Not Making a Decision is Still a Decision | #customersupport #supporticket

In business and in life, making a decision is easy when you’re working with a true partner and together can weigh all the factors involved towards making the right decision. In a specific example, the same can be said when it comes to making decisions that impact your B2B customer support teams’ success.

As a customer support leader, you have to make a million decisions a day, and many, if not most of them, involve helping to solve customer issues. But leave room in your decision-making bandwidth for those that involve providing the tools and resources your support agents need to best service your customers and to feel fulfilled and happy in their jobs.

When there is a need in your department, the key is to not put off making a decision either for lack of time or in fear of making the wrong move. Because really, not making a decision is still a decision. And there can be consequences in delaying!

Let’s start with a big one. How do you decide when it’s time to switch your B2B customer support software? And what happens if you don’t? Here’s an ominous hint: It can be painful for both your support team, your customers, and your bottom line.

Take a close look at your current support organization and see if any of these scenarios sound familiar:

• Can managing support interactions be chaotic? If you are still relying on spreadsheets to manage different areas of customer support, managing tickets with e-mail, and struggling with software systems that don’t integrate seamlessly, it is probably a chaotic environment. That makes it tough for agents to remain positive and proactive in their interactions with customers and frustrating for customers who can’t get their issues resolved efficiently.
• Is the chaotic work environment causing agent turnover? If a support team has high turnover and poor collaboration, it’s a major red flag that your current support software is probably making internal communication difficult, both between agents from shift to shift and between support, sales, and product teams. It’s hard to gain momentum in building strong customer relationships when customers interact with a different person every time they have an issue. 
• Is there an uptick in negative agent reviews and comments?  Negative agent reviews and comments can fluctuate, but they should never be the norm. This is especially true if complaints are continually being escalated to the executive level because it’s the only way they can get resolved. While a chaotic work environment can cause good employees to leave, negative customer interactions can cause your customers to leave! This is not only bad for your company’s reputation it is certainly bad for the bottom line.

The worst part is, this can all cause your business to fall behind competitively.  When you think about it that way, what’s stopping you? Perhaps, you don’t know where to start? We can help! Check out our complete guide to what to consider when deciding to implement a new B2B software solution, how to choose the right vendor for what you need, and what to expect after implementation and beyond.

Next in Part 2 we’ll dive deeper into why not making a decision is a decision in individual agent and customer interactions.  

About the Author: Mark Roos is a Software Solutions Lead for TeamSupport. With over a decade of experience in product strategy, Mark rocks it when it comes to successfully creating a strategy that works for companies. He’s also rocks it as a musician!