Huge thanks to HelpSpot for being the first to sponsor Support Ops.

HelpSpot lets you manage email, provide customer self service, and handle an unlimited number of tickets all for $239/agent for life. Customers can contact you through email, phone, or a web help site. Best of all, you can download it yourself to run on your own servers or partner with them to host it. You actually own it rather than just renting it from some company.

It’s a free 45 day trial with absolutely no strings attached. Save $100 when you check it out at helpspot.com/supportops.

It’s been a busy few weeks here at Support Ops! A lot of new things happening so I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss any along the way.

Ask Support Ops

Have a question for me? Or a special topic you want me to talk about? You can leave your message here and be on the next podcast show. Super easy and really fun!

Sponsorships

Thanks to the great team at Memberful, you can now sponsor the site. Unlike most sites out there, I don’t follow the typical advertising model. Advertising is a way for someone to interrupt your day with some message that’s probably not worth your time. You give me your time each day and I won’t abuse that with ads. Our relationship is built on trust and I intend to keep that.

Instead, I’m going to test out exclusive, week-long sponsorships to people who want to be partners instead of advertisers. Check it out here.

The Jobs Page

There’s a ton of new jobs there. If you’re looking for a job or want to get the word out about one, definitely head over to that page. I’ve already heard that Wistia found some great candidates just by posting to it.

Around the web

The guys over at The Industry were kind enough to let me talk about support on their show. It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend the podcast in general. Give it a listen here.

New Series

As the other Chase continues on the customer support app series, I’m going on a parallel track with a look at tools that can help support teams but aren’t necessarily those traditional support apps. Things like live chat, survey apps, real-time customer analytics, Twitter / Facebook for teams, etc. All those other things that can help a support team do an even better job.

Got one that you love? Let me know about it here

That’s a wrap

I’m really excited by what’s going on! Support Ops isn’t even a year old yet but you ladies and gents have really created a great community here.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Finding a job is always tough. For many of the places I’ve worked, I happened to see the right job post or know the right person at the right time. But when it comes to great customer support jobs at a company you really want to work for, it’s almost impossible to find without searching dozens of sites.

Let’s put together a resource to help others to find great jobs like ours.

Where do you send people looking for jobs in customer support? Friends at other companies? Job boards?

[UPDATE]: The new jobs page just went live. Read more about it here.

Wow – March already. It’s crazy how fast 2013 has gone by so far.

I had a few different guest posts and articles go up this week around the web. Definitely make sure to check them out. Lots of good info about writing emails and using snippets.

Help Scout – Great Customer Support Faster with Text Expander

Nimble – Writing Better Support Emails (For Humans)

The podcast is on Player.fm now if that’s your preferred podcasting site. Now go check those articles out and show Help Scout and Nimble some comment love!

I’m always dreaming up new ways to help you better when it comes to supporting your customers. Can you take 60 seconds and let me know what you think?

Take the quick survey here.

I’m a big fan of spending holiday time with the family. That’s what holidays are for, right?

So you might not see me online as much this week. In lieu of awesome support articles, I’ll leave you with the Star Wars Christmas specials.

I’ll see you on the flip side with new authors, more articles, and even a surprise or two.

Enjoy your holidays! 

I love reading Adam’s articles over at Customers That Stick so when he started doing guest posts, you know I was all over it.  My guest post went live today there. Click on the link below and go check it out!

“How a Small Team Can Produce Results”

Since it’s Christmas, I know you’re super busy out decorating, spending time with your family, and the myriad of other things that happen during this time of the year. I’ll keep this one short.

Thank you

I wanted to say thanks.

You’ve helped to make Support Ops amazing this year. Our community has grown as more people hear about us. I get emails each week from people asking how they can help. Since it’s start only six months ago, it’s become more than I could have imagined.

So thank you. You’re awesome.

Expanding the team

With 2013 just around the corner, I’m starting to look ahead more. You’ll see more guest articles from other fantastic support people. The podcast is a hit so you’ll hear more guests on the show. The team behind Support Ops is expanding so it’s not just me anymore, although you’ll still hear and see from my often.

I’m looking for:

1. Writers – You’ve got some great experiences and lessons learned from working support. I’d love for you to share them with the community here. Here’s what you need to know.
2. Podcast Guests – Work on a support team and like to talk about it? I’d love to have you as a guest on the Support Ops Podcast. Let me know you’re interested here.
3. News Scouts – With 2013, I’d love to put bring more of a news and links component to Support Ops. Of course, I can’t comb through every support blog and site out there, although I’ve got a ton in my RSS reader. I need some dedicated scouts to make sure we don’t miss any customer support related greatness. Same as before, let me know you’re interested here.

If you just want to get more involved in general, contact me here. It’ll come straight to me and I’ll be more than happy to work with you on your contributions.

Onward

2012 was for seeing if this idea could work. You’ve proven than it does and I can’t wait to see what 2013 has in store.

Thank you for supporting and making our community what it’s become.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Unless you live outside the United States. I love working with my British mates but it’s not Thanksgiving there. So if you’re from outside the States, Happy Thursday! Or maybe Wednesday or Friday depending on when you read this.

After you finished up the turkey, check out these easy ways to say thanks to your customers. Or if you’d rather just chillax (yep, I totally just brought that one out), listen to the latest podcast episodes. Or just take a nap. I’m all for the power of naps.

I’m enjoying some family time the rest of the week but Support Ops will be back again on Monday. Enjoy your weekend!