Response Time: Vol. 33
In our latest “Response Time” interview, we ask Sam Miller, Support Operations Manager at Dental Intelligence, about the most valuable thing their job has taught them, what they wish people knew about working in customer service, and more.
You satisfy your customers, but can you satisfy our curiosity?
With Sam Miller, Support Operations Manager at Dental Intelligence.
Please tell us a little bit about your company and what you do there.
Dental Intelligence is the only end-to-end practice performance solution in the dental market. We help practices increase production, number of visits, and collections while decreasing overheads using actionable insights and automation. I am our Support Operations Manager, so I do what our software does for our customers! I gather actionable insights and implement automation to reduce our overheads.
What word or phrase in customer service jargon should be retired?
“Escalated.” It’s a buzzword that gets trees rattled, but the definition is so loose. Most of the time, trees don’t need to be rattled.
“Be kind. Be understanding. Be authentic”
Which celebrity would be really great at your job, and why?
Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada). She’s constantly adapting and evolving to an ever-changing work environment, and if a few words sum up CS in 2024, they’re “ever changing.”
What’s the most valuable thing that working in customer service has taught you?
Be kind. Be understanding. Be authentic. You never know what the person on the other side is going through. We all have stressors, and we react differently to them. If we are our genuine, kind selves, we may just make someone’s day a bit brighter.
Describe the essence of great customer service using only three words.
Kindness, understanding, authenticity.
Which movie robot would you choose as your AI sidekick, and why?
Alpha 5 from Power Rangers. He keeps the ship running and tidy while the frontliners are out there doing what needs to get done.
“Listen to your team. They know what’s wrong, they have ideas to fix it, and they want to be involved”
What can you do that a bot will never be able to replicate?
Actively listen and empathize with a customer’s situation.
What’s the one piece of advice you would give to your peers in the customer service industry?
Listen to your team. They know what’s wrong, they have ideas to fix it, and they want to be involved. When you’re making a change, bring them along. Let them guide the ship with you and help navigate the seas.
If customer service was an Olympic sport, what would be the main event?
P1 outage handling. Your inbound volume is up 300%, you haven’t heard an ETA for a fix yet, and four teammates called in sick. Who can achieve the highest CSAT?
Where do you get your support leadership news?
The Intercom Blog, LinkedIn, and Support Driven in Slack.
What do you wish people knew about working in customer service?
We are humans too. We don’t want your system to be broken. We want you to succeed with our product.
If you wrote a book about your experiences in customer service, what would the title be?
“And Here … We … Go.”
Conversation closed… for now 😏