When I was looking for a new professional challenge, I applied to open roles seeking a Head of Support. During the interviews, I received the job details and expectations, and they were consistently very similar. The interviewer would tell me that they’re looking for a Head of Support to put some structure to their support department. Just some of the issues I heard about included the lack of support processes or reporting, as well as the ineffective use (or absence) of KPIs. To make matters worse, so many businesses would share how they had no knowledge sharing system in place, and this wasn’t a scalable solution.
I was astounded by the things I heard. I struggled to contain my surprise at the inefficiencies and poor customer support standards that run rampant throughout companies, some which had already been in existence for 3-5 years with a solid customer base, and others who were rapidly growing startups in their field.
Their customers were facing poor levels of support, and I could only imagine that the employees themselves were frustrated by their working environment, that was likely costing their companies a lot of money too. The hassles, the stress, the unsatisfied customers, the churn rates...all I could think about was how much better things could be if a strong customer support system was in place.
I don’t claim to be an expert in change management, but I have witnessed it in action time and time again. It’s challenging to change people’s working methods and styles, to establish new processes and get an entire team onboard.
I also know that fixing things in retrospect can be very time-consuming. To try and gain an understanding of incoming tickets and topics with no reporting in place can be a nightmare. To attempt to start documenting all the knowledge that lives solely in people’s heads over many years is not an easy process.
When thinking about these challenges, I had the revelation that the reasons why new companies are not proactively setting up support are two-fold:
Lack of awareness and knowledge about customer support and how to set it up
Customer support is not seen as a priority, and instead is perceived as a cost centre that detracts financing from pushing sales and making product improvements
This, however, stems from a serious misunderstanding about the importance of customer support. Contrary to what many businesses think, support is as crucial and influential at the beginning, as it is in the later stages of business!
As Doug Warner said,
“In the world of Internet customer service, it's important to remember your competitor is only one mouse click away”.
It’s time to shake up customer support as you know it, and give it a 21st-century spin.
Imagine this - what if a solid base for your support department had been planted earlier in your business’ lifecycle?
What if someone could reinvigorate your support capabilities, bringing you up to speed on the latest strategic approaches, tools and practices?
Whether you need a support audit, guidance to set up a sophisticated customer service operation, or want to kick off a brand new customer support function from the outset - you’ve come to the right place.
With over 20 years in the customer support industry, I know the ins and outs of how businesses drive success through their support offerings. And I’m here to help you take your customer support to the next level.