{"id":46160,"date":"2022-04-28T09:37:13","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T14:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getflywheel.com\/layout\/?p=46160"},"modified":"2022-04-28T09:37:13","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T14:37:13","slug":"customer-support-layers","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/case-studies\/resources\/customer-support-layers\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating Layers of Customer Support"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Shrek taught us that ogres are like onions, but what he forgot to mention is that your customer support strategy is also a lot like an onion: there should be layers. That is to say, there should be steps your customers can take to help themselves before<\/em> you have to get involved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a small or solo team setting, providing lots of support sounds like putting in lots of extra hours, but supporting your customers doesn\u2019t have to mean giving up your personal time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting boundaries for yourself within your customer support strategy is helpful in the long run for both you and your customers. For your clients, putting a support process in place provides them with clear steps they can take so they never feel forgotten when they\u2019re at their most vulnerable\u2014aka, when a site is down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For freelancers and small agencies, creating reasonable boundaries between yourself and your clients\u2019 requests protects you from endless calls and questions that interrupt your day and cause undue stress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, take some time to peel back the layers of your own customer support onion. If you find there are fewer layers of support than you\u2019d like, try creating more cushion for customers in need with these five ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provide a Help Doc<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you start a new relationship with a client or launch a new site, prep your clients for the complications of site ownership with a help doc that shows them how to navigate the back end of their site and make small changes without your team\u2019s intervention. This first layer of your customer support can put an end to the onslaught of \u201cquick question\u201d emails and calls you\u2019d otherwise receive after handing off a site to its new owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If possible, set up a training session with your client to walk them through some of the important features they\u2019ll use on the site as well. This hands-on experience will boost the client\u2019s confidence in their own abilities, and they\u2019re more likely to try fixing minor issues if they\u2019re already familiar with the site. If anything, it will give clients the tools they need to put a band-aid on most issues until you can figure out how to fix them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refine Your Auto Responses\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

New clients who you haven\u2019t built a personal relationship with yet may not feel as comfortable contacting you for a small issue as a client you\u2019ve worked with for a while. When this happens, some clients will turn to social media or a chat bot for \u201cquick\u201d responses\u2014but then they get left on read, or worse, they get stuck answering endless questions from  a chatbot without getting the help they need. Make sure you\u2019re checking your inbox on the platforms you use regularly so that important messages don\u2019t go unnoticed, and if you haven\u2019t recently, test what it\u2019s like to actually interact with your auto responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bots and auto responses are a great way to reassure your clients that you\u2019ll respond in a timely manner, but be careful not to rely on them too much. Instead of setting up a bot that asks multiple (and often impersonal) questions for clients to answer, use auto-response features to assure your clients that their message has been received and provide a timeframe for when they can expect a response<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Create Separation Between Work and Home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Individual freelance professionals and members of small teams often rely on their personal phone for work and life. This can lead to undue stress, increased burnout, and an inability to \u201cshut off\u201d the work day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You probably already have separate work and personal email accounts, so why not take the same approach with your phone? Instead of allowing your clients unfettered access to your personal time, get a specific phone and number for your work-related endeavors if possible. This will allow you to firmly set boundaries between your work and personal time<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell Clients When You\u2019re Unreachable<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We all have lives outside of work\u2014your clients understand this more than you may think. If you\u2019re going on vacation, welcoming a new child, dealing with an emergency, or taking more than a few days off for any reason, tell your clients you\u2019ll be unavailable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When possible, give clients a heads up before you\u2019re OOO (although it\u2019s not always possible to do so). Keep your message simple, provide clients with a short-term point of contact, and try to give a realistic timeframe for when you\u2019ll be back. You don\u2019t owe anyone an explanation for why<\/em> you\u2019ll be gone, but part of client management is making sure your work integrates seamlessly with your clients\u2019\u2014 and that\u2019s not possible if they can\u2019t reach you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check in Regularly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If the only times you\u2019re talking with a client are when they\u2019re experiencing a problem, you\u2019re not providing all the layers of support your customers need. Plus, preemptively reaching out and keeping an open line of communication means you\u2019re less likely to receive panicked calls late at night about a site issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tools like Growth Suite<\/a> can automate client reports that look and feel like they\u2019ve come straight from your business\u2014but the content takes minutes, not hours, to compile. Sending regular client reports lets your clients know you\u2019re thinking about their success online, even when they\u2019re busy taking care of their business.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communication Begets Trust (and Return Customers)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By making sure your clients feel cared for when they\u2019re dealing with the most frustrating parts of site ownership, you can ensure you\u2019re the person they return to for new projects in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To start making the most of your communication strategy now, talk with our team about the ways Growth Suite<\/a> can automate important touch points between you and your customers, so they feel heard all the time\u2014not just when they\u2019re in trouble.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shrek taught us that ogres are like onions, but what he forgot to mention is that your customer support strategy is also a lot like an onion: there should be layers. That is to say, there should be steps your customers can take to help themselves before you have to get involved.  In a small…<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":318,"featured_media":30862,"template":"","resource-topic":[],"resource-role":[],"resource-type":[916],"class_list":["post-46160","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nCreating layers of customer support<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Instead of allowing your customers to call you up for every little question, use these tips to build layers of support that protect your time\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Creating layers of customer support\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Instead of allowing your customers to call you up for every little question, use 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