June 2020 Summaries

The Conversational Support Funnel Starter Kit is a new guide that helps modern support teams provide personal, efficient support to customers at any scale. Customer expectations are high, and support teams are struggling with rising conversation volumes, making it essential to find ways to provide fast, convenient support without overloading the team. The kit provides a proven framework for automatically resolving simple queries, an interactive worksheet to plan a Conversational Support Funnel, effective tactics for resolving issues more personally and quickly, advice on metrics to measure, and guidance on getting buy-in from stakeholders. By using this guide, teams can improve customer loyalty, reduce workload and wellbeing concerns, and stay ahead of the curve in providing a world-class customer experience that is no longer optional for business survival.

The internet is driving an explosion in customer choice, allowing businesses to easily switch to those who provide better experiences. Customer expectations are rising, and they expect faster support resolutions. Businesses that invest in a messenger-based approach to customer support, known as the Conversational Support Funnel, are growing faster and seeing happier customer scores. The funnel has three layers: Proactive Support, Self-serve Support, and Human Support, which work together to provide efficient and effective support. With the global pandemic accelerating this shift, businesses need to adapt to new technologies that enable them to do more with less, such as messengers, Bots, and proactive messaging. The internet scale and changing customer expectations are driving a seismic change in customer support, and businesses that don't follow will be left behind.

Eoghan, Intercom's CEO, is stepping down after nearly 10 years and will become the company's Chairman. Karen Peacock, currently COO, will take over as CEO, bringing her strategic leadership and ambition to drive growth and innovation at Intercom. The transition marks a new chapter for the company, with plans to expand into bigger markets, accelerate business momentum, innovate products, and invest in its people. Eoghan expressed gratitude to his colleagues, customers, investors, and board members, who have supported him throughout his tenure, and Karen shared her excitement about leading Intercom forward. The company aims to build on its success, tackle new challenges, and create a brighter future for all employees.

Mobile Carousels are a mobile-first approach to customer engagement designed to build deeply personal, long-lasting relationships with customers. They offer a versatile and customizable way to reach, engage, and support customers on their smartphones, helping businesses to achieve several goals spanning the customer lifecycle. With features such as fine-grained audience targeting, A/B testing, goal tracking, and more, Mobile Carousels provide a perfect tool for onboarding, nurture and retention campaigns, announcements, proactive support, and driving action from customers. They are highly customizable, focusing on helping customers take the next best action, with clean, modern designs that feel at home in mobile apps. Mobile Carousels have been shown to consistently increase 21-day retention by 5 percentage points, making them a powerful tool for businesses looking to improve their customer engagement and retention strategies.

The key to fierce customer loyalty lies in the support team. For nearly a century, companies focused on delivering value to stakeholders and employees first, then to customers. However, with crowded markets and the rise of subscription models, businesses now need to prioritize both conversion and retention to avoid financial ruin. Customers expect more from their interactions with brands, building relationships through mundane but meaningful experiences with frontline employees. Support teams turn company promises into experiences that drive long-term loyalty, a crucial factor in customer retention, growth, and sustainable success. By focusing on customers, companies can adopt a "customer capitalism" approach, putting customers at the top of the pecking order, prioritizing their satisfaction above maximizing financial returns for investors or employees. A great product is necessary but not enough; delivering a support experience that's just as good, reducing friction and increasing satisfaction, and enabling customers to help themselves through automation are essential strategies. By investing in customer care, companies can create fierce loyalty and faster growth.

To drive business growth through customer relationships is crucial for long-term success, but often overlooked in favor of metrics like CAC and LTV. Connecting with customers as people, not numbers, requires work, especially as teams scale up. Scale aims to help by sharing advice from support, marketing, and sales leaders who have forged deep connections with their customers and new paths for their companies. The platform offers expert insights, industry research and trend reports, and conversations with top leaders in support, marketing, and sales. It provides real advice, next generation ideas, and answers to top business problems, enabling businesses to build resilient growth grounded in strong customer relationships.

Product Judgment is a learned skill that exists to help individuals accurately predict what customers need, want, and value. It's not innate and takes years to build, ranging from weak to strong. Great Product Managers and Designers have strong Product Judgment due to their understanding of how to get it through deliberate work and dedication. This judgment can be applied in various areas such as roadmapping, scoping, designing, and making roadmap decisions. To obtain Product Judgment, one must have direct experiences with customers, observing and talking to them widely to cover different domains. It's a never-ending journey, and building strong Product Judgment requires continually checking and refining it. With experience, one can build strong judgment in specific domains, such as industry or product areas, but it's not transferable across different domains. The process of building strong Product Judgment involves falling in love with talking to customers, overcoming inhibitions, and pattern matching to accurately predict customer behavior.

The text discusses strategies for building a resilient business in the face of challenges such as the current pandemic. It highlights the importance of clear communication, open dialogue with customers and employees, and making decisions quickly with just enough information to take action. Leaders are advised to consider the needs of their employees, including providing support during times of crisis, and ask their customers what they need now and in the future. Additionally, partnerships with other businesses can provide a steady stream of referral traffic or commission, contributing to financial success during trying times. The text also emphasizes the importance of listening to customer feedback, nurturing employee relationships, and improving business performance to build resilience for the long-term.

This summary provides an overview of the key points in a text about product design career development as an individual contributor. The main focus is on achieving growth and success in this role, which requires consistently demonstrating impact across various competencies. The recipe for career development involves mixing equal parts positive behavior and results to achieve high performance. Seven key behaviors are identified that are essential for high-performing designers, including being goal-oriented, optimizing for continuous progression, being organized, being an opportunist, being a communicator, being a collaborator, and living one's values. These behaviors can help individuals improve their technical skills, work more effectively with others, and demonstrate leadership in their role.