We’re looking for a new person to join our support team (internally known as Team Omega), and we thought we’d let you in on what it’s like doing support for 37signals. It’s not like working behind the customer service counter at Wal-Mart. It’s not like answering calls in a phone bank, or automating responses like an email robot. It’s undoubtedly the best job I’ve ever had, and I hope it’s the last job I have.
I’ve been doing support for 37signals for almost 4 years. I didn’t want to at first; in fact when I was interviewed and eventually hired I was explicit: I will not do customer service. This left me doing back office sort of admin things and keeping myself busy, until one day I had to help Jason out on emails. Then daily I kept taking on more and more until one day I said to Jason, “Stop taking all the customer emails from me!”
They let me take over support full time, and I can’t tell you how surprising it is that I love this job. I love it so much that I’m passionate about it, I fight for it, I push back against very heavy opinions to protect it and improve how we help our customers. So what in the world made me go from never wanting to answer customer support emails to answering sometimes 200 a day by myself? Well, pretty simply, our customers are awesome!
Our customers love our products. They are loyal and fierce about them. They write us for help making sure everything works because they can’t imagine working without Basecamp or Highrise or Backpack. They want new features because they want to do more with our products. They’re funny, they are so kind and patient, they’re opinionated and friendly. 200+ emails a day of that sort? Bring it on.
We take support seriously as a way to educate and help. We use bad experiences our customers have to improve our products and processes, and turn that experience into a positive one. Our support team is a vital connection to our customers other teams don’t have, and we use that link to determine how to make our products better. We let people vent, and we understand their frustration. We stop and think to ourselves, “How can I make this person’s experience better?” Then whatever that is, we do it.
Support at 37signals was not good 5 years ago. It wasn’t and we know it. It took years of us recovering from stumbles in the beginning to be the support team we are today: Enthusiastic, fast, agile, happy to be here and eager to help. Not all of us come from customer service backgrounds, and we don’t think it’s required to do this job well.
What’s required is a will to make people’s day better, to teach them how do to things, to surprise them with speed and accuracy and become leaders in the support industry. And if you think that sounds awesome, why not come join us?
We think you’ll like it here. Plus, there’s often cookies.
DTS
on 08 Jun 10I applied last week, not 25 minutes after it was posted. I’m rapt with anticipation for a response, if only negative! I live support.
Seriously, if one is going to be a support specialist, I couldn’t think of a better place to do it.
cruiser
on 08 Jun 10What software do you use for customer service support? I’m looking for a software to use in our small biz.
Thanks
Mike
on 08 Jun 10Thanks for the tip. I applied for an engineering position.
Eivind Uggedal
on 08 Jun 10crusier: they use zendesk.
cruiser
on 08 Jun 10Thanks Elvind.
I will check out zendesk.
Seth Kravitz
on 08 Jun 10I remembering emailing support 4 years ago and getting a response in a matter of minutes. I was sold right then and have been using your products ever since.
Just Wondering
on 08 Jun 10So if you refused to do the job you were interviewing for, how did you get hired?
JF
on 08 Jun 10Just Wondering:
Sarah was hired to do customer support, but it wasn’t a full time job back then. I was doing it myself plus all the other stuff I had to do. So Sarah was hired to help out with support + all the other stuff she mentioned (she didn’t want to do support full time which was fine because it wasn’t a full-time job at that time). Eventually she started doing more support and enjoying it. Then it became a full-time support job for her. She’s been full time on support ever since.
DTS
on 08 Jun 10I think it’s best when support roles grow organically like that. You grow to know the products and needs of the customers, and pretty soon you’re bound by a love of what you’re doing and a true mastery of the subject—support is a natural extension of the accumulated affection and knowledge.
Aaron M
on 08 Jun 10I did help desk support on two of my co-ops. It was quite nice being able to help people through difficult times. It was definitely challenging when I couldn’t figure out there problem, and had to forward off a ticket. However, I enjoyed the experience and learned a lot from it. I can see where Sarah is coming from.
Markus
on 08 Jun 10You have dedicated support people? I thought developers were doing support in their spare time, to get to know the customer and its wishes, running the trenches and stuff ;-).
Ok, but for real, do you hire engineers to do support? What actual qualities do you look for in someone to do support?
