In 2020, Customer Support teams worked harder than ever before. Not only did most have to adapt to new ways of working but for many the pandemic lead to an increase in support requests. Geckoboard customer Ember described a situation where people were more readily available to contact Support but also expected agents to respond faster than usual.
So how is the industry faring in 2021? We surveyed 50 Customer Support leaders to find out; the challenges they face, the opportunities available to them, their advice for building recognition within the wider organization, and how they’re performing against their goals.
We’ve analyzed the data and collected the insights to create a report to give you key takeaways on how you can:
- Improve staff retention
- Boost team efficiency
- Increase visibility of the Support team’s work within the wider organization
Highlights from The Geckoboard Customer Support Experience Report 2021:
It’s probably no surprise that we found Support teams thriving in organizations where they feel most valued. However, 42% of people we surveyed don’t feel their Support team’s work is consistently recognized outside of their department, with 8% feeling like their work isn’t recognized at all.
“Support isn’t sexy. Spending money on research and development leads to flashy features. Spending on PR and marketing leads to nice ads and brand recognition. But with Support, the approach is, ‘How cheap can we do it? Can we get it cheaper by outsourcing it overseas?’”
Respondents discuss ways they’ve overcome specific challenges
“We created a training academy within the customer Support team to improve consistency across the team in how we resolve user contact.”
And, look at just how important recognition and visibility is for this industry
“Nailing the Product/Support feedback loop was the most significant change because it raised the profile of the Support team—people from other teams now seek feedback from Support because we have established ourselves as a good source of feedback and the group who knows customers the best.”
Download: The Customer Support Experience Report 2021
Here’s a brief summary of what is covered within the report:
Chapter 1: The challenges facing Support teams
- Organisational silos hurt the customer
- Unpredictable workloads are hard to manage
- Support teams feel understaffed
- There is a lack of recognition from the wider organisation
Chapter 2: The biggest opportunities for Support teams
- Provide training and advancement opportunities
- Adopt new tools and processes
- Increase recognition with transparent communication
Chapter 3: Using data to demonstrate the value of support
- Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
- First Response Time (FRT)
- Net Promoter Score (NPS)
- Make the real Support experience visible
About the audience
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