Where do I start? 🏁

You’re ready to build a standout customer support team, but where do you begin you ask? Start with these seven essential questions to lay the foundation for a service strategy that’s both scalable and effective.

1. How Are Your Customers Contacting You?

Are customers reaching out via email, a contact form, or even multiple email addresses? For simplicity and control, try consolidating to one main source. Fewer sources not only help maintain consistent support quality but also streamline your workload, making it easier to manage and optimize (see point 3 below). A single source will also provide a clearer view of contact volumes, leading to more accurate reporting eventually and better planning.

2. How Easy Is It for Customers to Contact You?

Think from their perspective: is the process simple, fast, and intuitive? Ensure your chosen method also gathers all necessary details to help resolve issues efficiently. A seamless process for customers is key, but capturing essential information upfront saves you both time and avoids unnecessary back-and-forth.

3. What Information Do You Collect When Customers Reach Out?

Collect information that helps you categorize, prioritize, and route inquiries to the right agent. Consider predefined categories like “Billing” or “Technical” to streamline issues and identify recurring trends. #KeepitSimple - lengthy forms can frustrate customers and lead to inaccurate data and eventually more discrepancies.

4. Should Only Registered Customers Be Able to Contact You?

Opening support to everyone can increase both workload and costs. Requiring customers to log in before submitting requests lets you track their history, prioritize based on their plan, and reduce irrelevant or “spam” tickets. Focusing your resources on actual customers helps optimize support.

5. What Communication Channels Are You Offering?

Choose channels that align with your product and customer needs. Keep in mind that live channels, like phone and chat, are resource-intensive requiring about twice the resources as email support. Messaging offers flexibility similar to email with the immediacy of chat, giving customers the feeling of a live conversation while allowing your team to respond at a manageable pace. An FAQ or knowledge base can also reduce ticket volume by enabling customers to self-serve.

6. What Should Your Hours of Operation (HOOP) Be?

Your hours of availability should strike a balance between customer needs, business goals, and team well-being. Consider your customer base and service - do they need immediate help, or can it wait? Factor in your leadership’s expectations and budget. Remember, covering 24/7 support requires substantial manpower. Don’t overlook employee needs - happy employees make for happy customers. Provide schedules that balance stability and work-life harmony.

7. What Kind of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) Should You Set?

SLAs set clear customer service quality standards and expectations. Keep it simple - two or three different targets based on customer tiers should be enough. For example, premium customers may expect responses within five minutes, while free users are fine with up to eight hours. Aim to respond within 24 hours to all customers. SLAs also help define how many resources you need to hit your targets. If you’re confident in your SLAs, promote them to set expectations.

Final Thoughts

By thoughtfully designing your support journey and balancing ease of contact with operational efficiency, you’re setting up a support system that grows with your business. Strive to harmonize customer experience with business needs by leveraging the right tools, SLAs, and channels that make sense for your team.