Guides
Support Operations Guides
Practical guides written by people who have managed support teams. No theory without application.
Setting Up a Helpdesk From Scratch
A practical guide for teams that currently use a shared inbox.
Moving from a shared inbox (or worse, personal email addresses) to a proper helpdesk is one of the highest-impact operational changes a growing busine...
AI in Customer Support: What Actually Works in 2026
Separating real AI capabilities from marketing noise.
AI in customer support has moved past the hype cycle into practical utility. But not all AI implementations are equal. Some genuinely reduce ticket vo...
Building a Knowledge Base That People Actually Use
Most knowledge bases fail. Here is how to build one that does not.
A good knowledge base reduces ticket volume by 20-30%. A bad one just takes up server space. The difference is not the tool. It is the content strateg...
Email-to-Ticket: Why It Still Matters
Chat and social are growing, but email is still where most support happens.
Despite the rise of live chat and social media support, email remains the primary channel for most B2B and many B2C support teams. How your helpdesk h...
Customer Support KPIs That Actually Matter
Stop tracking vanity metrics. Focus on these instead.
Support teams drown in metrics. First response time, resolution time, CSAT, NPS, ticket volume, agent utilization. Not all of these deserve equal atte...
IT Helpdesk vs Customer Support: Different Beasts
Why tools designed for one often fail at the other.
IT helpdesk (ITSM) and customer support share surface-level similarities but serve fundamentally different purposes. Choosing the wrong category of to...
Self-Service Portals Done Right
A customer portal should reduce tickets, not create confusion.
A well-built self-service portal lets customers find answers, track their requests, and submit new ones without emailing your team. A poorly built one...
WhatsApp and Multichannel Support: A Practical Guide
Adding channels is easy. Managing them well is hard.
WhatsApp Business has over 200 million monthly active users and is the dominant messaging platform in Latin America, South Asia, and parts of Europe a...
Handling Angry Customers Without Burning Out
Practical tactics for front-line reps who deal with frustration every day.
Dealing with angry customers is the part of support that nobody warns you about in the job description. Every rep has stories. The screaming caller, t...
The First 90 Days as a Customer Support Manager
What to fix immediately, what to learn first, and what to leave alone.
You just got promoted or hired into a support manager role. Congratulations, and also: be careful. The first 90 days set the tone for everything that ...
How AI Is Changing the Support Agent Role (For the Better)
AI is not replacing reps. It is removing the worst parts of the job.
If you work in customer support, you have probably heard that AI is coming for your job. The reality is more nuanced and, honestly, more positive than...
When to Hire Your First Customer Support Rep
The signs it is time, and how to make the hire count.
Every small business owner starts by handling customer support themselves. And for a while, that works. You know the product better than anyone. You c...
Writing Support Emails That Customers Actually Love
The difference between "resolved" and "delighted" is usually the writing.
Most support emails are technically correct and emotionally flat. They answer the question but leave the customer feeling like they interacted with a ...
Why Small Businesses Lose Customers to Bad Support (And How to Fix It)
It is rarely the product. It is the experience when something goes wrong.
You built a great product. Your marketing is working. Customers are signing up. But churn keeps climbing and reviews mention "unresponsive support" or...