In this episode of Decoded by Threado AI, we interview Hannah Millar, a seasoned leader in customer support with over two decades of experience. They discuss the evolution of customer support, the impact of AI, the importance of team dynamics, and the integration of support insights across organizations. Hannah shares her journey, insights on key performance indicators, and strategies for maintaining work-life balance in a demanding field. The conversation concludes with rapid-fire questions that highlight Hannah's perspectives on the future of customer support.

Meet Rachel Wu, Senior Manager of Technical Support at Iterable. With over a decade of experience, she's navigated everything from software engineering to retail sales before landing in customer support. Her journey may seem unconventional, but it’s this blend of skills that makes her a standout in the field.

In the video, Rachel dives deep into the essence of customer support - how it's all about solving problems, building relationships, and keeping things personal. She highlights the importance of premier support, where agents become more than just problem solvers. They’re partners who deeply understand customers' businesses, making interactions more seamless.

🤙 About the guest - Giulio is the Customer Care Director at Playtomic. He has spent years building and managing multicultural teams for both B2B and B2C customers.

🤙 Timestamps -
00:00 - Introduction and Background
06:30 - Overview of Playtomic
09:28 - Common customer queries
11:09 - Achieving a high CSAT score
15:14 - Building and managing a multilingual team
21:20 - Team alignment and communication
26:00 - Evolution of technology in customer support
27:10 - The role of AI in customer support
29:00 - Challenges and implementation of AI in customer support
31:24 - The future of customer support
33:06 - Changing roles in customer support
34:41 - Hiring and building a support team
43:27 - Challenges of a remote and multilingual team
48:03 - Advice for support leaders

🤙 Where to find Giulio - https://www.linkedin.com/in/giulio-castiglioni/

🤙 About the guest - Kallen is the Director of Support at Airbase. He has over a decade of experience in building and managing customer support teams, especially in B2B SaaS companies

🤙 Timestamps
03:06 - Challenges and benefits of remote support

08:47 - Unique challenges of customer support for procurement and finance teams

12:22 - Categorizing customer support levels

14:00 - Philosophy and approach to customer support

20:47 - Value and limitations of AI in customer support

25:25 - Implementing AI: Focus on goals and use cases

31:11 - Customer feedback and agent assist

35:37 - Improving customer service experience

37:07 - Using AI for Data Analysis

40:09 - Building and developing a support team

45:36 - Building trust and team culture in a remote environment

47:13 - Communication and information flow in a remote team

51:20 - Tools and practices for remote team collaboration

53:16 - Advice for customer support leaders

🤙 Where to find Kallen - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kallen-bakas-8428b850/

🤙 About the guest - Brittany is a seasoned customer support leader with over a decade of experience. She's held support leadership roles at companies like Brio Systems, Nerd Fitness, and Fracture. She's also been the director of event operations at Support Driven.

🤙 Timestamps -

01:41 - Brittany's serendipitous journey
03:47 - Her early experiences in marketing and journalism
05:17 - The inverted pyramid framework to leading more efficient teams
07:19 - Evolution of a support team from a leader's perspective
11:30 - The nuances of e-commerce support
14:37 - Avoiding burnout as a support leader
17:34 - Challenges of a support leader
22:33 - Selecting the right tools for your team
27:28 - The evolution of AI in support
37:19 - How support leaders should ramp up their skills with the changing times
43:24 - Advice for people starting in the support space
46:50 - The rapid-fire segment

🤙 Where to find Brittany - https://www.linkedin.com/in/fergusonbrittany/

🤙 About the guest - Neal Travis is the creator and host of Growth Support and is creating a resource library for support professionals across the globe. He is also a support leader at the Academy to Innovate HR.

🤙 Timestamps
00:47 - Neal's introduction
02:38 - The evolution of the customer support landscape over the years
04:18 - Neal's philosophy in delivering great customer support
06:14 - The two-by-two matrix of the support landscape
08:24 - Role of support ops
10:16 - AI in support ops
13:25 - How can support and product teams work in collaboration
16:55 - Best practices for support leaders
18:58 - Remarkable interactions with support leaders
21:11 - Best practices for remote support teams
23:20 - Metrics for measuring success of support teams
25:40 - What do support leaders think of AI
29:01 - Apprehensions of using AI in customer support
30:24 - Evolution of the skillsets for people working in support
32:31 - Tech stack for today's support teams
34:58 - Recent trends and observations in customer support
39:50 - Predictions for customer support in 2024

🤙 Where to find Neal - https://www.linkedin.com/in/neal-travis/

🤙 About the guest - Dave Chapman is a Senior Customer Advocate at Buffer. He has been with Buffer for nearly a decade now. He works at the intersection of tech, social media and marketing and focuses on work culture, product management, communication and wellness.

He has also worked at Apple Retail and has been an Osteopath in the past.

🤙 Timestamps
00:54 - Dave's journey till now
02:03 - Transition to Buffer
08:51 - Evolution of Dave's role at Buffer
11:29 - Buffer's approach to customer advocacy
14:25 - Intersection of a support community and customer advocacy
17:50 - How to be more proactive in customer support
24:42 - Anecdotal insights from Dave's experience at Buffer
26:48 - Memorable interactions with customers
29:48 - Doing things that don't scale
32:23 - Metrics to define the performance of support teams
36:09 - Role of AI in customer support
40:18 - Suggestion for support leaders to look at support beyond just like a cost centre
44:35 - Integrating support team's feedback in the product roadmap
46:57 - Remote work in customer support - pros and cons
50:46 - Tips for support leaders

🤙 Where to find Dave - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davechapmanuk/