What is the Definition of “Customer Support”?
I had an interesting e-mail exchange with an author recently about the changing face of Customer Support. His contention was that Support organizations would be forced to change away from traditional “break/fix” to a more consultative role as the method of delivery of software changed from installed to SaaS.
It was a very interesting and thought provoking discussion, but I didn’t agree with him that the catalyst for this change was simply SaaS. As I began thinking more about this, I realized that I’ve never run a company where the support organization was simply “break/fix”. The role of Support, in my mind, has always been about maximizing the customers’ use of the software. Yes, this encompasses the normal break/fix, but it also must be much broader.
To help illustrate the point, let’s look at a few selected definitions of the word “Support” (full list can be found here):
- to bear or hold up (a load, mass, structure, part, etc.); serve as a foundation for.
- to sustain (a person, the mind, spirits, courage, etc.) under trial or affliction
- to uphold (a person, cause, policy, etc.) by aid
- to maintain or advocate
I personally like the second part of the first definition, and have always used it as the objective for my companies’ support operations: “Serve as a foundation for”. Customer Support, in it’s best incarnation, is a foundation for customers. This does not mean just break/fix.
The middle two definitions as are close to “break/fix” as the dictionary gets, but even these are much broader.
The final definition is perhaps the best: A Customer Support organization should be the advocate for the customer.
Once the sales team has converted a prospect into a customer, generally the Customer Support team takes over that relationship. Any issue that the customer has, from simply needing help with a problem in the software to needing new features or bug fixes, are addressed by the Support team. The Support Team needs to have a tight integration with product development (to fix bugs) and product management (to add new features) so that they can be the advocate for the customer and ensure their success.
A good Support team is also a consultative group and not reactive. They should be working with customers before problems occur – The relationship should be more closely aligned with the “foundation” definition as opposed to the “sustain under affliction” one.
Will the adoption of SaaS as a delivery model for software move more Support organization away from traditional break/fix to consultative? I don’t think so.
I think good Support organizations have been trending in that direction for several years, no matter the method of software delivery. Good companies have good Support organizations, and those Support organizations are the advocates for the customer.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!
- Robert
