246: Chase Clemons, Basecamp’s Customer Service Ethic

Adam and Jeannie discuss Basecamp’s customer service ethic and tackle some of the top challenges faced by support professionals. Fine-tuning your customer service ethic If there's one thing customer service leaders need support with, it's connecting with, understanding, and  supporting their own customers! Today’s guest, Chase Clemons, hears all the challenges faced by businesses of varied sizes, then helps them make the right decisions. He’s made it part of his mission to help them help their own customers, and he's sharing some of his best insights today. “I wish more people knew the customer team was one of the core strengths of your company.” -Chase Clemons Not only does Chase help Basecamp customers use the product, but he helps them find ways to innovate around the support customers need. He shares fascinating stories, relatable examples, and powerful tips you can use in your organization. “When you make a solid hire, you don’t need a lot of processes in place.” -Chase Clemons Providing great service is not about processes, and it’s certainly not about how much you’ve invested. It’s about setting realistic expectations, hiring right to deliver on them, and scaling to fit. “When you act your size, you’re going to get all the advantages of being a quick and nimble team.” -Chase Clemons If you’d like to improve the outcomes of your own customer programs, sharpen your pencil, because you’ll want to take notes on this episode! Interview highlights What is Basecamp, and why are thy known for customer support? [2:35] Chase describes some of the most common challenges Basecamp customers have in delivering great support. [5:25] Chase shares examples of how empowered employees supersede policies to drive great experiences and amazing support. [8:35] What are some inspiring ways companies are innovating around customer service? [12:20] What do leaders need to know about customer support organizations like Basecamp? [17:15]   About our guest Chase Clemons, a support lead at Basecamp with his own customer service podcast, who devours lessons from brands as varied as Wegman’s, Nordstrom’s and Amazon, as well as his own 5+ years of experience, to continually enhance Basecamp’s customer service program. Chase’s industry knowledge is deep and wide, and he’d love to share customer service best practices with your readers so that they can easily improve outcomes for their own customer programs. For example, he often helps users with questions unrelated to Basecamp - chiming in on why their Outlook isn't working or why their Twitter messages aren't coming to their phone. I’d also be able to put you in touch with Jason to talk about why the C-Suite needs to care more about customer outcomes than any other operational effort. Connect with Chase Twitter Support Ops Basecamp Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Add Magic to your Customer Service Training Customers That Stick® post, Creating a Customer Service Culture with Jeff Toister Episode 237: Peter Friedman, Customer Service Messaging Apps Episode 204: (Tip) Customer Service Leadership We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices