Keeping on with our much-beloved series of “Good to Great”, today we are focusing on supporters for the Software-as-a-Service industry. This market is highly competitive, and when it comes to customer communication, businesses can’t afford to offer anything less than top-quality service. Today’s expert, Kateryna, is experienced in managing support teams on a SaaS project at SupportYourApp. She will tell us about the peculiarities of software projects, clients’ expectations, and everything that makes a support consultant perfect.
In the Software-as-a-Service industry, with its monthly subscription model, retaining customers and gaining their loyalty for as long as possible is vital. It makes impeccable customer support a key to a successful business. The SaaS project I had experience with was an online video platform, think Zoom or Google Meets, but with more features.
In this article, we'll cover:
Basic Requirements
To distribute the workload wisely, the support service was divided into two teams — customer support-focused, and tech support-focused. Both of them had their requirements, so I will talk about them separately. The traditional customer support team handled a significant ticket flow of standard requests, like issues with license keys or password changes. Our main requirement for this team was customer support experience. We taught newcomers everything they needed to know about the product. Still, we expected them to have excellent communication and troubleshooting skills, the ability to multitask, perform research, and write consistent emails.
Main Expectations for a Tech Support Consultant
Our tech support team resolved much more complex requests that required deep knowledge and the ability to find nonstandard solutions. The main requirement for support representatives here was a technical background, whether it is previous job experience, relevant education, or even self-learning. The training period for each newcomer was long — about two or three months before they started to communicate with real customers, so people had time to learn. However, we expected them to know the basics. For example, it was a good start if words like networking, databases, HTML, or API did not sound strange to a person.
Surely, if a candidate is really into tech and is a fast learner — they can give it a shot, even with no extensive background. An interview for software projects is often preceded by test tasks to evaluate the candidate’s knowledge. And if people take it seriously and do their best, it can compensate for lack of experience.
Technical support teams need people with analytical skills. They have to be tech-savvy, and attentive to details, as some mistakes can be really costly.
Besides, SaaS is an industry where procedures matter. Support consultants regularly deal with technical documentation and fill in knowledge bases. They should not only understand all the processes but describe them clearly.
Go-to Skills for the SaaS Industry
In support, technical expertise never comes in front of communication. No matter how knowledgeable and determined to find the best solution a consultant is, they should remember a customer is waiting for their response. Being a perfectionist is not always good, as in customer service, there is usually a certain time limit that needs to be followed. Sometimes a solution takes a long time. It is totally okay to ask for help or escalate a request. Consultants should understand how and when to do it.
There is also one more thing necessary for a support consultant, which sounds quite obvious but often slips out of the attention. Not all users are tech experts, and things that seem simple for one person, may be complicated for another. Our duty here is to explain complex ideas in simple words. Consultants must stay customer-focused every single second and always look at every issue from their perspective.
To wrap it up, here are some basic expectations that can be applied to any kind of customer service and are crucial for the SaaS industry:
- Being a team player. Support consultants need to be an organic part of a big team and establish flawless communication with different departments, management, and team leaders.
- Troubleshooting skills. Customers can’t always know what they need, and one of a supporter’s primary skills is finding the root cause of an issue.
- Diligence and organization. When people join a customer support team, they face a necessity to study a lot of instructions and procedures and follow them. Not only does it minimize future mistakes, but it makes the whole process much easier.
Tips for Candidates From SupportYourApp
Applying for a support consultant’s position, on any project, there are a few essential things to remember. The first and most obvious one — candidates should always be 100% percent honest in their CVs. Team leaders or client representatives who conduct the interview are experts in their field and will always be able to evaluate a candidate’s real knowledge. This means a CV should be accurate, contain information about relevant experience, and highlight a candidate’s best skills.
The interview itself is the best chance for future support consultants to present themselves. If they know how to do it properly, it will also help them to represent our clients. Being open and confident ensures a good result in the interview. Individual charisma and self-confidence are often even more influential than hard skills or previous experience, both during the interview and actual communication with customers.
Here at SupportYourApp, we built up a culture that pursues friendliness and light communication within our entire team. We always welcome people who enjoy and are willing to maintain such an atmosphere. Our clients are successful and well-known brands, so we need dedicated people who are passionate about what they are doing. There is always a place here for those who love helping others and want to enjoy what they are doing every single day.
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Anastasiia is a professional writer with a diverse background. She used to write about IT, logistics, business, but now her main interest is customer support and communication. Anastasiia’s biggest passion is reading — she prefers books over anything. She believes that the greatest thing a keen reader can do is to write themselves.
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