Customer Service
Customer ServiceNavigating Product Changes in SaaS Support
The constant changes in SaaS software can create extra work for support teams, and can require an almost sales-like approach. Here's how to succeed through periods of change.
Customer ServiceFirst Impressions Are Fast Impressions
Here's why creating more positive first impressions will improve the experience for your customers and the quality of work life for your service staff.
Customer ServiceGoing off Script
In call centers and big businesses all around the world, customer service staff are given strict scripts to follow. There is some validity to this approach, but there is a better way to achieve the same goals.
Customer ServiceArtificial Integrity: Trust, AI, and Customer Service
Every interaction with a customer is equally an opportunity to grow trust or a chance to destroy it. So we should be very thoughtful about the introduction of artificial intelligence into customer service scenarios beyond the most limited forms.
Customer ServiceUsing ChatGPT for Customer Service
How ChatGPT — or other generative AI tools — can be used to help answer customer service queries and deliver better service. How good is ChatGPT and in what other ways could it be used in customer service situations?
Customer ServiceHow Distributed Customer Service Teams Improve Each Other’s Skills
More is caught than taught, they say. But when your colleagues are in different cities, or on different continents, it's harder to transmit knowledge. Here are some practical ways to bridge the gap.
Customer Service7 Predictions for Customer Service and Support in 2023
Here are 7 important trends that will affect your work in customer service and experience for 2023, from supply chain recovery to AI-driven productivity.
Customer ServiceRemoving customer service accents via AI: The wrong solution to a real problem
Sanas claim that their real-time “accent matching” improves understanding by 31% and customer satisfaction by 21%. What does it mean for customer service teams, and how should we think about it?
Customer ServiceA Love Letter to Social Media Customer Service Pros
Social media customer service is a skill of its own. Here's our love letter to the people doing the hard work, in public, every day.
Customer ServiceChanging a Company Culture
What can you do if your company's leadership are not interested in doing the work to become customer-centric and to truly value customer service? In our latest advice column, we offer some suggestions.
Customer ServiceIf Customer Service Were Really Superheroes
We don't need customer service heroes. We need customer-centric companies producing predictable service outcomes. But what if they really were heroes?
Customer ServiceGuiding clients to email support instead of their account managers
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer ServiceIs Google's LaMDA sentient, and if so would it like a job?
A Google engineer has been put on leave for breaching confidentiality policies. He claims to have worked with a sentient AI though professionals in the field are dubious. Whether or not this bot has truly experienced feelings it does raise some interesting questions.
Customer ServiceMuseum of Customer Support: Ancient Fast Food
This ancient Roman fast food outlet can teach us how to think clearly about our online customer service today.
Customer ServiceHelp Scout’s Conversation Corner on Experience This!
Links, images, and further reading related to the Conversation Corner segment on the Experience This podcast in 2022.
Customer ServiceTeaching Analytical Reading
Advice on getting your customer service staff interested in writing more help documents and creating space for them to do so.
Customer ServiceHow to Change Your Team’s Behavior
You've identified a change that would improve your support quality, but you’re having trouble persuading your team to change their behavior.
Customer ServiceMuseum of Customer Support: The First Shopping Cart
What can the first shopping cart teach us about implementing online self-service options today?
Customer ServiceMeasuring Customer Service Success More Broadly
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer ServiceEncouraging Support Teams To Write Help Docs
Advice on getting your customer service staff interested in writing more help documents — and creating space for them to do so.
Customer Service12 Predictions for Customer Service Trends in 2022
A new year means new opportunities to create customer experiences. Here are our predictions for customer service trends in 2022.
Customer ServiceFast Food vs. Fine Dining in Customer Service
What can customer service pros learn from Geraldine DeRuiter’s 'Bros., Lecce: We Eat at The Worst Michelin Starred Restaurant, Ever'?
Customer ServiceDealing With Abusive Customers
Why let your human team be yelled at when you could hire a robot? Is AI the answer to customer service abuse, or is there another way?
Customer ServiceMuseum of Customer Support: The World's Oldest Complaint Letter
In 1750 B.C., a disgruntled customer complained about a bad batch of ingots. Hear his complaint and theoretical apology.
Customer ServiceWriting Your Own Customer Service Recipe Book
Understanding when to deviate from the recipe is how you develop your own style and grow your career as a customer service pro.
Customer ServiceTerrifying Tales of Spooky Support
The customer with sharp teeth, the disturbing silence of an empty inbox. Support stories to scare any customer service pro this Halloween.
Customer ServiceAnnual Planning as a New Customer Support Leader
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer ServiceVisit Sea Sat, the Customer Service Restaurant
Some questions are more difficult, but that additional effort goes unnoticed outside the team. What if those costs were shared on a menu?
Customer ServiceWhy Customers Ask Vague Questions (and What To Do About It)
When customers don’t give you the details you need they aren’t being lazy. Here’s how to address the root cause of vague questions.
Customer ServiceThe Book That Changed My Customer Service Career
Why the 2010 customer service book Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profits by Micah Solomon and Leonardo Inghilerri made an impact on my career.
Customer ServiceThe Supportive: A Series for Service Professionals
Here’s the type of content you can expect from the series The Supportive, Mathew Patterson's column for customer service professionals.
Customer ServiceWhat Should I Include in My Cover Letter?
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer ServiceTelling My Boss About My True Career Goals
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer ServiceBeing Pushed to Offer Service Level Agreements Too Soon
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer ServiceBalancing Soft-Skills With Technical Ability
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer ServiceBreaking Into SaaS Support
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer ServiceGPT-3 and AI in Customer Support
GPT-3 has been making news recently, so it’s worth taking a look to understand what it is and how it might help with customer support.
Customer ServiceThe Best Role for a Second Customer Service Hire
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer ServiceAvoiding Cherry-Picking in the Support Queue
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer ServiceCOVID-19's Impact on Customer Service Volumes
See which industries have had the biggest shifts in customer service volumes due to COVID-19, plus tips on managing surging and diminishing workloads.
Customer ServiceAI, Curiosity, and the Future of Human Customer Service
When AI can answer (some) customer questions, what is the role of humans in support? The answer is bringing human curiosity back into service.
Customer ServiceWhat My Mechanic Taught Me About Customer Service
4 customer service lessons from a pro who treats people right, and keeps them coming back for decades.
Customer Service5 People You Need On Your Customer Support Team
Providing the best customer service starts with the people you hire. These five personality types are essential on every customer support team.