Meet Carson’s Customer Success Crew!

At Carson, we don’t have a customer service team–we have a customer success team. As the first people who talk with both new and existing clients, the CS team is really the core of Carson itself.

Posted 4 years ago by Michele Laarman

Customer Success, Not Just Service

When you think of “customer service,” what comes to mind? Unhappy clients arguing with stressed-out staff? That’s exactly why we have a different model at Carson, one that focuses on building positive relationships from the get-go. 

Customer success isn’t just about solving problems, it’s about preventing them from happening in the first place. From the very first time a customer asks about Carson’s services until the final product has been approved, customer success agents are there with a smile, making sure every step of the journey goes smoothly. 

A great customer success team isn’t much use if clients can’t reach them. We schedule our agents’ hours so that no matter where in the world store owners are located, they won’t have to wait long to get answers. Right now, our CS team covers 16 hours a day, and we’re working to expand that to a full 24 hours. 

What is the most interesting/bizarre question you’ve received from a customer?

“We often get asked if we are bots, however, one time the customer sent me a photo of reCaptcha and asked me to point out where I see the bus in the squares just to make sure.“Aleksandra from Carson

A Super Team with Superpowers

The Carson CS crew has superpowers! While they may not be able to turn water into wine (yet), they can read minds and time travel. 

Okay, our CS agents may not quite be telepathic, but sometimes it seems like they are. They have an amazing ability to feel the emotions behind written communication. This is how they understand customers’ needs so well and figure out the very best solution for each store owner. Agents may not really be able to travel through time either, but they’re proactive in preventing future complications, and they’re great at fixing any misunderstandings that arise from the past.

In a way, the CS team is also full of shape-shifters, because the agents have so many talents. They have to be strong communicators, of course, but they also have to know what they’re talking about!

What surprising thing/skill have you learned in this job?

I have learned much more than what I knew before about websites and Shopify themes. Understanding what is a small task and what we can help with in improving our clients’ websites is knowledge I greatly value and I always look to expand it as much as I can. It is an amazing learning experience every day!Mia from Carson

Communicating Tech

It’s not easy to wear so many hats. Everyone on the CS team needs to have the technical know-how to grasp the complexity of the work our clients need and determine if it falls within Carson’s scope.

At the same time, they have to be awesome communicators. This means being patient and understanding, while also giving spot-on answers to all sorts of questions. Some questions are about very specific tweaks a site needs, while others are about the general services Carson offers. (Click here for more information about our plans, pricing, and other frequently asked questions.) Our CS super-team can do it all!

Fun Fact: It just so happens that most of the time, everyone on our CS team is from Serbia! This makes it even easier for the team to work together and give clients a consistent experience. We love the diversity that comes with having staff from all corners of the map, but sometimes it’s also handy when teammates have a shared background.

The Best of Both Worlds

There are dog lovers and cat lovers, introverts and extroverts, tech geeks, and word nerds. Okay, in real life people aren’t divided into such neat categories, but finding staff with a strong combination of seemingly “opposite” skills isn’t always easy.

That’s why when we hire CS agents, we do it based on the potential we see shining through. We measure potential in a lot of different ways, but we keep the focus on what applicants are capable of because we can teach the rest.

Training

So how do we get all our customer success agents on the same page? The answer lies in our love of clear, logical, written processes.  We cut out the guesswork by maintaining an up-to-date directory of our latest policies and practices. 

Each new agent gets the CS Handbook right away. Between the years of wisdom contained in the handbook and the opportunity to ask unlimited questions, they can hit the ground running.

Tell us about a proud moment in your job when you felt you made a big achievement.

One challenging part of my role is training new CS agents for technical evaluation of the requests we receive. It’s not always easy to teach someone who’s not familiar with website structure how things work. I’ve trained successfully several people and the moment when they start evaluating things on their own + giving suggestions for what’s the best approach and practice based on their experience so far is the most rewarding one.Aleks from Carson

The Key to Success

The most important factor in our customer success agents’ own success in the role is a can-do attitude. The first few weeks of a new job can be stressful, but even for team members who don’t have much of a technical background, the right frame of mind will carry them through.  

Combining technical knowledge, great communication, and sales skills can be quite the balancing act. We know this and we’re here to support the team any way we can. At the end of the day, though, resourcefulness and perseverance are what makes the difference between a good customer success agent and a great one.

Go Team!

Without an awesome team working directly with our customers, Carson wouldn’t be what it is today. Our agents are tech-savvy AND love to work with people–they really do have it all. Their superpowers do not go unnoticed!