Tech support should act like they’re an unofficial member of your team

Five clients in a row call your receptionist and say that they can’t book an appointment online. Your receptionist can’t see what the clients see and has to schedule everything manually. They’re new and have never done this before. It takes time, it’s painful, and by the time it’s over, everyone is a teensy bit peeved.

Then you hop on the phone with your software solutions team and get crickets…cue head explosion emojis.

When what-could-possibly-go-wrong, goes wrong

Not feeling supported by your software provider is frustrating. Support is meant to be part of the package, so if they leave you high and dry whenever there’s a problem, you’re not getting what you paid for. 

Beyond having rude and dismissive agents (which is simply unacceptable), here are a few other warning signs of a customer support department gone awry:   

No humans in sight

Sure, chatbots can be helpful, but when your website keeps crashing or you can’t figure out a new feature, a real human needs to intervene. If you can never get ahold of anyone in customer support, you’ll either be stuck resolving the issue on your own (which takes time) or have to keep plodding along with persistent problems.

“Please remain on the line, your call is very important to us”

Maybe the software provider does have knowledgeable customer support agents who can help you. But you have to wait. And wait. And wait some more, until you know their entire on-hold music catalog. Every minute you spend on the phone is a minute away from running your business, which means important to-do items are on-hold too. 

The pass and fumble 

You have to talk to five different people every time you contact customer support, even for a relatively minor issue. There’s no sense of continuity in your communication — you feel like no one there knows you, and you don’t know them. And of course, every time you’re passed on to a new person, you have to explain yourself over and over again. *Sigh*

Stuff happens and no one tells you

Your software has new features, or maybe their processes changed and now your dashboard looks completely different. But no one notified you, and now you will need to figure out how to send those promotional emails, which were supposed to go out today.

No onboarding, training, or new features support

Once you’re locked into your contract, the customer support team forgets you exist. You and your employees have to do double duty as an IT department, which is not something any of you signed up for. Of course, while you’re wrestling with the new system, your clients and your business are missing out on your attention.  

Why lack of customer support hurts your clients and employees

If you read the warning signs above, you can probably tell that poor customer support from your software provider can have a negative trickle-down effect on your employees and clients.

For example, difficulties with booking appointments are frustrating for everyone, client and employee, but that frustration doubles when the issues never get resolved. On a deeper level, your employees may resent moonlighting as tech support and constantly dealing with yet another “never-to-be-fixed.” That resentment can lead to low morale which can ruin your work culture, bleed into client interactions, and send your best talent looking for a new gig. 

Bad tech support can eat into your business’s profitability, send clients and staff heading for the nearest exit, and just plain make your life harder than it needs to be. 

At Boulevard, we’re here to help — no matter what

We like to do things differently around here. For one, we don’t let our customers talk to robots. Instead, you’ll probably talk to Jamie or Jozlyn or one of our other partner managers. They’re real humans based in Los Angeles and are always happy to find a fix for a buggy feature.

“I can literally get hold of someone in 30 seconds,” says James Bohann-Pitt of Lash Lovers. Yep, our partner managers don’t play around when it comes to customer service. 

In fact, all of our clients get a dedicated customer success manager they can reach out to when things go awry. Our customer success managers also help with:

• Seamless onboarding — we will migrate all your data (down to your clients’ favorite nail polish colors) and set up your menu and staff accounts.

• Check-ins — you’ll have regular one-on-one check-ins to make sure you’re getting the most out of our solutions. 

• Quarterly reviews — your customer success partner can chat with you about your performance goals and any challenges, and then brainstorm solutions. It’s a bit like meeting with a business coach or mentor.

• Employee training — we offer ongoing training for your whole team to make sure you’re in the loop on any new features.

Ready to hang up on the hold music?

Meet our customer support team and chat with a real human when you need help.