools you can use

Because most customer problems stem from our own products, we have a set of specific tools you can use. They exist to support your judgement, not to constrain it. If you see a better way to make a situation right, use it. Do not feel limited to the examples below.

For Accelerate, we can add credit to a customer’s account, effectively discounting future renewals. When a customer has suffered disruption or delay because of an Accelerate issue, it is entirely acceptable to propose a credit that feels fair in the context of the impact and the size of the account. Use this to recognise pain we caused and to reinforce that we are invested in their long term success.

For XPF, our support tiers have defined ticket limits for Internal and Business licences. Those limits exist to protect the value of our offering and to keep support sustainable, but they are not a stick to beat customers with. Enforcement should only be considered where there is a clear and repeated pattern of abuse. In normal situations, lean towards flexibility first and enforcement only as a last resort.

For Business support agreements, there are also hard limits on the number of tickets per seat. Once again, the priority is to help the customer first. If they come to us with a real problem, we solve it before we begin a conversation about additional seats or adjusting their agreement. After the issue is under control, we can gently and clearly explain how their usage compares to the agreement and work with them on a fair path forward.

Across all support arrangements, we have freedom to add complimentary seats or extend support durations when this helps resolve a situation or signals goodwill. These gestures should be used to deepen the relationship if we have fallen short, or when a customer has clearly invested in us and is meeting us in good faith. Document what you grant in the CRM so that we maintain transparency and avoid surprises later.

Care packages and non financial gestures

Not every gesture needs to be a discount. Small, thoughtful touches can carry a lot of emotional weight.

We can send care packages to customers to recognise their support, to thank them for their patience during a difficult incident, to celebrate a shared success or simply to acknowledge that they have been a joy to work with. This applies both when we are apologising for something we have got wrong and when we are marking something that has gone well.

Our merchandise is deliberately high quality, not disposable swag, so use it thoughtfully. Only send items you genuinely believe will be well received and proportionate to the situation. A small sticker pack is fine as a friendly thank you, but not enough when we have caused serious pain. In those cases, choose something more meaningful and pair it with a sincere, human message. For major milestones or long term champions, a more substantial gesture can be a powerful way to say thank you.

To send swag to a customer, speak with Marlene. She will coordinate with our merchandise supplier and arrange for the package to be sent. Your job is to identify moments where such a gesture will feel genuine and well earned, not transactional or forced. Many organisations have strict anti bribery or gift policies, so before sending anything you must confirm that a small gift is permitted and will not be perceived as an attempt to influence a commercial decision. Our gifts are a thank you or an apology, never a condition for future business.

Proactive communication and follow through

Generosity is meaningless without communication. We must ensure customers feel seen and heard at every stage.

When a customer raises a concern, we respond promptly, acknowledge the impact on them and avoid hiding behind vague language or blaming others. Even when another vendor or the customer’s own setup is involved, we still take ownership of guiding them to a solution.

We communicate clearly, using timeframes and concrete next steps rather than vague promises. If we say we will update them by a particular time, we do so, even if the update is that we are still working on it.

When we believe we have solved a customer’s problem, we always follow up to confirm that they are satisfied. We ask explicitly whether there is anything still blocking them and whether our solution works in their real world context. This is how we show that we care about them, their projects and their success, rather than just closing tickets.

Guardrails and sustainability

Thinking like an owner means balancing generosity with the long term health of the business.

If you are considering a concession or gesture that could have a significant financial impact or create a precedent across many customers, share your idea with the team. Examples include large multi year discounts, or commitments that affect our roadmap or support obligations.

For day to day situations, keep actions proportionate to the issue and to the importance and behaviour of the relationship. A brief inconvenience rarely justifies a large concession. A serious failure that hurt a key customer may justify something much more generous.

All material gestures and concessions should be recorded in our CRM so that we maintain transparency, learn from patterns and avoid surprising colleagues who work with the same account later.

Expectations of leaders

Leaders are responsible for backing their teams when they use judgement in line with this policy. That includes supporting people who took a bold but honest decision for a customer, even if it cost more in the short term than a more cautious approach.

Leaders should regularly highlight examples of great customer care, share stories of good judgement and provide coaching where decisions could have been better balanced. The goal is not to frighten people into inaction, but to refine their instincts so that empowered decisions are also commercially smart.

Summary

Our customers are the reason our company exists. We win when they feel understood, supported and confident that we are on their side.

We therefore trust every team member to act with ownership, empathy and common sense in service of customer happiness, while respecting the long term health of the business.

Every gesture we make is a chance to create loyalty that no competitor can easily copy.