In today's Brief:
News from the Roundup
And Now for Some Good News
Read, Watch, and Listen
Get Hired
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
Look, I can’t tell you what to do. But maybe don’t apply for these jobs.
- 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 Practices
March 6, 2024 at 11:00am ET. Webinar hosted by UXPressia. Register here.
Understanding Your Support Landscape and Scaling It Efficiently
March 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 Out
March 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 Systems
March 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 2024
March 25-27, 2024 in Scottsale, AZ and virtually. Register here.
Support Driven Leadership Summit
March 26-27, 2024 in San Diego, CA. Register here.
That's it for this week! If you have items for the Roundup or the Brief you'd like to submit, you can do so at roundup@supporthuman.cx, but be sure to check out the Roundup FAQs first.
