It’s Not Just the Tech—It’s the Trust

Trust and Customer Service

You’ll hear a lot of companies say they’re “customer-obsessed.”
Fewer actually prove it.

At Pure Storage, we don’t just talk about customer experience — we live it. Maniacally. Passionately. And consistently.
It’s not an afterthought or a slide in a sales deck; it’s the core of how we build, deliver, and support everything we do.

🔍 A Moment of Truth

A month ago, I was meeting with a long-time contact—someone I’ve known for over a decade.
We were talking about storage strategy, and naturally, Pure’s platform came up.

He had recently agreed to run a proof of concept (POC) in his data center.
He liked what he saw—fast performance, simplicity, integrations, and elegant design—but he hadn’t committed yet.

Then he looked at me, a bit skeptical, and asked:

“Can I really trust this?”

So I asked him:

“What makes you trust me in the first place?”

His answer was both flattering and humbling:

“Years ago, I had a technical issue. I reached out to the vendor’s support team—they shrugged it off.
But when I called you, you stopped what you were doing, listened, and made it your mission to fix the problem.
You made me feel like I was your only customer.”

🎯 The Curveball Test

Then he threw me a curveball:

“Pure looks innovative. I love the vision. But I don’t trust roadmaps—I trust people.
I want to see how your support handles a real-world issue.
Let’s break something and call Support. No coaching, no prep.”

So we did just that — removed one controller and two random Direct Flash Modules.

The system kept running at full performance, like nothing even happened.

We called the Pure Support team, and they were spectacular:

  • Immediate response
  • Case triaged, logs collected, issue analyzed
  • Fix delivered — all within minutes
  • RCA delivered before the conference bridge cooled down

And I wasn’t allowed to tip off the team.
It was raw, unscripted, and authentic.

He looked at me and said:

“This… this is what gives me confidence.
I’m ready to do business with your company.”

💡 The Culture Behind the Curtain

Too often, companies post core values in their lobbies and call it culture.

But culture is not a slogan.
It’s how people act when no one is watching.

At Pure, we’ve worked hard to build a culture rooted in empathy, responsiveness, and accountability — especially when the pressure is on.

As organizations grow, preserving culture becomes harder.
New people bring new habits—some good, some toxic.

Left unchecked, negativity spreads like cancer:

  • Finger-pointing replaces collaboration
  • Politics trumps progress

That’s why we hire for attitude as much as aptitude.
We care more about how someone treats a teammate or a customer when something’s gone sideways than how many certs they hold.

🔥 Discipline. Passion. Relentless Improvement.

Dr. Alan Zimmerman once said:

“All excellence, including excellence in customer service,
involves a tremendous amount of discipline that is fueled by a great deal of passion.”

At Pure, this rings true every day.

  • Passion fuels our innovation
  • Discipline keeps our standards high
  • Feedback is our superpower — we invite it, embrace it, and use it to get better

Because no matter how cutting-edge your product is,
a poor customer experience will erase years of innovation in a single interaction.

🧭 The Formula We Live By

To build a world-class company, you need a playbook. Ours is simple:

  1. Put the customer first.
    Not in theory — in practice. Solve the problem. Own the outcome. Think like a customer, act like a partner.

  2. Support your teammates.
    We rise or fall together. A culture of trust internally translates directly to trust with customers.

  3. Take pride in your craft.
    If you’re not energized by what you do, customers will feel it. Passion is contagious.

  4. Relentlessly improve.
    Perfection isn’t the goal — progress is. Feedback isn’t criticism, it’s a gift.

🧡 Final Thought

At Pure, our innovation doesn’t end with FlashArray or AI Ops or as-a-service models.
It continues in how we care for our customers after the ink is dry and the gear is deployed.

Technology may get us in the door.
But how we treat our customers every single day?

That’s what keeps us there.

Because in the end, customers don’t just buy products.
They buy trust.

And that’s something we’ll never stop earning.