We here at ShopPad take our customers’ success seriously. If our customers aren’t successful, we aren’t successful. From the very beginning, the ShopPad founders decided that we would focus on providing top-notch customer service that would ensure our customers were successful and wanted to stay with us.
With that said, we decided we should introduce our customers to the team here so you could get to know who’s helping you (and hopefully pick up some customer service tips from our pros)!
Up first is Alan Perez, who was the second customer success representative ever hired here and is now the person with the longest tenure on the team. Our customers will also know him as the voice of a number of our instructional videos!
Alan came to us right after graduating college three years ago. While he had never worked any customer service related jobs before, he says he was drawn to the role because he loves teaching and he’s always been interested in technology.
Let’s Chat!
Cara: “Thanks for taking the time out of your busy day to talk to me! First, I’d thought we’d break the ice with a fun fact about yourself. So, what’s a fun fact?”
Alan: “Hmmm. One I usually like to share is that I’ve lived on 4 different dairy farms in my life.”
Cara: “Wow! Were your parents farmers?”
Alan: “Yep. They’re ranchers.”
Cara: “That’s pretty cool! Well, my next question is: Is there a difference between customer service and customer success?” [Editorial insert: I’m not exactly the best at segues, as you can see.]
Alan: “I definitely think there is a big difference between customer service and customer success. For customer service, the main goal is to serve that customer until their needs are fulfilled. Customer success is about the long-term success that the customer has in the area of their lives relating to your products, well past their conversation with you. You have more to keep in mind when you’re working as a customer success representative, and be more proactive in solving future problems for them if you can.”
Cara: “That’s an insightful division. Given that, what do you think makes for a great customer success representative?”
Alan: “That’s a good question. I think first and foremost, you have to have empathy. You need to be able to put yourself in the customer’s shoes and show them that you understand their problem. You also need to have patience. There are always going to be tough customers and with those customers, you need to stay patient so you can stay positive and keep your communication with them positive. Also, I think it’s key to be a prompt, timely communicator. People really appreciate when you go the extra mile to get that quick turnaround in your help. It’s actually one of the things our customers tell us that they appreciate most about us is our response speed.”
Cara: “That certainly makes sense. I’m wondering, what have you learned during your time at ShopPad that’s made you a better rep?”
Alan: “Oh that’s a good one! I think the most important thing I’ve learned is product knowledge. Having a deep knowledge of how our products work has given me the confidence to speak to our customers and know that I’m definitely helping them. I actually think having product knowledge is helpful for any position. That knowledge just makes you confident that you’re doing the right things.”
Cara: “I totally agree. Having good product knowledge has always helped me be a better marketer. So next question: What’s your favorite thing about working with our customers?”
Alan: “I think for me it has to be those moments when I get to see how much of an impact my job has on the businesses I help, especially the small businesses. I always try to go the extra mile to help our new merchants get off the ground and it’s so gratifying to see how far that mile really goes.”
Cara: “Have you had any customers who have really left an impression on you?
Alan: “I always love the customers who want to have a bit of fun with me while I help them out. Lightens the mood a bit. I had this one customer who sold mattresses and he always signed his email with his name followed by “, Mattress King.” So I would respond to his emails calling him Mattress King and sign myself of with different titles like “Squire Alan.” He thought it was funny and addressed me by various titles, too. Overall, though, I love that I get to meet new people every day. Our merchants are always interesting people and it’s always fun to get to know them.”
Cara: “I love it! Next question: What’s the best customer service you’ve ever received and why?”
Alan: “Hmmm… I think it’s gotta be Amazon’s. Their reps are always so relaxed, down-to-earth, and empathetic. They always know exactly how to solve my problems the way I need my problems fixed. With many places, they can’t do the things you need done because they have policies in place preventing them. And I get that, but with Amazon, I’ve never run into a situation where they couldn’t make me whole again because of a policy.”
Cara: “Yeah, absolutely. I know one of the things they do a lot is tell you to keep or donate whatever the messed up item was and they just send you the right thing, saving you the hassle of shipping the item back.”
Alan: “Yep! It’s pretty awesome for sure.”
Cara: “That just leaves me with one last question: What makes the ShopPad customer success team so special?”
Alan: “I would say that what makes us special is how close-knit we are. When Annette [the head of customer success here] and I are interviewing candidates, we always look beyond their qualifications and look for people who are going to fit right it. Being so close means that we all know each other’s strengths really well, which allows us to ensure that tickets are going to the right people and it makes it easy for us to know who to ask what. But I also think what makes us special is that we all go the extra mile to turn upset customers into happy customers. And we all aim for that quick turnaround I mentioned earlier. So many of the merchants we help mention in their reviews or in comments to us that they love how fast we are to help them.”
Need to talk to Alan?
We’re lucky to have Alan on the ShopPad team. In the words of our customer Mobile Bits, “Alan was absolutely fabulous. He solved all my problems.”
Want Alan to solve one of your problems? Give him a shout out via our customer service email, contact@theshoppad.com!
