Inter-team communication (communicating with other teams within the organization) is beyond vital. With Support typically being the main customer-facing team, it’s really draining and difficult to make sure all lines of communication are open at all times in all ways with everyone. Since many teams and companies work remote (this includes those of us with remote employees OR even employees on different floors), a chat system is crucial. We currently use Slack — and love it. But some of the best things out that come out of this are the creative uses we have yoked on it.
For churn, we have a channel devoted to document and learn the reasons for churn. Although some may see this channel as depressing, it’s actually amazingly encouraging to me and others because 1) everyone in the company reads it intently and 2) it’s a super tight feedback loop on how we’re doing. Concerned about having a blind spot in your company? This adds visibility.
We’ve made significant changes because of this. We’re not ashamed of it. It can be difficult to read at times, but, without sounding overly optimistic, it gives us the criticism that we’re afraid of hearing and yet so desperately need to hear!
For Support feedback, we have all customer ratings (good, bad, and extremely thorough) piped in from Zendesk into a separate Slack channel via webhooks. This is where everyone on the company can see what we’re doing well on as a Support team. It’s uplifting and encouraging.
In all of this, we’d never want to over-emphasize the positive at the neglect the other or vice versa. Both are vital. Both are necessary. Both provide deep and lasting insights into our company and how we should reinforce it. I encourage everyone to do the same or similar. If technology doesn’t permit, then a simple Google doc would do. The important aspect is consistent and frequent feedback to hear positives and negatives — both which could be blindspots for you.
Jeff Beaumont 