Customer support has long been treated as a reactive function, focused on solving issues after they arise. This approach keeps businesses in a constant cycle of catching up with customer needs, rather than proactively addressing them.
But what if customer support had a stronger voice in decision-making?
To explore this, I spoke with Sarah Caminiti, head of US Customer Service at abcam.
She shared valuable insights on:
- Why customer support should be included in strategic discussions.
- The importance of a structured feedback loop between support and product teams.
- Initiatives that amplify the Voice of the Customer within an organization.
Bridging the Gap Between Support and Product
Sarah has worked in customer support across various roles and industries, and one recurring frustration stood out—support teams were often excluded from product decisions. She asks:
“Why are support professionals not the first people invited to the table when they’re directly interacting with customers every day?”
To bridge this gap, Sarah started proactively collecting and sharing customer data across the company. However, informal sharing wasn’t enough. The real breakthrough came when support feedback became part of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
She implemented a “Customer Trends Newsletter,” highlighting recurring issues, direct customer feedback, and examples of impactful conversations. This helped developers see patterns and prioritize fixes. Another key approach was celebrating wins—showcasing positive customer interactions to ensure support’s contributions were recognized.
Turning Feedback into Actionable Insights
Initially, Sarah’s team manually extracted customer data into spreadsheets due to limitations in their ticketing system. They later moved to Airtable, where they track trends, flag documentation gaps, and analyze response effectiveness. This structured approach allows them to prioritize issues by impact and identify ways to make customers more self-sufficient.
However, even with solid data, timing was an issue. Support feedback often arrived too late in the product development cycle. To counter this, Sarah’s team participated in every relevant Slack channel, ensuring their voices were heard before changes were finalized.
“It’s not that teams don’t want our feedback—it’s just overlooked. By being active in conversations, we’ve made it easier to connect and collaborate.”
Real Impact: How Support Led to Product Improvements
One of the most impactful changes stemmed from their customer newsletter. A recurring issue surfaced in multiple customer conversations, and while developers were aware of it, it hadn’t been prioritized. Sarah shares:
“When they saw it repeatedly in the newsletter, they used their cooldown period to make improvements. The result? A huge reduction in ticket volume on that issue.”
This is a perfect example of how structured feedback loops between support and product can drive meaningful improvements.
Measuring Success
Sarah’s team tracks key metrics to measure the impact of support on product development:
Ticket Volume Trends: A decrease in tickets about a specific issue signals that product improvements are working.
Resolution Efficiency: Fewer replies needed to solve an issue indicate better self-service resources and clearer product functionality.
Customer support isn’t just about fixing what’s broken—it’s a goldmine of insights that can drive meaningful product enhancements and improve customer retention.
“Support leadership deserves a seat at the table, period. We’ve been conditioned to think our work isn’t valuable, but in an oversaturated market, one of the biggest differentiators is how well a company supports its customers.” –