My present obsession is a Korean actuality competitors present known as “Bodily: 100.” On this sequence, Netflix gathers 100 of one of the best athletes in South Korea to compete towards one another in quite a lot of challenges to seek out the perfect physique. The forged consists of bodybuilders, an ice climber, UFC fighters, and a pilates teacher, simply to call just a few.
In a single problem, there is perhaps an Olympic gymnast battling a bodybuilder in a check of grip power by hanging from a excessive bar. In one other problem, we see head-to-head matchups testing agility and pace as an expert dancer performs hold away with a rugby participant. In yet one more problem, a check of brute power is on show as we see teams of athletes working as a staff to maneuver a two-ton ship.
As I’ve watched the present, I’ve been reminded of what I see within the help queue each day: folks with numerous expertise tackling wide-ranging challenges. Though I’ve but to personally area a query within the queue about tips on how to transfer a two-ton ship, our staff is dealing with all types of robust challenges.
The individuals in “Bodily: 100” have spent their careers growing expertise like pace, endurance, brute power, stability, flexibility, and explosiveness. I couldn’t assist however draw a connection between these bodily feats and the type of mind muscle tissues I’m coaching in my very own help profession.
As we enterprise into this subsequent season of help, the place AI will make our panorama extra aggressive and offering human help will change into extra demanding, what sorts of expertise ought to we be growing?
Let’s discuss these expertise, why they’re essential, and tips on how to develop them.
Troubleshooting mindset
Technical help includes a complete lot of looking. In apply, this may imply attempting to breed an edge case bug in 5 totally different browsers, 40 minutes of digging by way of API logs, or studying a month’s value of earlier conversations to know the total context of an issue (which you should utilize AI summarize to assist with, by the best way!)
Working in a help queue can typically really feel like discovering a needle in a haystack. The character of this work calls for somebody who isn’t discouraged simply and is worked up to leap into that haystack!
Of us with this power have a excessive tolerance for setbacks and are capable of break down advanced points. For those who really feel like this ability is not one in all your strengths at the moment, we’ve acquired an awesome useful resource that dives into the artwork of troubleshooting on the weblog.
Proactive pondering
Within the (not to date off) future, AI will reply a lot of your prospects’ rapid questions on how your product works. However what in regards to the questions prospects aren’t asking that they ought to be asking? That’s the place you’ll want proactive help expertise.
For instance, let’s say a buyer writes in asking if they will add one other inbox. Our Plus Plan consists of 5 inboxes, however this buyer is asking for a sixth to be included. It will be correct to say, “Sorry, we aren’t ready so as to add a free inbox to your plan; further inboxes can be found for an extra $10/month per inbox.”
Whereas technically right, it would not be very useful to provide that reply and cease there. A extra useful and proactive method could be to elucidate that inboxes are positively out there, albeit at an extra cost, and in addition educate the client about different options that may take away the necessity to add further inboxes within the first place. In our case, they will use options like Groups and alias options that permit people to help a number of merchandise or manufacturers all from the identical inbox.
When folks attain out to help, they won’t know precisely what they’re in search of or what answer can be most useful to them. Proactive thinkers can see a hyper-specific query and browse between the traces to parse out the client’s final aim.
Head to the weblog to study extra about how one can resolve for outcomes and suppose proactively.
Empathy
Actual empathy calls for prime emotional intelligence, and whereas it’s typically known as a “tender” ability (or extra precisely, a personality ability), speaking with empathy impacts your prospects and the enterprise in so many significant methods.
The flexibility to really feel empathy for the client on the opposite aspect of our help queues is how help groups construct rapport, improve buyer satisfaction, construct model loyalty, and enhance buyer retention.
Whereas this ability is hard to show, reminding your staff simply how highly effective true empathy could be is a step in the precise route. An incredible lesson in empathy is this story of how The Pink Cross leveraged empathy in its mission to encourage people to donate blood.
Storytelling
Assist execs are spending time reporting bugs and monitoring buyer suggestions, sure; however a big a part of this job is actually about being an efficient storyteller.
An incredible help skilled is ready to inform the story of your services or products in a manner that every buyer can perceive. In apply, this may appear like merely matching the construction of a buyer’s query. If the client buildings their questions in bullets, you may construction your solutions the identical manner; if a buyer sends in a display recording explaining their drawback, take the time to create a brief video to ship again to them.
This may look like a small contact, but when help execs can’t create a compelling story about tips on how to acquire worth out of your product, it is going to be tough to teach prospects and assist them to efficiently use your product.
Even exterior of the queue, your help staff is the voice of your prospects inside your organization as effectively! Assist execs want to have the ability to take the client data they’ve gained within the queue and translate that info in a manner that retains your product, advertising and marketing, and management groups knowledgeable and on the identical web page about buyer wants.
Studying the fundamentals of storytelling can assist you join and nurture relationships along with your prospects and inside stakeholders alike.
Documentation
Serving prospects requires a large quantity of product data — and it’s inconceivable to carry all of that in your mind without delay. That’s why having clear and detailed documentation, for each customer-facing and inside makes use of, is significant to help groups. That is very true within the new age of AI help, when the standard of your documentation will decide the standard of your AI outputs.
Writing good documentation requires the power to interrupt down advanced ideas into smaller, easy-to-understand elements and construction content material in a manner that is sensible in your prospects in addition to your help staff. Of us with this ability love immersing themselves in all the small print and know precisely which particulars others must know.
Beef up your writing expertise with this helpful information, and learn to construct methods to prioritize technical writing by yourself help staff.
Assist is a staff sport
“Bodily: 100” is a contest — however as I watched the present, it additionally felt like a celebration of many alternative physicalities and strengths. I believe help groups ought to really feel like that, too. The entire expertise we talked about listed here are extremely invaluable on a help staff, and nobody ability is extra essential than one other.
For particular person contributors, which of those expertise really feel like strengths for you? That are areas the place you may need extra room to develop? Figuring out your strengths can assist level you towards a particular help profession path or assist you determine tips on how to proceed rising inside your present place.
For help leaders, understanding these expertise is a invaluable device as you’re employed to construct a balanced help workers. Recognizing worker strengths is essential for mentorship, aiding in profession growth, and connecting the dots between one individual’s work and their enterprise influence. It’s additionally nice to seek out methods to have a good time what every individual brings to the desk past typical dashboard metrics.
And keep in mind, it’s unrealistic to count on that any help professional needs to be one of the best at all of those expertise, the identical manner that it is unreasonable to count on a bodybuilder to have the identical flexibility as a ballet dancer. For help execs and groups, the aim needs to be a wholesome stability of those expertise and a celebration of staff power.