REWORK
Put Everyone on the Front Lines
· Summarized
Key takeaways
- Connecting directly with customers gives teams invaluable insights into real user experiences and perceptions.
- Customer support should be a company-wide activity to foster empathy, improve products, and enhance brand reputation.
- Engaging in support is not a cost but a motivational and strategic tool that benefits everyone.
- Leading by example in customer interactions sets a positive culture and breaks down misconceptions about support roles.
- Handling customer interactions skillfully can turn support episodes into powerful marketing opportunities.
- Authentic communication must be filtered to maintain tone but still sound genuine, creating real human connections.
- Resisting the urge to recite policies without empathy helps build trust and reduces customer frustration.
- Every interaction with a customer is an opportunity to improve, learn, and reinforce the company’s value.
Summary
The Importance of Customer Connection for All Team Members
The hosts discuss the value of every team member engaging directly with customers, emphasizing that such interaction provides unfiltered insights into customer language, frustrations, and perceptions. This exposure helps team members better understand the customer experience and informs product development. Jason Fried shares how at 37Signals, everyone takes turns supporting customers, especially during the company's early days, which also serves as a motivator and a way to build empathy.
Benefits of Direct Customer Support and Engagement
Direct engagement with customers is portrayed as a source of motivation, insight, and brand loyalty. The hosts highlight how talking to customers helps improve products, fosters authentic company communication, and serves as marketing. They emphasize that customer support is not just a cost center but a strategic advantage that influences product quality, company culture, and organic growth through positive word-of-mouth.
Implementing Customer Support as a Company-Wide Practice
The episode stresses that everyone in the company, including executives and founders, should participate in supporting customers. Leading by example is key, and sharing personal experiences from support interactions fosters a culture of empathy and continuous improvement. The hosts also mention that front-line exposure can sometimes be uncomfortable but ultimately leads to better understanding and a more humanized approach to customer interactions.
Challenges and Realities of Customer Support and Company Culture
Some resistance to frontline support is acknowledged, rooted in misconceptions that it is beneath certain roles. The hosts argue against this mindset, stressing that helping customers is integral, motivational, and ultimately beneficial for the entire team. They discuss the importance of filtering authentic voice in communication, maintaining consistent tone, and continuously improving responses based on experience and self-awareness.
Customer Support as an Extension of Marketing and Brand Building
The hosts share how excellent customer service leaves a lasting positive impression, turning customer interactions into organic marketing opportunities. They reference a study indicating that customers who experience good problem resolution are more loyal and likely to advocate for the brand, even more than customers with no issues. Every support interaction is seen as an opportunity to reinforce the company’s values and build long-term loyalty.
Sponsors
- 37Signals · Rework is a production of 37Signals. You can find show notes and transcripts on their website at 37signals.com/podcast. If you have a question for Jason or David, leave a voicemail at 708-628-7850 and it might be answered on a future episode.
Show notes
What is your method of connecting with your customers? Does your product or service make sense to them, and do you understand how they see it?
Our perception of what is easy and straightforward and what the customer perceives as easy and straightforward can sometimes differ, making it vital for everyone on the team to hear directly from the customers without the ‘muffler.‘
Today, the cofounders of 37signals, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, discuss how 37signals gives everyone on the team an opportunity to engage with their customers from their book, Rework, in the chapter called "Put Everyone On The Front Lines."
Show Notes:
[00:40] - Jason shares why it's great to ensure everyone can engage with the company's customers.
[01:47] - David shares why it's vital to hear from the customer without the muffler occasionally.
[03:54] - Why it's crucial to have contact with the customers to remember you're selling to individuals—and it's rewarding, too.
[05:31] - Ensuring everyone gets their chance on the front lines in front of the customers is one of the most important things you can do.
[06:40] - Applying the productivity and insight enhancement process to your team.
[07:35] - It's not wasted talent; it's a motivational, bright spot that pays for itself.
[08:28] - If you think you're too good to help customers, you're in the wrong business.
[10:40] - 'There's no way you can come away from this experience feeling like it was a waste of time. It's just it's impossible. It's actually incredibly enlightening.'
[11:32] - Being on the front lines helps you remember that we are all human, facing our own things outside of what's going on with the software.
[12:52] - Everyone means EVERYONE. Founders show up first and lead by example.
[15:14] - David shares why sometimes your authentic voice DOES need to be filtered.
[16:11] - Jason shares that you're in bad shape whenever you begin to recite the terms of service to a customer.
[18:13] - Why customer support is really marketing.
[19:56] - 600 new email threads daily, tens of thousands of potential ambassadors for your brand = the holy grail of organic growth.
[21:25] - Customer live demos a thing of the future?
[22:25] - Next week, 37signals' head of customer support will share tips on interacting positively with customers, even when they have problems.
Links and Resources:
Do you have a question for Jason and David? Leave us a voicemail at 708-628-7850
Dev.37signals
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