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Peak Support Q&A: Mimi Abelarde

Leri Mae Abelarde, also known as Mimi, is a loving wife and a devoted mother to two wonderful boys. She was one of Peak Support’s first agents, starting her career here in July of 2015. At Peak Support, she has held a wide variety of roles, including photo curation, copywriting, and research. Let’s get to know more about Mimi in our first Peak Support Agent Q&A! See also our previous Agent Q&As with Iar Indus and Mark Pabriaga. Please introduce yourself! My name is Mimi. I am only one, but I am one. I have two superpowers: I have the ability to super clean the house when someone calls and says that they’ll be dropping over in five minutes. I can drive here and there and everywhere and back to here and there and everywhere again. And again. And again. Three words I live by – Goal, Grit and Grace. Four favorite F words: Family, Faith, Friday, and Food. What’s the best thing about motherhood? Being called “mom!!!!” a hundred times a day, watching cartoons over and over again, getting free foot massages from stepping on lego blocks, 5-minute showers, eating leftovers, being a referee in a wrestling match, and learning […]

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L.L. Bean Changed Its Famous Return Policy. Should You Change Yours?

L.L. Bean has long had a legendary return policy: Return any product, any time, for any reason, no questions asked. The policy gave the company an almost mythical reputation for quality. When L.L. Bean comes up in conversation, people swap stories. Just a few weeks ago, I heard about a guy who wore his 30-year-old L.L. Bean boots into the store. The boots, well-worn but still functional, had been passed down from his father. The sales clerk offered to give him new boots for free — but he said no. Alas, such stories are now consigned to history. While the policy drove fanatic customer loyalty, it was also abused. Some people even bought old Bean boots at yard sales and returned them for refunds. Last week, L.L. Bean Executive Chairman Shawn Gorman announced that the company will now accept returns within one year, with proof of purchase. After one year, if a product is defective, it will work with the customer “to reach a fair solution.” This change won’t just impact L.L. Bean’s brand. It’s also a massive operational challenge. “No questions asked” is an easy policy for every employee to follow. Now, the company is empowering its store staff and customer service agents to […]

Help Scout Review: Why Help Scout is a Great Fit for Small Companies

If you have ever wondered about Help Scout and its functionality, you’ve come to the right place! Help Scout is a popular helpdesk software solution, similar to Zendesk or Freshdesk. In this article, we will provide an overview of the pros and cons of Help Scout, describe the features that come with each price tier, and provide an in-depth assessment of Help Scout’s data analytics tools. Overall, Helpscout offers an easy set-up, clean user interface, low price, and excellent customer service, making it a great option for startups or small companies just getting started with customer service. But its limited analytics functionality is a drawback for companies with larger customer support teams. This is the second in our series of helpdesk software reviews. You can also read our Zendesk review. Pros of Help Scout: Easy to Use, Excellent Customer Service According to many reviews, Help Scout’s interface is well-designed, easy to learn, rarely encounters performance issues, and facilitates efficient, streamlined work so agents can help customers as quickly as possible. Help Scout’s customer service is also a big plus. One of our clients on Help Scout had its query escalated all the way to the senior executive level. Help Scout […]

Six Trends That Will Shape Customer Service In 2018 (For Better Or Worse)

You may still be writing “2017” on forms, but no one can deny that 2018 is in full swing. So what does the year hold for customer service? As always, companies who provide great customer service have a huge advantage over companies that don’t. Here are the six customer service trends we expect to see in 2018 and, more importantly, our advice on how to manage them. Chat Support Will Increase In Importance Chat support offers huge benefits when it’s done well. Customers get answers immediately, rather than having to wait 24 hours or more (the typical response time for email support). Furthermore, chat enables customers to ask follow-up questions in real time. An email conversation that could take days is condensed into five minutes. Chat support also presents a great opportunity to close sales. At one of our company’s e-commerce clients, 13% of website visitors engaged with us when we reached out proactively via chat. Of those, more than half went on to make a purchase. This compares with typical conversion rates of less than 3%.  Many companies, however, have done a terrible job with chat support. Some offer mediocre chatbots that can’t answer most customer questions. While these […]

Six (Proven!) Secrets For Managing a Remote Workforce

IBM recently made headlines for dismantling its policy that allowed remote work. But we believe remote work is here to stay. It allows us to hire and work with some of the smartest people around the world, whether they sit in an office or not. Some of the best workers are increasingly demanding flexible schedules. Employees who work from home are more productive and less likely to quit, according to a study by Stanford University Professor Nicholas Bloom. So why do so many companies fail when they try to enable employees to work remotely? Typically, they force remote workers to adapt to a culture and processes that were built for in-office work. If you want remote workers to succeed, you have to rethink your communication and collaboration culture from the ground up and make sure all employees — including those in the office — work in similar ways. Here are six strategies that work for us. 1. Get everyone to use the same tools It’s essential to get everyone on your team — remote and office-based workers — set up with the necessary technological infrastructure, including software for remote meetings and videos. This sounds simple, but it’s often where the process breaks down. If your remote […]