Support Ops Podcast

Episodes

1. 30

   Episode #30 – The Productive Support Pro with Thanh Pham

   This week I talk with Thanh Pham from Asian Efficiency. We look at how to prepare for a product launch when your team is still pretty small. Thanh also shares with us how his team is scaling their support while still providing a very personable customer experience.

   Mar 24, 2014
2. 29

   Episode #29 – Solo Support with Diana Potter

   This week I talk with Diana Potter from Customer.io. She's the first and so far only support pro on the team. We talk about how she provides a solid customer support experience despite being a solo support pro.

   Feb 21, 2014
3. 28

   Episode #28 – Investigating Customer Service with Ashley Verrill

   This week I talk with Ashley Verrill from Customer Service Investigator. We talk about the trends she's seeing from other company's customer service teams. We also touch on self-service support and how companies can get better at it.

   Jan 27, 2014
4. 27

   Episode #27 – Keeping the Complex Simple with Micah Bennett

   This week I interview Micah Bennett from Zapier. We talk about how they keep a complex idea like Zapier super easy to use for customers. We also touch on how he does support as the sole support pro along with what his team thought of live chat.

   Nov 26, 2013
5. 26

   Episode #26 – Acquisitions and Gamification with Robert Gregory

   This week I interview Robert Gregory from Media Temple. We talk about the acquisition of Media Temple by GoDaddy along with how the support team fielded the flood of opinions on it. Then we move into the world of gamification with examples of how Robert successfully uses it with his support team.

   Nov 7, 2013
6. 25

   Episode #25 – Josh Pigford

   This week on the show, I interview Josh Pigford from Sabotage. We talk about Temper, how teams can use it to see what the customer is thinking, and how customer surveys should work in general.

   Oct 22, 2013
7. 24

   Episode #24 – Rachel Andrew

   This week Rachel Andrew from Perch is on the show. We talk about designing support requests out of your product. We also take a look at the data she tracks to help plan for future customer growth and how that ties back into those support cases.

   Oct 1, 2013
8. 23

   Episode #23 – Joseph Rooks

   Joseph Rooks is on the show this week. We talk about his experience with tech support at Virginia Tech, crafting better error messages, and how screencasts can be your best friend to help customers.

   Sep 12, 2013
9. 22

   Episode #22 – Bootstrapped Support

   Ian Landsman and Andrey Butvo are on the show this week. It's a special join podcast with the very awesome Bootsrapped.fm. We talk customer support from the bootstrapper's perspective along with what works, what doesn't, and more.

   Aug 27, 2013
10. 21

    Episode #21 – Designing for Support with Justin Jackson

    Justin Jackson is on the show this week. We talk about designing for support while building out your product. You can’t have a great product without a great support experience.

    Aug 2, 2013
11. 20

    Episode #20 – Planning Ahead with Jon Lane

    Jon Lane is on the show this week. He's part of the fantastic support team at Harvest and probably the most remote worker I've ever talked to. Hint - he takes a boat to get from his home office to town. We also talk about Hurricane Sandy and how it affected the Harvest team. With power outages...

    Jul 3, 2013
12. 19

    Episode #19 – Whole Company Support with Nick Francis

    Nick Francis is on the show this week. As one of the co-founders of Help Scout, customer support is literally his entire business. We cover Help Scout's first online class, how to make whole company support work, and what it's like to look for your first full time support person.

    Jun 19, 2013
13. 18

    Episode #18 – Tech Support With Carl Holscher

    Carl Holscher is on the show this week. We talk about tech support inside a more traditional institution like the National Institute of Health. He's supporting some of the best scientists in the world as they work to solve cancer. Pretty cool, right? Carl shares some of the tips tricks he has for...

    May 30, 2013
14. 17

    Episode #17 – The Power of Personality with Mike Wong

    Mike Wong from Wufoo is on the show this week. We talk about Wufoo's distinct personality and how that comes across in their support emails. Oh, and his fan club. You've got to hear about his fan club.

    May 16, 2013
15. 16

    Episode #16 – Customer Community with Evan Hamilton

    I've got Evan Hamilton on the show this week. We talk about keeping customers happy, engaging with the community around your product, and how different teams inside your company should work together.

    May 1, 2013
16. 15

    Episode #15 – The First Support Hire with Adam Stacoviak Part 2

    Part two of the interview with Adam Stacoviak from Pure Charity. He's looking to hire his first dedicated support person. We talk about what to look for in a person and how to get them started with the team. It's a two-part interview that you don't want to miss.

