Response Time: Vol. 21

You satisfy your customers, but can you satisfy our curiosity?

With Kelsey VanSleen, Customer Success and Implementation Specialist at Billy.

Please tell us a little bit about your company and what you do there.

At Billy, we offer compliance tracking for the construction industry. Anyone who deals with a lot of certificates of insurance would greatly benefit from our software. I am on the Customer Success team, helping our partners to implement the software, and then supporting them after implementation to ensure they are successful. My official title is Customer Success and Implementation Specialist.

Which celebrity would be really great at your job, and why?

Ryan Reynolds. He is smart, yet witty. When supporting our partners, it’s important to remain professional, but an element of wittiness just keeps things fun :)

What’s the most valuable thing that working in customer service has taught you?

It is so important to ask good questions to get to the root problem. It’s too easy to jump in and start supporting, only to find out you are solving the wrong problem. Ask questions, orient yourself with the account and problem, then jump in with answers or options.

What’s your greatest productivity hack?

The simple hacks are always my favorite. I use a notes tool as my go-to when I need to take notes from a call or make a quick note of something to follow-up on – anything I need to remember. Then at the end of the day or week, I go back to those notes and send the information wherever it belongs or create tasks to complete things I made a note of. I get slammed in customer success with my attention being pulled in a million directions, and I need one source of truth to keep all the balls in the air.

What gif best describes your mental state right now?

What’s the worst customer service you’ve ever experienced?

My accounting software constantly gave me grief, and it was so frustrating to call in, give all this information, and then be asked for it all over again once I reached a live person. It’s frustrating to have to take time to provide information over and over again. It’s the worst when you are transferred several times and must re-explain the problem!

What’s the one piece of advice you would give to your peers in the customer service industry?

Be curious. It allows you to provide fantastic customer service, and you will be surprised how much you grow when you keep a curious mindset.

What book are you reading at the moment?

The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner.

“From implementation through to account support, my top goal is ensuring the success of our customers”

Where do you get your support leadership news?

I follow numerous leaders on LinkedIn. I love that I can get a breadth of insights from professionals on LinkedIn.

What words make your skin crawl?

“What does [enter any word that is easily google-able] mean?”

How would you explain your job to an alien?

After a sales rep closes a deal, they hand off the company to me. I work with the company to make sure I understand the business’s needs, then work with them to set the software up for them. The last part of what I do is train the software users and provide continual support throughout their life as a customer.

Do you identify more with the title “customer support,” customer service,” “customer success,” or “customer experience,” and why?

I identify with the title “customer success.” From implementation through to account support, my top goal is ensuring the success of our customers.

What do you wish people knew about working in customer service?

It’s not always an easy job, so always be kind :)

Conversation closed… for now 😏