my experience as a solitary support rep for ~22k saas users
In addition to my primary roles in marketing and product operations, I also handle all customer support at our company.
While 22,000 customers might not seem significant to some, it poses quite a challenge for our small team. Dealing with users all by myself seemed overwhelming at first. But after a few months of interacting with customers daily, I've realized it's manageable - and enjoyable.
In this article, I will share my insights on effectively interacting with users, highlighting the benefits of shortcuts, canned responses, proactively updating documentation, and maintaining a customer-centric approach.
Canned responses FTW: I keep a library of common canned responses pinned for quick access. This is helpful for frequently asked questions, documentation issues, billing inquiries, etc. It allows me to respond swiftly while maintaining quality. I’m constantly updating this list as new questions arise.
Prioritize and triage: When multiple requests come in, I quickly triage them by priority. I immediately pay attention to requests related to billing, account access, or critical functionality. Less urgent questions can wait a bit if needed.
Be helpful, not annoyed: Previously, I thought customer service seemed like a brain-melting chore. But I’ve found that keeping a helpful, empathetic attitude makes all the difference. Customers appreciate it, and it doesn’t stress me out.
Point to documentation: I often resolve issues by having users double-check our documentation. I keep it updated so it’s a reliable self-service resource. When helping via chat, I’ll proactively provide links to the docs.
Create tickets for larger issues: Major bugs or feature requests get documented in our internal ticket system. I give customers an estimated timeline so they know someone is actively working on it. And they can always check our public roadmap on the featurebase.app.
Note: The insights shared in this article are based on the experiences of a bootstrapped team that is still learning and evolving. While these strategies have proven effective for our specific context, they may not universally apply to all SaaS companies or support scenarios.