Support Ops Hangouts

With our final Book Club episode of the series, we look at "Turn the Ship Around!" from David Marquet. We look at what a leader-leader model means for our teams, how to think out loud in both in-person and remote situations, and why training is okay if it's active.

I wanted to take a moment and say thanks to you and all of our other listeners. 2016 has been a blast and we’ve got a ton in store for 2017. But none of it would be possible without your support. Before we go back to our holiday break, I have just one ask. If […]

This week's book club episode looks at "Hug Your Haters" by Jay Baer. We'll talk about the different kind of haters, how you should engage with them, and if you really should answer complaints on every possible contact channel out there.

It's part two of "Creativity, Inc. Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the Way of True Inspiration" by Ed Catmull. We talk about the Pixar Brain Trust, clearing the path for others, and empowering your team.

This episode kicks off a brand new series - the Support Ops Book Club!

We've got four books on the docket for this series. We're starting today's with "Creativity, Inc. Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the Way of True Inspiration" by Ed Catmull. We talk about how small choices can have big impacts, sharing your ideas early and often, and play a little Bingo with all of our analogies.

Since we're on fall break, we’re bringing back another excellent episode.

On this episode, we’re looking at the difference between customer support and customer success. We’ve seen more and more companies set up support as a reactive, first line of defence. Meanwhile, success teams don’t handle cases like that and focus instead on helping the customer achieve their goals by using your product. Is that a smart way to split up your team?

We’re bringing back another great episode from the depths of our archives.

We’re always talking about keeping customers happy. From easy refunds to pro-active support, we go out of our way to make sure they stay customers. But what about our fellow employees? How do we keep our teams just as happy as our customers?

We’re bringing back a great episode from the depths of our archives.

We all strive to make support interactions memorable for our customers. But what's the secret to doing that? This week, we look at a few ways to inject fun into your customer interactions.

We're wrapping up our series on how you make yourself a better support pro with a look at how you communicate with your team. Whether you're remote or local, communicating with your team members can be tough. Just like talking with customers takes time and practice, communicating with your team does as well.

The very first point on our manifesto is " You first. Put on your oxygen mask first. You can’t help others if you’re gasping for air yourself." But so many support pros struggle with this. Our entire job is taking care of others. But if you don't take care of yourself, you'll end up a mess.

What things are you doing to make sure you take care of yourself? And how are you encouraging others on your team to take care of themselves?