WHAT DOES A CUSTOMER SUPPORT MANAGER DO?
Published: September 18, 2024 - The Customer Support Manager optimizes processes to elevate customer experiences, providing in-depth analysis and strategic enhancements. Ensures timely internal and external communications, spearheading data-driven improvements and reporting. Collaborates across departments to refine service offerings and enhance customer engagement, fostering a proactive support environment.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Customer Support Manager
1. Customer Support Manager Duties
- Operational Analysis: Analysis of activity levels related to Customer's operation such as flight hours, parts consumptions, future trends with reach back to functional specialist to provide further analysis and ensure key players provide essential reports.
- Process Enhancement Analysis: Analyze current process flows and propose enhancements to enhance the Customer experience.
- Root Cause Analysis: Provide root cause analysis as required for process improvements.
- Logistics Planning Guidance: Provide guidance from a logistics perspective for key planning decisions.
- Data Reporting: Prepare necessary reports presenting key data for the end customer.
- Performance Communication: Communicate to Customer base key performances and recommendations for mutual benefit.
- Internal Reporting: Prepare internal reports and contribute to briefs.
- Internal Communications Management: Manage internal communications with management and support departments.
- User Problem Analysis: Analyze the problems encountered by users and provide them with a personalized solution. Improve and develop customer follow-up by helping to better understand recurring issues.
- Service Offer Collaboration: Collaboration with marketing and tech to continue improving service offer.
- Knowledge Base Updating: Regularly update the knowledge base in which customers can search for answers to questions themselves.
- App Optimization Ideas: Find innovative ideas to optimize apps.
- Customer Engagement: Invite customers to share experiences.
- Sales Reporting: Maintaining sales monthly reports, salespeople appraisal report, distributor/customer performance report, etc.
- Audit Support: Supporting internal control and audit tracking requirements
2. Customer Support Manager Details
- Inbound Monitoring: Monitor all inbound channels including Slack, email, Intercom, and telephone calls to gather details on customer issues and help drive their successful resolution.
- Product Expertise: Become an expert with the Zepl product and be able to articulate its usage and functionality to current users in support of its usage and adoption.
- Issue Diagnosis: Diagnose client issues to determine if the problem is with the Zepl product or Zepl environment versus a client’s notebook code or environment.
- Case Management: Monitor the case backlog and work to drive all issues to successful resolution with Services, Engineering, or Product Management while documenting the steps and actions taken.
- Customer Communication: Frequent contact with customers to report on progress of cases and to gather additional information when necessary to assist others with closing cases.
- Quarterly Review Preparation: Gather necessary reports to co-deliver quarterly business reviews with AI Success Managers to review case history and open backlog (led by Customer Success Manager).
- Difficult Communication Handling: Comfortable and confident delivering company messages back to customer regarding open requests or cases even when that message may not be well-received by customer.
- Issue Escalation: Comfortable escalating issues internally to drive issues to closure.
- Customer Advocacy: Be Zepl’s internal customer advocate representing the needs and interests of customers to drive open cases to adequate conclusion and resolution while respecting and representing Zepl’s business plans and strategies.
- Opportunity Identification: Responsible for listening for expansion opportunities at customers where the Zepl solution can add further value.
- Self-Service Content Development: Responsible for developing and maintaining self-service content and documentation for customers to resolve issues including knowledgebase content, FAQs, chatbot content.
- Agreement Support: Supporting yearly agreements drafting and releasing.
- Pricing Coordination: Coordinating with the functional team in sales, products, logistics, finance, etc., to deploy the pricing operation excellence requirement, enhancing process and pricing operational excellence.
3. Customer Support Manager Responsibilities
- Merchant Support: Timely and professional responses and resolutions to merchant partners in regards to: Transaction disputes, Account administrations and reconciliation, Integration and technical questions, General enquiries.
- Escalated Support Management: Escalated T2 support for merchants' customers including: Payment plan and fee enquiries, Transaction disputes, Purchase enquiries.
- Feature Request Handling: Feature requests raised through support tickets.
- Help Centre Documentation: Help centre documentation including: Writing and updating articles on current functionality, Planning article refresh timelines, Writing new feature guides, Enhancing guides for best practice feature use in conjunction with customer success managers.
- CSM Alert System: Keeping CSMs alerted of account issues in portfolios including: High support ticket creation numbers, High Merchant customer support usage, General account feedback, Portfolio CSAT.
- Policy and Best Practices Creation: Create policies and best practices to provide exceptional and efficient service.
- Proactive Problem Solving: Strive to proactively identify and solve customers' issues and problems.
- Cross-Team Collaboration: Collaborate effectively across teams to escalate and resolve operational issues and priorities, serve as the highest point of escalation in the Customer Support team.
- Reporting and Data Analysis: Own reporting & data analysis, monitor KPIs & business drivers for the Customer Support team - highlighting trends and investigating issues.
- Team Guidance and Development: Provide ongoing guidance and feedback to team members on how to improve quality and service levels, and help them grow as individuals.
- Data-Driven Staffing and Objectives: Leverage data to refine staffing, set objectives, and drive changes as needed to meet those objectives.
