100: Process Improvement with Alyssa Percell

Charlotte Ward: 0:12

Hello and welcome to episode 100 of the Customer Support Leaders Podcast. I'm Charlotte Ward. The theme for this week is process improvement. So stay tuned for five leaders talking about that very topic. I'd like to welcome back to the podcast today for episode 100, Alyssa Purcell. Alyssa, it's lovely to have you back. Thank you for joining me again to talk about process improvement.

Alyssa Purcell: 0:43

Thank you so much for having me back and congratulations. 100 is a huge deal. Thank you.

Charlotte Ward: 0:51

We're talking about process improvement this week. I think you have something quite specific you want to talk about.

Alyssa Purcell: 0:57

Absolutely. So I was taking a listen to some of the other great leaders you had this week focusing on the same topic, and I just wanted to make sure that I was kind of covering an area that hasn't been discussed so far. You know, process improvement is such a big umbrella topic to cover, and it's it's kind of the foundation or the backbone of support. Are we supporting our customers in the best way? Is it standardized? Um, do the agents feel like they have clear answers and processes to follow to ensure that they're delivering the best customer experience, right? But kind of what happens over time with that, right? And making sure that the team feels supported and that your processes are evolving as your business evolves as well. Something that's not talked about enough is the idea of having a process for processes. Basically, what this is is an internal procedure that your team can use to ensure that you're constantly updating materials or questioning how efficient they are, how impactful they are as a workflow. Something you can do in setting up an internal process like this is basically empower your team to make sure that they're keeping content relevant over time. So not only are you updating the materials as they need to be updated, all the other procedures that are more customer-facing, but you're also allowing your team some agency to decide, hey, no, this isn't working. So here's a suggestion for something better. But how do you do this? That's the question, right?

Charlotte Ward: 2:21

It's really meta, isn't it? Actually, it's really meta. It's kind of interesting. I've never really thought about this before. When I was talking to Ash yesterday, we were talking about this empowering people to have the confidence to question processes and question the status quo. But actually formalizing that in itself into a process is a really interesting approach. So, so how do you do that?

Alyssa Purcell: 2:42

Yeah, that's a good question. I love to go to my team, and this works, this works great, especially in startup environments, because content is such a consuming thing, right? Whether it's help center macros, internal processes, right? And internal processes always seem to fall by the wayside because they're not customer-facing. They truly are the foundation to what impacts a customer experience, right? Because if your agents don't feel supported, if they don't feel like they have clear answers on how to do things, then you're creating inconsistent experiences. To really create this process, I love to go to a team and say, like, you know, we all are working in this ecosystem together. And every moving piece helps the ecosystem be successful, help, helps it grow and flourish, right? And just as much as macros or help center articles may be important, the processes that you all are held to are just as important. So you have to, as a leader, go in and you have to make first make space for it and say, like, this is so important to the ecosystem of our team and our customer experiences, right? And then the second thing you do is you work with them to figure out what is the process you want for this so that they feel empowered and they're given agency in creating their own internal process. An example of what this could look like is a simple procedure for an anonymous submission form. You can actually create an archive or a database for, let's say, your procedures, and then alongside that create a submission form so that your team at any point in time can anonymously submit a suggestion to improve a process or a procedure. And then you yourself as the leader, or you empower somebody on your team as a development opportunity to step in and check those submissions and edit or publish them as needed. You know, you can bring up those submissions during team meetings. Hey, here are the suggestions we got. Do we want to vote on this as a team? Or you can make the executive decision as a leader. Hey, this is a really great idea. Let's go with it. And even on that anonymous form, if you feel like you want to give your team the agency to be able to kind of claim that idea, you can always give in an optional like field so that they can claim credit as well. Allowing an anonymous option also allows them to speak more candidly if they'd like to.

Charlotte Ward: 5:05

I love that actually. The suggestion box, whether it's named or not, I think it's just a great idea because even if you are having like regular team meetings, everybody knows what their pain points are, either within the team or within the organization or for customers. And but not everybody has the time or the attention in that moment or the confidence to raise these issues live in a team meeting. So that's a great idea, just having a something as simple as a virtual slip of paper in a in a in a in a slot, right? That says, I think it'd be good if we did something a bit different here. And it is a great opportunity to get lots of eyes on as well, isn't it?

Alyssa Purcell: 5:43

You were absolutely right when you mentioned this before. You know, the agents really have the best knowledge and they're the ones who really know where the problems are, either for our customers or or in a workflow. And and your job as a leader is to figure out how to get them to feel empowered enough to share their voice. You have to figure out how to unlock that barrier between what they know and what they'll say. By having something like a submission form and really showing its importance as a leader and encouraging the team to use it and, you know, giving props to those who suggest incredible ideas will start to elevate the entire culture on your team. That's how you get everyone to act like owners while also developing their own voice. You know, it's a beautiful moment for development, all while still helping your ecosystem thrive because you're constantly updating and evolving.com forward slash 100 for the show notes, and I'll see you next time.