THE SECRET SAUCE TO CUSTOMER SUPPORT

BEST OF 2014

Every week on the Freshdesk blog, we attempt to find out what makes our favourite customer service reps tick, in the Secret Sauce series. We try to find out what a typical day is like for these support rockstars, their personal work-philosophy, support process, and what inspires them to go above and beyond the call of duty to make their customers happy.

Since September 2014, we've learnt loads from these interviews. Here are the best insights from the agents we've talked to.

It’s all about finding the best fit for the customer. If it’s with us, that’s great. If it’s with another product, that’s great too.CHASE CLEMONS, BASECAMP

Actually, studying the world’s religions gave me a knack for exploring and expressing empathy.NICK SAYERS, MOZ

I deal with all kinds of feature requests in the same way – with honesty.BRIAN CERVINO, TRELLO

The happiness and personal progress of our Customer Champions come even before our customers in my mind.JEFF VINCENT, WISTIA

Requests from our users are usually good, which makes it harder to tell them when we don’t have any plans to build them.KRISTINN HRÓBJARTSSON, QUIZUP

Underpromise and overdeliver.BRAD PATTERSON, EVERCONTACT

I think of every support request as a challenge to my troubleshooting skills, my product knowledge and my interpretation skills.ALESSIO FATTORINI, NETHESIS

Customers will ease up if you shoulder some of the blame. Yes, even if it’s not your fault.LO MARINO, BOOMERANG

We look for super empathetic people who truly crave that warm fuzzy feeling that comes from helping customers.CAROLYN KOPPRASCH, BUFFER

I don’t want a team that provides okay support. I want them to provide the kind of support that our customers will tell their friends about.RYAN ENGLEY, UNBOUNCE

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Extra credit is given to reps that know to include screenshots.SCOTT MARKOVITS, INVISION APP

I can anticipate customer questions and understand where they’re running into trouble.CAROLYN BREIT, SPROUT SOCIAL

We have seen that unhappy customers will often make sure we are aware but will also be hesitant to reach out to support in the future.MEGHA DERCHAK, KISSMETRICS

If your support reps are aiming for a metric, then something is probably going wrong.MATHEW PATTERSON, CAMPAIGN MONITOR

By genuinely apologizing and acknowledging mistakes when they happen, you can often make greater fans of your product than if you hadn’t screwed up at all.MICAH BENNETT, ZAPIER

Having lived in several countries, I can relate to people from different backgrounds more than if I had stayed my whole life in one place.PATRICIA WROBLEWSKI, MENTION

Like to read more? Check out blog.freshdesk.com for more interviews and tips on how to rock at customer support.

If you'd like someone to be featured in the series, shoot us an email: love@freshdesk.com with your suggestions.