What Does it Take to Work in Customer Support?

What Does it Take to Work in Customer Support?

It still astonishes me how little knowledge I had of computers when I started working in IT Support. I was 21 and it was my first serious job after university, the start of my career really and I only got it because of my cousin’s nepotism. However, I did start off on the lowest rung of the ladder; earning slightly more than the national minimum wage at the time. I was basically a tea boy.

I wasn’t allowed near customers to begin with and I mostly just watched my colleagues fix things and kept my mouth shut. Then, about 1 month into the job, 3 of the IT support team were suddenly out of the office. Left on my lonesome with the phone ringing off the hook, I built up the courage, reached out, picked it up and a career was born.

Sink or Swim

That might be a touch dramatic but it really was a case of being thrown into the deep end; sink or swim time. Thankfully I swam. I quickly learned that 50% of fixing IT problems is turning something off and then on again. And the other 50% is knowing how to Google stuff.

But I also discovered something far more interesting, and that was that my IT knowledge wasn’t the most important part of the job. Customers would call and ask for me time and time again after that first week. It’s wasn’t because I was the best IT person there, it was because they enjoyed talking with me and I reassured them that it was going to be OK. Even if I was thinking “Oh crap, oh crap, how does this work?!!!”

Are You a People Person?

My own experience and hiring others for customer support jobs has given me strong beliefs on what it takes to work in customer support. It’s not about experience and it’s not about technical knowledge, what it does require is personality, empathy and a need to help. And it’s not just me that thinks so. Take a look at any customer support job advert from some of the biggies out there; Buffer, Zappos, Basecamp, etc. Top of their list of requirements is that applicants are empathetic and want to help people.

What they won’t say is that they are looking for someone with a certain type of personality. Because they can't say that, but I would bet my favourite Boba Fett figure that these companies are looking for a certain type of person to fit their company culture.

Some Things Can't Be Taught... Most Things Can!

Doesn’t sound too hard does it? For some people it isn’t and there are certainly people that are more naturally inclined when it comes to customer support. There are obviously other skills that are useful; organization, self motivation, excellent written communication, and for some jobs you do need to have some technical knowledge. But my feeling is that all of that can be learnt, whereas teaching someone to be empathetic and natural at the same time is a considerably tougher task.

How to Get Started as a Freelancer

This week we have been featured on Digital Nomad Wannabe, a great site with information about how to make money online. You can see a short excerpt below, head on over to the site to read the full article:

Online freelance work is a great way to get started as a digital nomad and give yourself the freedom to work remotely. At no9to5.co we love freelance work so I am going to explain how to begin online freelancing and share some strategies on how to make money.

Whichever site you choose, you will need to create a profile and make some proposals. I have hired a lot of freelancers while working as a project manager and I can tell you that there are a ton of very dull, very similar profiles out there. Let’s talk about how to create a profile that will stand out and land your first remote job.

http://www.digitalnomadwannabe.com/get-started-freelancer-now/

We've Worked in... Kanchanaburi

This series is about places that we've been able to visit because of our freelance lifestyle. This isn't just so that I can share my travel photos; there is a larger point! We have been able to take more holidays or stay longer because we could combine our work with travel. I want more people to get involved in online freelancing and I hope that this series will inspire you. Yes, you.

We've Worked in... Kanchanaburi

So this time we headed off to Kanchanaburi with Agi’s parents. Kanchanaburi is famous for two reasons: astounding natural beauty and being the site of the “death railway” made famous by the 1957 film The Bridge on the River Kwai.

We had a few false starts here as we wanted to take the train. Trains to Kanchanaburi do not leave from Bangkok central train station but the southern train station. Which is in the west of the city!? Anyway, the first 4 taxi drivers I spoke to claimed to never have heard of Thonburi station which made me start to doubt my own sanity. Or my ability to speak Thai. Taxi #5 was a winner so off we went. The delay in finding a taxi combined with Bangkok traffic to make it close run thing as to whether we made the train. The last 400 meters was done on foot as someone had broken down at the entrance to the station. We made it with 5 minutes to spare and off we went on the train to Kanchanaburi.

The views from the train were wonderful; paddy fields and forests… and the occasional big pile of trash. We arrived at mid morning and were picked up by the boat to take us to our private island.

Well, not really private but our hotel in Kanchanaburi is on its own little island. A shower and a change of clothes later and we were off to visit the Thailand / Burma Railway Centre. The museum covers the building of the railway by the Japanese army during the second world war. Over 100,000 prisoners of war and civilians died during the process. Not a happy subject but an excellent museum. After the museum we went to see the famous bridge and enjoyed a beer in a floating restaurant. You can see a lovely photo here.

In the evening and the next morning we fit in a few hours work because we need to earn money to pay for private islands!

Erawan National Park is the other highlight of Kanchanaburi. We hired a driver and went off for an afternoon of hiking and swimming in the waterfalls. I can honestly say this is one of the best things I have done in some time! I loved it, the pools are gorgeous. After hiking up to step 5 of the waterfalls I was soaked in sweat. Jumping into the pool was a perfect remedy. Cold, fresh water full of fish which nibble your toes. We had a great time swimming, taking photos and acting like tarzan… sort of

On the way back down we stopped in the lowest pool for another swim when somebody shouted. We turned to see what Agi thought was a crocdile and I thought was a snake. There was a brief panic similar to the scene from Jaws before we realised it was actually a monitor lizard. I have seen monitors around south east Asia but this was the best for me. The lizard was beautiful black and gold and swam through the water so elegantly. We watched her swim and hunt for fish until she disappeared into the jungle. Unfortunately, we only had Agi's dad's phone with us and the camera... well, let's just say it isn't great:

The next day was a work day in the hotel lobby while we waited for the train back to Bangkok.

