{"id":23469,"date":"2020-04-14T10:23:31","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T09:23:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/?p=23469"},"modified":"2020-09-17T11:10:31","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T10:10:31","slug":"leading-your-support-team-through-a-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/leading-your-support-team-through-a-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading your support team through a crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cA team takes its tone from its leader,\u201d says our Global Director of Customer Support Kaitlin Pettersen. When an unprecedented crisis like COVID-19 hits how do you provide your team with the guidance they need?<\/p>\n<p>Your support team is likely experiencing an array of unprecedented stressors right now, like tackling high conversation volumes, resolving stressed-out customers&#8217; issues, and abruptly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/remote-customer-support\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">transitioning to working remotely.<\/a> It\u2019s no surprise then that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/covid-19-customer-support-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">74% of support leaders have seen a dip in team morale.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Being a leader during a pandemic doesn\u2019t come with a \u201cplaybook.\u201d Yet it\u2019s more important than ever to support your team and provide them with the reassurance, resources, and encouragement they need.<\/p>\n<p>We spoke to support leaders at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Intercom<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ShipBob<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/wistia.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wistia<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accurx.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">accuRx<\/a> to find out how they\u2019re helping their teams navigate difficult conversations, avoid burnout, and keep up their morale. Here are their tips:<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"provide-a-safe-space\">Provide a safe space<\/h2>\n<p>In this uncertain time, your team needs a sense of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/psychological-safety\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">psychological safety<\/a> more than ever. That sense of safety must come from the top \u2013 directly from your leadership team. So, first and foremost, provide your support managers with the resources and emotional support they need to foster a safe environment for their direct reports.<\/p>\n<p>That includes having strong one-to-ones with support managers and giving them the time and space they need to support their teams. Intercom&#8217;s Global Director of Customer Support <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/author\/kpetterman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kaitlin Pettersen<\/a> says:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\" width=\"150px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/kaitlin-pettersen.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\">\u201cNow more than ever it\u2019s really important to ensure that you have a great leadership team and that you are pouring your energy and resources into them because everything trickles down from them.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Remember, a team takes its tone from its leader. So strive to show up as a calm, confident, and authentic presence for your team. Intercom&#8217;s Senior Customer Support Manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/author\/ruthobrienire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ruth O&#8217;Brien<\/a> says:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\" width=\"150px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ruth-obrien-200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\">\u201cIt\u2019s important to strike a good balance between being honest about how you&#8217;re feeling and not pretending to be perfect, but also being calm and leading by example. As a leader it\u2019s your job to be strong for your team.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2 id=\"arm-your-team-with-the-information-they-need\">Arm your team with the information they need<\/h2>\n<p>During a crisis like COVID-19, your business is likely making rapid decisions that will affect how your support team communicates with your customers, like how you\u2019re:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Helping customers who are on the verge of churning<\/li>\n<li>Or supporting customers who are facing financial difficulties<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To set your team up for success, you\u2019ll need to provide them with a regular stream of up-to-date information. Just be mindful that your team&#8217;s time and emotional bandwidth may be a little more constrained than usual right now. So rather than firing off sporadic bursts of information, Intercom&#8217;s Senior Customer Support Manager Bobby Stapleton recommends taking a more thoughtful approach:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\" width=\"150px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/bobby-stapleton.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\">\u201cCommunicate on a regular cadence. Keep people informed, but don\u2019t overwhelm them. I do a morning stand-up for my team every morning and I publish a daily Slack post to ensure people are getting all of the information they need. That\u2019s better than overwhelming people with four or five different pings throughout the day.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Create and update support enablement resources<\/h3>\n<p>As a leader you\u2019ll want to make sure that your team (and the wider company) has all of the information they need at their fingertips to answer your customers\u2019 questions. One effective way to do this is create and update support enablement resources, like <a href=\"https:\/\/help.getguru.com\/articles\/c5njqr9i\/Public-Cards-Overview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Guru cards<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/help\/en\/articles\/206-respond-to-customers-faster-with-saved-replies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">saved replies<\/a> for common scenarios. Kaitlin says:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\" width=\"150px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/kaitlin-pettersen.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\">\u201cOur enablement team updates our resources on a daily and weekly basis, so that our whole team of 100+ sales people and support people all have one centralized, regularly updated resource with everything that they need to support our customers.