Beyond the Queue: Inside Customer Support

James Baldwin, Director of User Success and Support at Change.org, talks about how he handles unpredictable spikes in ticket volume. James has a ton of experience with this topic because Change.org’s ticket volume is largely tied to world events, which means he can’t always predict when spikes will happen, how big they’ll be, or how long they’ll last.

In this episode, James shares how he plans ahead for these spikes, what’s included in the plan, and how he keeps his team motivated and energized when ticket volume skyrockets.

Eric Broulette, Director of Global Support at WP Engine, shares his best practices for building and maintaining a relationship between the customer support and product teams. Eric credits this strong relationship at WP Engine as one of the key reasons his team’s support interactions decreased by 5% last year, despite the company’s customer base growing by 20%. And this year, his team is on pace to decrease volume even more.

In this episode, Eric shares how he builds a great relationship with product, why that collaboration is so important, and what data his team uses to act as the voice of their customers.

Abby Armada, Customer Support Manager at Flickr, shares why she thinks support leaders should hire agents with unconventional resumes. Abby’s team is full of unconventional support heroes, including former teachers, a bank teller, photographers, retail workers, a geologist, and more. Even Abby herself comes from a TV and film costume design background.

In this episode, Abby shares how this diversity has turned Flickr’s support team into a powerhouse, what unconventional resumes she looks for when she hires, and how she develops each agent into a support rockstar.

Kenji Hayward, Head of Customer Support at Front, shares his step-by-step process for getting customer support a seat at the “adults table.” In this episode, Kenji talks about how to identify your company’s version of the “adults table,” why it’s important for support to be a part of those high-level conversations, and proactive ways to make sure support is a valued (and well-resourced) partner.

Tom Ronen, Head of Customer Success at monday.com, shares why customer support is the best place to launch or pivot your career in the tech/SaaS space. He talks about which support skills are most transferable to other tech roles, how support professionals can sharpen those skills on the job, and why CX leaders should encourage their agents to diversify their skills - even if it means they leave support.

Stacy Justino, Director of Customer Happiness at Wistia, shares her 5-step process for launching support for a new feature or product. After 10+ years in customer support and many product launches, Stacy’s got it down to a science.

Matt Dale, Vice President of Customer Support at Illuminate Education, regularly loans his support agents to other departments during the company’s slow season. In this episode, Matt shares how the cross-training benefits employees, customers, and the company as a whole.

Joelle Waksman, Head of CX at Biteable (and formerly of Calendly and Stella Connect), shares how she fosters a fun work environment, motivates her team with healthy competition, and creates clear career pathways for her agents.

In this episode, Oleg Krasnov, Head of Support Excellence at Miro, talks about what support excellence is, how he designed and advocated for this new role, and how it’s streamlining Miro’s support process during a critical time of rapid growth.

In this episode, Matt Gilston, the director of customer support at SevenRooms, talks about how he uses his teaching degree and youth sports coaching experience to lead an all-star support team and empower his agents to coach SevenRooms customers as product experts.