JF
on 08 Jun 10Markus: Every 2 months one of our developers is dedicated to support. We call this job the “support programmer”. At the end of 2 months, someone else switches to the support programmer role. And so on.
SH
on 08 Jun 10@Markus, we’re not really looking for someone with programming skills. And this job is for a dedicated support person, not a support programmer. We’re looking for someone who communicates well, clearly and controlled, and who likes to teach people how to do things. Past experience doing support doesn’t matter, but it would help.
Empathy, strength of words, upbeat attitude, and a willingness to figure stuff out. Those are important to us.
Duff OMelia
on 08 Jun 10Excellent post. It reminded me of Seth Godin’s statement about customer interactions. He wrote, “Every interaction is both precious and an opportunity to delight.”
Daniel The Scheduling Wizard
on 08 Jun 10@SH Great description of what a support team member should be like. I have to keep that in mind when we’ll be hiring.
I do the support for our webapp now. It’s hard work but very rewarding. I have learned a lot, but there is still a lot left. So in my opinion, you Sara are one of the best kept secrets of the success behind 37s.
Have a super duper shiny day answering electronic mails from the interwebs. =)
Jason Rehmus
on 08 Jun 10I’d love to join your team! I’ve been preparing for this opportunity for some time now.
I see 37signals taking the lead in revolutionizing software (and all) customer support.
It’s what I live for.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Aaron S.
on 08 Jun 10Thanks for the overview! Support is an awesome position because it is where you can turn critics and complainers into raving fans!
Keep up the great work 37signals.
Tyler Hurst
on 09 Jun 10Surprised you don’t already have someone in mind.
Beth S.
on 09 Jun 10This post has inspired me to take the plunge. I am working on my letter now!
Erik Escobedo
on 09 Jun 10Of course they have someone in mind. They are just taking the chance for talking about how wonderful they are. Oh, and for promoting their job board.
I tell you, this guys are geniuses.
Tyler Hurst
on 09 Jun 10The best customer support people are the ones that can make you smile. They’re also often the ONLY person a customer may ever communicate directly with.
SH
on 09 Jun 10We don’t have anyone in mind yet. We’d love for people to apply for the job if they are passionate about it. If we had someone in mind, we wouldn’t still have the ad up. @Erik, I’m saddened your cynicism!
Tyler Hurst
on 09 Jun 10SH- Well, I just assumed because I applied.
Sigh…time to blast my resume out to 300 companies. I hear that works. ;)
Erik Escobedo
on 09 Jun 10Ok, @SH, I trust you. Unfortunately, that’s something you can’t positively prove.
Anyway, I still trust you. You guys are cool and customer-friendly good enough for deserve that trust.
Mike Wong
on 10 Jun 10I applied as well… now how to grasp your attention and captivate from here on out. Does the 37signals gang like rice krispies treats?
Bob
on 10 Jun 10Hi, Sarah.
Thank you for posting to the Signal vs. Noise weblog.
I noticed that you used the expression, “Plus, there’s often cookies.”
There’s is a common contraction, but it usually refers to a single subject (cookie), rather than a plural subject (cookies).
If there is a dearth of cookies at 37Signals, it’s entirely possible that you meant to write, “Plus, there’s often a cookie.”
If it’s the case, however, that there is usually an abundance of cookies at 37Signals, then you probably should have written, “Plus, there are often cookies.”
I hope you continue to enjoy using the Signal vs. Noise weblog and please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.
Have a great day.
anonymous howard
on 10 Jun 10Hi, Bob.
Usually a comma goes after the addressee’s name. And, you’re a jerk.
Anonymous Coward
on 11 Jun 10Thanks, Howard.
I intended the post to be a “support” parody. I actually have a lot of respect for Sarah and the job she does. If it came across as an attack of any sort, I apologize.
timfm
on 11 Jun 10Hi, Bob. [sic]
If there were a “dearth of cookies” at 37signals (highly unlikely), would not Sarah meant to have written “Plus, there is rarely a cookie?”
Bob
on 14 Jun 10Tim,
I’m sure you’re correct. The “dearth of cookies” line was just to add to the goofy, over-the-top nature of the post. Rambling on in a “support-like” response to a minor, and actually pretty common grammatical mistake. I intended it to be humorous, but apparently it didn’t come out that way.
For the record, I’m almost certain Sarah has much better grammatical skills than I do.
This discussion is closed.