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Ecommerce fulfillment platform <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shipbob<\/a>, also keep their entire company well informed of any customer experience updates with a live Q&amp;A document. SVP of Customer Experience Margaret Kedziora says:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\" width=\"150px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Margaret-Kedziora.jpg\" alt=\"Margaret Kedziora, SVP of Customer Experience, ShipBob\" width=\"200\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\">\u201cWe keep a running Q&amp;A document that is public across the company, so anybody can ask questions and we can provide company-wide answers. At times like this it&#8217;s also critical that the team is transparent about what we can do, and also can not do, so that we do not make promises that we cannot keep.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Be personal and authentic<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes, in a challenging period the best way to connect with your team and provide the reassurance and morale boost they need is to have an honest, stripped-back conversation. Ditch the polished slides and perfectly crafted speech and show up as your authentic self. Kaitlin says:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\" width=\"150px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/kaitlin-pettersen.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\">\u201cI recently held an impromptu all-hands meeting where we got our team of 80 people on a call for 20 minutes. There were no slides. I talked to them from this tiny room I\u2019m working from, spoke straight into the camera sincerely and genuinely about what we\u2019re doing, what the changes are, and most importantly why we\u2019re doing it.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2 id=\"help-your-team-deal-with-difficult-conversations\">Help your team deal with difficult conversations<\/h2>\n<p>Right now a lot of your customers will be understandably more on edge than normal. Your support team may be dealing with a large volume of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/how-to-support-angry-customers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">difficult, sensitive conversations<\/a> \u2013 customers who may be experiencing financial difficulty, those who are on the verge of churning, etc. These difficult conversations require not just mental, but also emotional work. If your support team doesn&#8217;t get the support they need they may feel emotionally fatigued.<\/p>\n<p>Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures. So, don\u2019t be afraid to step in to help out. For example, you might want to take on extra tough conversations yourself, like <a href=\"https:\/\/wistia.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wistia\u2019s<\/a> Customer Support Manager Jordan Munson. He says:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\" width=\"150px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Jordan-Munsen.jpg\" alt=\"Jordan Munsen, Customer Support Manager, Wistia\" width=\"202\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\">\u201cIn terms of helping our team deal with tough customers I&#8217;m generally just trying to let them offload those conversations to me since they&#8217;re relatively infrequent. In ideal circumstances I&#8217;m helping them manage those conversations better into the future, but the current context makes it such that simply offloading it is the most helpful to champs and their general mental state.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>It\u2019s also important to clear the hurdles for your team so they\u2019re empowered to answer complex questions themselves. At Intercom, we recently provided our support team with training to help them to deal with commercial conversations, like those centered around billing and subscriptions. In addition, Bobby has been working with his team to help them proactively plan for resolving these more complex conversations. Bobby says:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\" width=\"150px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/bobby-stapleton.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\">\u201cIf your team has to come to you every time for an approval for a response they\u2019ll tire super quickly. So, take some time to anticipate what is going to be difficult about those conversations and collaborate with your team to proactively come up with possible solutions.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2 id=\"prioritize-mental-health-above-support-kpis\">Prioritize mental health above support KPIs<\/h2>\n<p>As Kaitlin says, \u201cThis is not a normal time and these are not normal conversations.\u201d The data echoes this sentiment: since the outbreak, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/covid-19-customer-support-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CSAT scores have declined by 28%<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/covid-19-customer-support-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer wait times have increased by 27 minutes<\/a>. The outbreak has also resulted in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/covid-19-customer-support-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">42% of support leaders believing they will not meet their goals<\/a> this month.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote-style-two\"><p>&#8220;Your team and their health are far more important than any metric&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Ease up your expectations of your team&#8217;s performance during this time. You set goals and KPIs during a vastly different period when your conversation volume and your customers\u2019 needs and temperament were different.<\/p>\n<p>Your team and their health are far more important than any metric. So, encourage them to prioritize their mental health, take breaks, and put themselves first. Ruth says:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\" width=\"150px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ruth-obrien-200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\">\u201cOur team cares so much about helping our customers and hitting their KPIs. Sometimes you can see it getting on top of them to the point where it feels like it&#8217;s the only thing in the world that matters. But their mental health is more important. Encourage them to take a beat and put things in perspective.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2 id=\"recognize-your-teams-impact\">Recognize your team&#8217;s impact<\/h2>\n<p>The support role has never been more critical or more visible to an organization than during this crisis. Support teams are dealing with conversations that are both sensitive and commercial in nature \u2013 making and breaking customer loyalty, satisfaction, and retention.