- Product and Engineering Recommendations: Make recommendations to Product and Engineering teams in the form of feature requests and bugs as reported by customers, serving as customer voice.
4. Customer Support Manager Job Summary
- Intelligence Gathering: Customer interaction for intelligence gathering and preparation for analysis.
- Effective Communication: Build customer rapport, adapt a clear, simple, and efficient mode to communicate.
- Issue Resolution: Understand and resolve the Customer's top issue with urgency.
- Collaborative Planning: Create a collaborative action plan and present a status on actions closure along with progress on previous Customer concerns resolution.
- Issue Management: Manage the Customer issues, concerns, and complaints. Stay aware of the issue, follow the resolution and be able to discuss with the Customer ensuring issues On-Time and On-Quality resolution.
- Performance Review Organization: Organize performance reviews with Customer's. Perform annual or bi-annual Customer visits.
- Customer Dynamics Understanding: Understand the Customer dynamics, operational and strategic goals, and business requirements. Coordinate the Customer's visits with other departments.
- Operational Coordination: Communicate, coordinate, and facilitate the operational needs of the customer with the internal functional departments for the appropriate messaging to the customer.
- Escalation Handling: Serve as the Customer's point of escalation so that issues are resolved on an exceptional basis.
- Cross-Departmental Collaboration: Work cross-departmental to resolve the Customer's issues.
- Commitment Assurance: Ensuring that each department keeps their commitments.
- Sales Collaboration: Work in close collaboration with the Regional Sales Manager and Segment Sales Specialists.
- Content Communication: Communicate S&S Discipline's contents.
- Operational Guidance: Provide guidance for achieving operational targets.
- Proposal Support: Support bids and proposals for S&S Solutions in the assigned region to include Support and Services proposals and New Helicopter Sales offers.
5. Customer Support Manager Accountabilities
- Team Leadership: Lead the customer support team, monitors and reviews responses and resolutions with customers.
- Coaching and Feedback: Provides coaching and feedback in regular one on ones with employees.
- KPI Management: Analyzes and sets KPIs and attainment goals.
- Performance Evaluation: Evaluate team activities against KPI’s.
- Client Relationship Management: Accountable for all aspects of the client relationship, training services team on technology, communication, review and comprehend reporting metrics around clients to identify areas for improvement.
- Issue Management: Manages critical customer issues and expectations.
- Goal Achievement Leadership: Leads team to accomplish goals that are set.
- Staffing Strategy Development: Develops staffing strategy to maximize customer service and meet or exceed KPIs.
- Performance Management: Responsible for performance management and evaluations of team members.
- Reporting and Analysis: Responsible for providing reports and analysis to executive team and hiring staff.
- Stakeholder Project Work: Work on behalf of stakeholders on projects relating to customer support or related areas.
- Quality Monitoring: Charge of monitoring the quality of products and user satisfaction by ensuring the proper use of products.
- Product Team Collaboration: Work as a key role in the Product team and accompany the Product Managers the development of apps and user experience, in accordance with the image of MWM.
- User Contact Point: Be the key point of contact for users on platforms (Google Play Store, App Store, Zendesk).
- Customer Satisfaction Monitoring: Monitor response time and customer satisfaction.
6. Customer Support Manager Functions
- Lead Customer Contact: Operate as the lead point of contact for any and all matters specific to customer base.
- Training Coordination: Coordinate, schedule, and conduct all pertinent training for assigned customer base.
- Relationship Building: Build and maintain strong, long-lasting customer relationships amongst customer base.
- Problem Identification and Analysis: Identify and understand issues, problems, and opportunities, comparing data from different sources to draw conclusions and use effective approaches for choosing a course of action.
- Communication Management: Communicate clearly on regularly scheduled meetings with customer base ensuring proper and timely contact is consistent with company initiatives.
- Collaborative Program Enhancement: Work closely and collaboratively with other departments on program enhancements as relates to the customer base and software solution.
- Problem Solving: Identify current and potential problems in customer accounts and workflow.
- Consultative Solution Providing: Suggest remedial measures to solve all outstanding financial and operational issues in consultation with clients.
- RCM Support Management: Manage and respond to all RCM Support cases for customer base.
- Strategic Leadership: Provides strategic leadership and direction for the delivery of pre- and post-sales services and support to customers.
- Team Collaboration: Work as part of a team to deliver exceptional first level support to customers.
- Customer Needs Analysis: Gain a deep understanding of customers' needs and drive improvement.
- Service Optimization: Work closely with Head of Customer Support to continuously optimise customer service.
- Ticket System Management: Work closely with team members on a ticket system and find solutions for different situations.
7. Customer Support Manager Job Description
- Global Helpdesk Strategy Support: Support delivery of the Global Helpdesk strategy.
- Stakeholder Collaboration: Work with key stakeholders both locally and globally to ensure customer issues are resolved and take ownership of improvements, completing at pace.
- Recruitment and Team Management: Recruit, mentor, and manage team members.
- Performance Monitoring: Monitor measures and manage the team’s progress.
