Holistic metrics tied to company-wide goals: NPS, customer satisfaction, etc. Operational metrics tied to cost-cutting: first response times, call resolution times, etc. Myriad opportunities for growth and development. Works side-by-side with product teams, has a seat at the table in company decision-making.Ĭareer growth limited to moving into managerial positions. Round-the-clock help via multiple channels: knowledge base documentation, email, phone, chat, social media, etc.Ĭall centers relegated to cubicles or outsourced to other locations/countries. Requires customers to call during specified business hours and often wait on hold for help. Self-service first skilled and empowered agents can help with more complex questions and requests. Viewed as the face of a company, a critical component of sales and word-of-mouth marketing.ĭisempowered agents who require managerial approval for tasks customers should be able to accomplish themselves. Today, the companies that are coming out on top are those that understand the ROI of great support and treat exceptional customer support as a feature instead of an inescapable cost. That has created a new era of customer support, one where there is a much greater need for companies to stand out by providing great service. Between social media, online forums, and review websites, today's customers have a wealth of resources for learning more about the businesses they're considering and the products they offer, and dissatisfied customers can reach many more people with their support horror stories. That trend surged dramatically in tandem with increased competition and pricing pressures, and by the 1980s, many companies were offloading any service extras that couldn’t be directly tied to their bottom lines.īut more widespread access to the internet changed things again. Suddenly, companies were able to resolve customer issues (or at least nominally offer service), if somewhat impersonally, on a larger, more efficient scale. Customers had limited options for purchase and support, few ways to educate themselves and solve their own issues, and scant resources for avoiding businesses with subpar products and poor service.Ĭustomer service has undergone some dramatic changes since that time, starting with telephone-based business and the advent of call centers in the 1960s. In the video below, Help Scout's Emily Triplett Lentz discusses the principles of old-school customer service with her father, who ran a butcher shop for 37 years.Īnd while local businesses often knew their customers well, customer service during that time wasn't perfect. A brief history of customer supportīefore call centers and social media, local business owners often knew their customers really well. In this post, we're going to take a look at the world of modern customer support, what it is, why it's important, how it's changed over time, and how it differs from the stereotypical view of customer service.
And it’s not the same thing it was 50, 20, or even 5 years ago - the definition is still evolving.
Modern customer support isn’t the same thing as customer service, although it employs customer service techniques. Customer support as a specialty is coming into its own, offering companies a competitive advantage that’s difficult to copy. The customer support industry is in the midst of a renaissance.
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