    Apr 17, 2013
17. 14

    Episode #14 – The First Support Hire with Adam Stacoviak Part 1

    Adam Stacoviak from Pure Charity is on the show this week. He's looking to hire his first dedicated support person. We talk about what to look for in a person and how to get them started with the team. It's a two-part interview that you don't want to miss.

    Apr 12, 2013
18. 13

    Episode #13 – The Customer Champion with Jeff Vincent

    Jeff Vincent from Wistia is on the show this week. We talk about hiring new people, how programmers can work with the support team, and what happened when they started downplaying their phone support.

    Apr 4, 2013
19. 12

    Episode #12 – Beastmode with Carolyn Kopprasch

    Carolyn Kopprasch from Buffer is on the show this week. We talk about what makes Buffer's customer support team rock. She gives out some great advice on apps they use and how to get work done in beastmode.

    Mar 21, 2013
20. 11

    Episode #11 – Tip of the Hat and Wag of the Finger

    This week's episode ranges from the uproar over remote working to FedEx shipping marijuana to the wrong person. And then they gave out the address so the "right" person could pick it up. Being a gamer, there's talk of SimCity's missteps. Then United Airlines finally gets something right for a...

    Mar 13, 2013
21. 10

    Episode #10 – Plan, Plan, Plan

    Chase Livingston is back for this episode. We're trying something a little different with this episode. From phone support to Twitter hacks, we look at different articles and news from the customer support world. It's a different kind of episode but I think you'll like it. So hit that play button...

    Feb 26, 2013
22. 9

    Episode #9 – Sweating the Commas Interview with Jason Rehmus

    Jason Rehmus is on the show this week. We talk about his new business Sweating Commas along with the importance of editing your writing in general. While his business focuses on writers more than customer reps, he still has lots of great advice for editing all those customer emails you send every...

    Feb 15, 2013
23. 8

    Episode #8 – From the Designer View with Ian Landsman

    Ian Landsman from UserScape is our guest on this episode. He gives us an inside look at designing a customer support tool a little different from others out there today. Instead of a straight SAAS model, his HelpSpot app is managed by the company itself. Enjoy!

    Feb 6, 2013
24. 7

    Episode #7 – The Badass Unicorn

    We're back from winter break with Sarah Stealey on this episode. She talks about consulting with companies to train their customer contact teams. It's not just about keeping customers happy, it's about keeping teams happy too.

    Jan 25, 2013
25. 6

    Episode #6 – The Media Temple Way

    Since it's the holidays, I'm throwing in an extra surprise with this one. We have not one but two great guests on this show with TJ Stein and Sara Carter from Media Temple. My favorite part? I learn that web hosting signups is a lot like gym membership signups. Oh, and people are using Google Plus.

    Dec 17, 2012
26. 5

    Episode #5 – Seeing it the Squarespace Way

    Christa Collins from Squarespace is on the show this week. We talk about her early days at Nordstrom and Gap then move into the fun part with her team at Squarespace. She's leading a pretty big team there so she's full of advice on what does work and doesn't work.

    Dec 4, 2012
27. 4

    Episode #4 – When It All Goes Wrong

    Your app is going to go down at some point. In this episode, we talk about what to do when that happens. And believe me, it'll happen. No matter how good your team is, it's inevitable. I cover ideas for a solid response, the importance of practicing your plan, and ways to learn from those times...

    Nov 19, 2012
28. 3

    Episode #3 – Hiring a New Person

    Let's talk hiring. If your product does well, you're going to get more customers. More customers mean more support emails, tweets, and general requests for help. More of those means you need to hire some more support reps. But what do you look for when you go to hire someone? In this episode, I...

    Nov 5, 2012
29. 2

    Episode #2 – Interview with Chase Livingston

    In this episode of Support Ops, Chase and Chase, coolest named duo ever, look at how support is run over at Ubuntu One. He gives us the ins and outs of supporting everyone from people new to Ubuntu to battle hardened Linux users.

    Oct 29, 2012
30. 1

    Episode #1 – New Podcast Show

    This is the very first episode of the Support Ops podcast. It's short and sweet because I wanted for us both to test the waters here. I know you trust me enough to read through an article or check out a link.

    Oct 24, 2012