Customer Service — The Tome
I’ve spent a long time thinking, contemplating, writing, and re-writing my thoughts and beliefs on Customer Service, at least within a SaaS environment. I will spend the next number of weeks and months sharing my thoughts and considerations on the topic.
Customer Service is a very deep, thoughtful topic. There are many pitfalls and joys, aspects where we mistakenly wrap up our identity in and also find ways to make advancements for society. Yet nonetheless, we must remain resolute and confident to help each other to better society. It’s about community.
Holding Back
I wrote much of this a little over a year ago. From time to time, I’ve added material, but the main reason I haven’t published is, well, it never felt “100%”. Additionally, as I told my good friend Simon several months back, “much of this has already been said, so why add yet another voice to the fray? Why add dissonance to the song? The problem is not lack of content, it’s lack of amazing, wonderful, and valuable insights.”
I’m excited to be publishing many of these articles. Even if no one were to read them (not true, moms always read them!), the exercise of this process has changed me—for the good. I’ve become a better manager, a more thoughtful person, someone who is more inclined to ask questions than ram something down your throat. In essence, I’m a changed man. I see the world differently and I would not have gone as deep if I didn’t have to work so hard at this. If nothing else, my teammates unknowingly appreciate this work.
So I hope you—aspiring writers!—do the same. Publish those articles. Even if you’re unsure or it’s not perfect, write it! Or you say “Why bother? No one else will read this,” even if I grant that statement to be true, haven’t you been changed? Haven’t you taught yourself? Is that, in itself, not worth the prize?
What’s Upcoming
In terms of what’s ahead, we want to explore several key areas:
- Wrestling Through Questions
- Philosophy of Support
- Support Leadership
- Day to Day Operations and Questions
- Measure Success
- Closing Thoughts and Questions
The main thing I hope we can come away with (myself included), is humility. I am still learning and even the things I “know” (or think I know) does not give me license to hold that over others. We are all human; that makes us beautiful. Let’s exhort each other to grow, share what we’ve learned, ask questions where we lack knowledge, and be open to constructive criticism.
There’s knowledge in them thar hills. Let’s go dig it out.