<\/p>\n<p>Your team can easily get lost in a sea of conversations and lose sight of why they&#8217;re working so hard. It&#8217;s your job to remind them <em>why<\/em> and <em>how <\/em>their hard work matters. Take the time to publicly acknowledge and celebrate impactful wins \u2013 not just within your own team, but also within the wider organization. Bobby says:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\" width=\"150px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/bobby-stapleton.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\">\u201cWe emphasize and recognize the importance of our team\u2019s work. We share stories of how we\u2019re helping our customers \u2013 the real importance of that on a customer level and the business or revenue impact, like customer loyalty, customer experience, etc.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2 id=\"let-automation-do-the-repetitive-work\">Let automation do the repetitive work<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/covid-19-customer-support-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Inbound conversation volume has more than doubled<\/a> for nearly half of support teams since the outbreak. With all of that extra mental (and let\u2019s face it \u2013 often emotional) work, your support team shouldn\u2019t have to handle every element of every support conversation that pops in the inbox.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, you can set up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/automated-customer-service\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bots and automation<\/a> to take care of the repetitive tasks, like answering simple customer questions. When healthcare startup <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accurx.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">accuRx<\/a>\u00a0experienced a huge surge in conversation volume due to COVID-19, they turned to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/campaign\/resolution-bot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Resolution Bot<\/a> to help pick up some of the slack. User Operations Lead Vicky Firth says:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border: 0px;\">\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\" width=\"150px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Vicky-Firth.jpg\" alt=\"Vicky Firth, User Operations Lead, accuRx\" width=\"200\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 0px;\">\u201cWe&#8217;ve been able to set up quite a few auto-responses using Resolution Bot while we investigate improving the product to make permanent changes, as well as implementing it for our ongoing standard queries.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The support team at accuRx are also using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/customizable-bots\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Custom Bots<\/a> to gather data about their customers so they can quickly understand who they are and what their issue is related to before chatting.<\/p>\n<p>At Intercom, we&#8217;ve set up a dedicated team to manage our COVID-19 conversations. We use Custom Bots to better understand our customers&#8217; needs and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/help\/en\/articles\/1544988-automatically-route-sales-and-support-conversations-to-the-right-team\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">automatically route<\/a> pressing conversations to that dedicated team inbox.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Covid-Custom-Bot-Response.gif\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/automated-customer-service\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carefully-considered automation<\/a> frees your support team up with the bandwidth and emotional capacity they need to manage more complex conversations that require a personal, human touch.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"foster-fun-and-connection\">Foster fun and connection<\/h2>\n<p>When your team is incredibly busy it can be easy to let \u201cfun\u201d slip down your list of priorities. But taking time to casually connect is <em>essential<\/em> for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Keeping your team\u2019s spirits high<\/li>\n<li>Helping take the edge off long hours and difficult conversations<\/li>\n<li>And fostering personal relationships in a remote setting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Consciously carve out the time and space to connect, laugh, and let off steam. Your team will thank you for it. Here are some ideas to try:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Create a team Spotify playlist together.<\/li>\n<li>Schedule regular coffee catch-ups over Zoom.<\/li>\n<li>Create a Slack channel to discuss the latest TV shows you\u2019re watching or the latest hobbies you&#8217;re pursuing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"leaders-need-support-too\">Leaders need support too<\/h2>\n<p>Being an effective leader is tough in the best of times, but it&#8217;s so much harder during a global pandemic. Don\u2019t forget to prioritize your own mental health and give yourself a break. Instead of striving for &#8220;perfection&#8221;, simply try your best and learn as you go.<\/p>\n<p>If you need additional support we&#8217;re here to help:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/help\/en\/articles\/3822642-tips-for-using-intercom-to-help-with-your-covid-19-response\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How Intercom can help with your COVID-19 response<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/automated-customer-service\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Automated customer service: Support customers at scale<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/customer-communications-in-a-crisis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How to manage your support communications during a crisis<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/remote-customer-support\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Helping from afar: Running customer support remotely<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Need something else? <a href=\"https:\/\/intercominc.typeform.com\/to\/ErdVRN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Let us know here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A team takes its tone from its leader. When a crisis like COVID-19 occurs, how do you lead by example and provide them with the guidance and reassurance they need?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":23476,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"category":[3],"tags":[22006],"coauthors":[408],"class_list":["post-23469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-customer-support","tag-support-leadership"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Leading your support team through a crisis - The Intercom Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A team takes its tone from it\u2019s leader. 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