Another good day and another great weekend enabled by freelancing! Get in touch with us and see how you can freelance and have more holidays.

Why Work in Customer Support?

Who'd Work in Customer Support?

There’s this image of online customer support jobs being a poorly paid grind where you suffer through annoying/abusive customers while you try to make the day go quicker until you can either quit the job or retire old and bitter.

And I’m not going to tell you that there isn’t an element of truth in all of that; there are customers that make you want to claw your eyes out, ploughing through tickets/calls can feel like a grind, and there are customer support jobs that pay peanuts.

Mostly this image comes from businesses that don’t give a crap about customer service, to these types of companies it’s all about keeping costs low and, it seems, staff turnover high. But in the startup community (and other businesses are catching on) quality customer service is held in the highest regard.

Startups realised that improving their customer service can differentiate them from competitors and, in a world where you can copy someone else's multi million dollar app for a few hundred bucks, differentiation is hard currency.

So what does customer support look like in this brave new world?

Dollar Dollar Bill Y’all

In a survey of 60 customer service pros, done by the excellent folks over at Support Driven, the average salary was $63,688 for men and $69,591 for women; bucking the trend right? I could write a book about why I think women generally make better customer service agents but that’s for another time.

Considering that the average salary in the US is around $26,695 and about $40,000 in the UK that’s a big step up.

And, before you say anything, this isn’t just for seasoned customer service vets that manage a team of 20 and work 70 hour weeks!

In the same survey they looked at average salaries for different experience levels. Which showed that even as a newbie to the customer service game you’re looking at an average that again is much higher than the average wage in both the US and UK.

Customer Service Matters

It really does. I swear! Think about it from the business’ perspective. To them, as a customer service rep you have the ability to;

• Make a sale: many startups offer a free version of their service, if you can fix a problem for a customer there’s a better chance they will then pay for that service.
• Stop ‘em leaving: I don’t mean physically! But if a customer has a problem and you can fix it for them, then they don’t leave and that means at least another month’s subscription.
• Get more of ‘em: exceptional customer service spreads like wildfire. If you don’t believe me check out all of the articles written about Zappos' legendary customer service. Forbes, Business Insider, and Huffington post have all written them up.

The common theme here is that as a customer support rep you’re not an employee that sucks money out of the company - which is the traditional way to think about customer service, in fact you are doing just the opposite.

That’s not all either, if a company was a human then the customer support department would be the ears, eyes and nose. You are at the forefront of change, you know what the customers are saying about the product, service and marketing. If the company you work for doesn’t take customer service suggestions seriously, then they really aren’t worth working for.

It’s a Lifestyle Choice

The companies that are looking to create customer service teams that go above and beyond don’t want employees that are faking it. They want people that are naturals. People who work in customer service because it’s what they are good at and not just a stop gap while they decide what to do with their life.

I’ll go into detail about what characteristics make for an exceptional customer support person in another article but it’s important to know it’s a two way street. Companies expect you to be yourself and in return they are offering you a lifestyle that suits you; competitive wages, flexible working hours, remote working and some great perks.

5 years ago I decided that’s what I wanted from a work/lifestyle and it’s the best choice I ever made. Get in touch with us to learn more.

We've Worked in... Ko Lanta

This series is about places that we've been able to visit because of our freelance lifestyle. This isn't just so that I can share my travel photos; there is a larger point! We have been able to take more holidays or stay longer because we could combine our work with travel. I want more people to get involved in online freelancing and I hope that this series will inspire you. Yes, you.

We've Worked in... Ko Lanta, Thailand

This article comes to you from the beautiful island of Ko Lanta in southern Thailand. Agi and I have come here for a long weekend with Agi's parents as they are visiting us in Thailand. We flew down from Bangkok on Thursday and had a nice meal by the beach in the evening. There may or may not have been a few beers involved. On Friday morning we did some slightly hungover work from our bungalow then rented a motorbike and went to explore in the afternoon.

We arranged a scuba diving trip with Palm Beach Divers for Saturday. We chose Palm Beach because the lady in our guest house recommended them. As it turned out they are a Polish owned company. This couldn't have been more fortuitous as Agi's parents are Polish and now we had guides in their native language!

On Saturday morning we were picked up early by the dive shop and jumped on the boat to take us to Koh Bida Noi. The sea was pretty rough once we left Ko Lanta but when we got there the diving was great: eels, cuttlefish, my first catfish, even a giant jellyfish! We did 3 dives that day while Aga's dad snorkelled. His very first time snorkelling and he saw 3 sharks! We didn't see a single one, how is that fair!? A good day was had by all and everyone slept well that night. Sunday morning Agi got up early and went for a run on the beach where she made a couple of friends.

After breakfast we did an hour or so of work again before getting on our motorbikes with Agi's dad. This time we drove over to see Ko Lanta Old Town on the other side of the island. It was a nice ride but on the way back the clouds got darker and darker until the inevitable happened.

Despite the rain we had fun riding around the island.  Even when the wind was blowing rain at 9 billion mph into our faces! Later on we went to try a little vegetarian cafe we had seen near our hotel called Kunda. Would you believe, it was owned by another Polish lady. She and Agi had a nice chat and she gave Agi a book. The food there was amazing, we had two types of polish Zapiekanka; basically a kind of French bread pizza.

Another good day and another great weekend enabled by freelancing! Get in touch with us and see how you can freelance and have more holidays.