Response Time: Vol. 3
You satisfy your customers, but can you satisfy our curiosity?
With Libor Bitala, Head of Support at ROI Hunter.
Please tell us a little bit about your company and what you do there.
I am Head of Support at ROI Hunter. ROI Hunter is a SaaS company that helps e-commerce retailers to decide which products to promote in their ads to reach their goals (higher return on ad spend, higher click-through rate, lower cost per acquisition, etc.) based on data from multiple sources.
Which celebrity would be really great at your job, and why?
The first one in my mind is not a celebrity, but a character – Winston Wolf from Pulp Fiction. His job is to solve problems. Even the dark ones.
What’s the most valuable thing working in customer service has taught you?
Patience. From time to time, we need to deal with critical issues, so the communication can become quite emotional. But it always helps to patiently listen to everything the client says and then patiently explain the situation and set proper expectations.
“The moment when you discover the full context behind the issue is the most satisfying and motivating feeling”
What’s your greatest productivity hack?
Have a toolbox full of helpful stuff so you have everything you need to understand the issue. With databases, logs, external APIs, ACLs [access control lists], and other helpful resources, you always have something to check to understand the issue. And the moment when you discover the full context behind the issue is the most satisfying and motivating feeling.
What gif best describes your mental state right now?
What’s the best customer service experience you’ve ever had?
One of the e-commerce retailers in my country makes it super smooth to return goods in case you change your mind. You don’t need to explain anything, you don’t need to talk to anybody, you just pick your preferred way to return it and in a few days, your money is back in your account – 100% self-serve.
What’s the worst customer service you’ve ever experienced?
A poorly designed chatbot that wasn’t able to resolve my request and did not let me talk to a human.
Is a burger a sandwich?
No.
What’s the strangest thing a customer has asked you?
Our opinion about the difficulties to enter the Dutch market as an e-commerce retailer.
What can you do that a bot will never be able to replicate?
Human-level connection.
What do you doodle when you’re on video calls?
Only serious notes, of course :)
What’s the one piece of advice you would give to your peers in the customer service industry?
Don’t be sad when people in your company don’t talk about your job. Silence actually means that you are doing your job very well. Customer service is one of those positions people talk about when a problem appears.
What book are you reading at the moment?
Scaling Up by Verne Harnish.
What’s the best thing a customer has ever said to you?
Not a specific sentence, but the fact that they mention our team in G2 reviews is something that makes the difference.
Where do you get your support leadership news?
Support Driven community, Intercom, Stonly.
What words make your skin crawl?
“We need to have it fixed ASAP!” (Without any willingness to cooperate on the solution and provide additional information.)
How would you explain your job to an alien?
We are here to solve problems.
What’s your most used emoji in customer chats?
😊
Do you identify more with the title “customer support,” “customer service,” “customer success,” or “customer experience,” and why?
Customer support, as our team is focused on solving the technical issues of our customers. We are definitely part of customer service, success, and experience, but the same also applies for other teams.
What was your “15 minutes of fame” moment?
Every month when I share performance insights from the support team with the rest of the company 💪
What do you wish people knew about working in customer service?
It’s not just an entry-level position anyone can do. It’s a difficult and challenging job that requires a unique combination of both soft and hard skills.
Conversation closed… for now 😏