- Positive Environment Promotion: Promoting a positive environment, knowledge transfer, and self-management/development.
- Customer Service Management: Manage a team of talented Customer Service Specialists (10 -15 people).
- Relationship Building: Build and entertain lasting relationship with internal stakeholders.
- Performance and Best Practices Management: Responsible for performance management, foster best practices to exceed customer expectations.
- Team Inspiration: Inspire team to reach full potential.
- Coaching and Training: Actively deliver coaching and training sessions for team.
- KPI Monitoring: Monitor KPIs while focusing on efficiency and quality.
- Operational Excellence Management: Efficiently manages people and resources to drive productivity and operational excellence.
- Industry Trend Analysis: Keep ahead of industry’s developments and apply best practices to areas of improvement.
- Profit and Loss Management: Responsible for the overall profit and loss of the assigned business unit.
- Business Strategy and Negotiation: Develop business strategies, and negotiate service contracts to improve the controllable margins and expanding the market share of new and existing customers.
8. Customer Support Manager Overview
- Reputation Management: Ensure that EII’s reputation for industry-leading support is maintained and enhanced.
- Culture Development: Create and maintain a culture of proactive action and accountability.
- Training and Tools Provision: Ensure that the Customer Support team has the training and tools they need to provide a quality Customer Support experience.
- Skills Training Maintenance: Maintain a program of training to ensure team members have the skills needed to assist Customers.
- Self-Service Resources Maintenance: Maintain a program of manuals, videos, knowledge base, etc. for Customers to assist them in being self-sufficient.
- Metrics Tracking and Reporting: Metrics-based tracking and reporting on customer issues.
- Continuous Process Evaluation: Continuous evaluation of team and processes to improve the satisfaction of customers and team members.
- Trend Analysis and Resolution: Identify, report on, and work to resolve trends in Customer issues.
- Goal Setting and Sharing: Setting and sharing goals with team members.
- Conflict Resolution: Firmly and appropriately deal with conflict resolution.
- Issue Summarization: Take complex issues and summarize them for higher levels of management.
- Solution Development: Develop solutions to complex problems requiring the regular use of ingenuity and innovation.
- Operational Improvement: Constantly review current operation and implement new processes to streamline and improve the customer experience.
9. Customer Support Manager Details and Accountabilities
- Customer Communication: Communicate with customers and take over daily operational tasks.
- Process Development: Define, develop, and implement operational processes to create the best Charly experience possible.
- SLA Management: Set, measure, and report on important SLAs to create Charly standards.
- Strategic Development: Develop and discuss strategic initiatives that help shape the future of Charly.
- Cross-functional Collaboration: Work cross-functionally and closely with the rest of the team to improve the whole customer journey.
- Partnership Management: Partner directly with newly appointed GM to oversee all Customer Support metrics and KPIs.
- Strategy Leadership: Apply a results-oriented approach to develop, improve, implement, build, and lead the customer support strategy.
- Best Practices Sharing: Collaborate cross-functionally with Operations and CS Leads to share best practices and market-level insights with key internal stakeholders.
- BPO Optimization: Work with BPO company and team to optimize and improve CS service.
- Operational Analysis: Use operational metrics to drive continuous process improvements across the customer journey lifecycle from pre-rental to rental completion.
- Performance Tracking: Track performance and prepare CS management reports.
- Complaint Resolution: Investigate and resolve customer complaints, particularly those of an escalated nature.
10. Customer Support Manager Tasks
- Business Change Representation: Represent the Contact Centre in business changes and leverage customer insight and contact data to evidence the impact of change and the customer experience.
- Customer Insight Utilization: Provide insight and data to resolve customer pain points and identify opportunities by engaging the relevant stakeholders to drive resolution and improvement.
- Budget Management: Identify opportunities for ongoing efficiency and manage the Outsource budget in line with the annual budget process.
- Risk Management: Operational risk management and BCP including ownership of risk register for all CCC partners and the Contact Centre.
- Stakeholder Management: Managing relationships between internal stakeholders and third parties to improve performance.
- Data Analysis: Use data to create meaningful and actionable MI and reporting.
- Service Enhancement: Support CCC and wider Holland and Barrett teams by identifying new opportunities to enhance the service provided.
- Leadership and Coaching: Lead and coach team members to develop to their full potential and create a culture of open and honest communication.
- Innovation Adoption: Bring an understanding of the latest customer experience perspectives, technologies, current innovations and future Contact Centre innovation, utilising this knowledge to improve the customer journey.
- Performance Development: Inspire, motivate and develop high performance through a strong inclusive coaching culture, where staff can thrive and deliver the best customer experience.
- Customer Advocacy: Ambassador for the customer and driving a culture of continuous improvement and a legendary customer experience.
- Digital Strategy Leadership: Leading initiatives and strategies to deliver a digital first contact strategy.
- Negotiation and Influence: Negotiate & influence others and successfully develop and implement changes or improvements.
- Service Improvement: Improve customer service experience and develop trusting relationship with direct customers.
- Complaint Management: Responsive to customer complaints and take charge of internal escalation and ensures issues are brought up to the right level till resolution.