1Mar24 Brief

In today's Brief:

• News from the Roundup

• And Now for Some Good News

• Read

• Watch

• Listen

• Get Hired

  • Green Means Go

  • Eh, It’s Probably Fine

  • Tread Carefully

  • BINGO

  • Seriously, Maybe Don’t

• Upcoming Events

Recognizing that the Roundup can get quite long, and in response to requests for a tl;dr version, I bring you the Support Human Brief! I'll send this out after every Roundup for those of you who'd prefer a quicker read. Please note that this is a separate newsletter and you'll need to update your email preferences if you'd like to receive it.

News from the Roundup

• Matt Mullenweg Teaches a Masterclass on Why We Have Trust & Safety Teams

• Automattic plans to sell Tumblr and WordPress user data to OpenAI and Midjourney

• The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Monday on two cases challenging laws in Florida and Texas dealing with content moderation on social media platforms

• Air Canada and Klarna: Hallucinating Chatbots and Hallucinating About Chatbots

• Klaus Finds its Furever Home, Notion Scuttles Skiff

• Scribe raises $25 million Series B round, Slack celebrates 10th anniversary

And Now for Some Good News

• Emily Rama joined Peloton Interactive as Director of Member Support, Process & Content.

• Hosam Hassan was promoted to Senior Director of Strategy, CX Solutions at PartnerHero.

• Support Human and Support Human Jobs both got fresh new looks

Read

• Alice Hunsberger gave us 5 Trust & Safety links worth reading this week.

• Jennifer Susinski wrote about how customer feedback is the single greatest gift a customer can provide back to you while on their journey for Advocacy Maven.

• Kateryna Ostapenko wrote about making a meaningful impact on the company by showing how your work ties to revenue (and makes excellent use of the Be Honest meme in the process).

• Brian Levine wrote about what is - and what isn't - a source of truth in customer support, as well as about why AI can't do your job.

• Marybeth Alexander wrote about what she learned about customer service from Zingerman's.

• Åsa Nyström wrote about how to create a unique customer support experience even as you get an increasing number of messages from customers for Buffer.

• Alison Groves shared a few ways you can use workflows and automation to help your team work smarter for Help Scout.

• Maryna Paryvai gave some expert tips on organizing and structuring a huge knowledge base for SwiftEQ.

• Amy Miller wrote about how recruiters can help candidates with interview prep.

• Carl Griese offered some helpful advice about working with banks, lenders, and creditors immediately following a layoff.

• Neal Travis wrote about the GUESTS Framework, a conversational framework that focuses the majority of energy on understanding others' needs and evaluating what would be the best solution for them and their unique situation for Growth Support.

Watch

• Intercom's The Ticket talked to Bobby Stapleton about understanding the changing economics of customer service in the age of AI.

• Next in Queue talked to Dan Smitley about the role of workforce management (WFM) and how it supports the business, the customer, and the employees.

• Six words that bring joy and fear to the hearts of customer teams: "The user feedback is in today."

• A sales rep and a customer go to therapy.

Listen

• The Doing CX Right podcast talked to Alex Gernov about the transformative impact of AI on customer relations.

• The Startup Smoothie talked to Dominic Brasovano about what fuels the engine of customer experience innovation.

• The Customer Support Leaders podcast talked to Ty Givens about why customer support benchmarks may not fit all and the power of personalized care.

• The Customer Success Career Coach podcast talked about some tips to ace your next customer success job interview.

• The Trust in Tech podcast answered listener questions in their Trust & Safety job search special episode.

Get Hired

I play Bad Job Bingo with every job listing that appears in the Roundup and categorize them according to how well (or poorly, if I hit Bingo) they do in the game. These and past contestants can be found at Support Human Jobs.

Green Means Go

No flags, or green flags only! A true unicorn.

• None this week.

Eh, It’s Probably Fine

A few flags popped up, but no serious ones.

• Trust & Safety Solutions Manager ($140k-$190k) at Cinder (Remote US-NYC, Austin, TX, San Francisco, CA)

• Customer Experience Manager ($80k-$115k) at Pendo (Remote US)

• Customer Success Specialist ($65k-$95k) at Scribe (Remote San Francisco, CA)

Tread Carefully

Didn’t quite hit bingo, but there were several yellow flags or more than one red flag.

• Head of Business Operations ($150k-$190k USD; $200k-$250k CAD) at Teal Platforms (Remote US, Canada)

• Director, Technical Support (L2) ($114k-$204k) at Samsara (Remote US)

• Technical Support Engineer (TSE) ($80k-$100k) at Pendo (Hybrid US-San Francisco, CA)

• Director of Central Support ("Competitive" comp not given) at Pacaso (Remote US)

• Customer Success and Solutions Engineer (No comp given) at Zededa (Onsite in San Jose, CA)

BINGO

Welp.

• Support Operations Manager (No comp given) at Ownwell (Onsite in Austin, TX)

Seriously, Maybe Don’t

Don't say I didn't warn you.

• Senior Manager, Member Services and Customer Retention ("Competitive" comp not given) at Varsity Tutors (Remote US)

• Senior Consultant ($200k) at Trilogy (Remote Worldwide)

Upcoming Events

Mapping Complex and Non-Linear Customer Journeys: Best PracticesMarch 6, 2024 at 11:00am ET. Webinar hosted by UXPressia. Register here.

Understanding Your Support Landscape and Scaling It EfficientlyMarch 8, 2024 at 6:00am ET. Fireside chat hosted by Support Driven. Featuring Neal Travis (AIHR) and Valeriia Golubieva (CX Lead). Register here.

Smart Metrics Are In, Standard Metrics Are OutMarch 12, 2024 at 1:00pm ET. Fireside chat hosted by TheLoops. Featuring Craig Stoss (PartnerHero), Susana De Sousa (CX Leader/Advisor), and Kincy Clark (OneStudy). RSVP here.

Upgrading Legacy Ticketing SystemsMarch 12, 2024 at 2:30pm ET. Virtual roundtable discussion hosted by Twig. Featuring Mila Suthakar (Wave HQ), Miles Goldstein (Okta), Lance Conzett (Found), and myself as moderator. Register here.

Gladly Connect Live 2024March 25-27, 2024 in Scottsale, AZ and virtually. Register here.

Support Driven Leadership SummitMarch 26-27, 2024 in San Diego, CA. Register here.