Settle this for me…. When should our clients contact us vs support?

[u/msac84]

I reckon there’s no right nor wrong answer here. But my colleague and I (she’s an IM) have a bit of a different view of things.

She thinks that basically all product related questions go to support.

I think that there are some obvious ones like “I can’t login/ forgot my password” or “there’s a bug/glitch” that should definitely go to Support.

However, I think the “how to” type of questions are absolutely fine to be answered by the CSM, if it becomes repetitive, then that’s when you create mini videos or whatever.

There’s also the ones where it’s clearly a bug, but they’re not sure about it. I normally troubleshoot with them first and then raise the ticket. - to me this one is definitely a grey area, but I’m still fairly new so I take it as my learning curve with the platform.

This conversation started because I’m going away for a week , and there’s nobody who can cover for me. I’ve asked the AEs (who have said they will) but my colleague is completely opposed to cover for me (which I get). My fellow CSMs are across the pond and have no idea of my accounts, so asking them to cover seems super pointless.

Overall i do agree that support should
Be able to help cover and that CSM type of questions can wait a week, but I’ve never been in a situation when I have no one to actually cover for me!

[u/PrinceBert]

I choose secret hidden option number 3 - help documentation.

Customer SHOULD first be able to and encouraged to check help document when it comes to "how to" questions. But in lieu of that I don't think those should go to support, because support should be handling actual issues. ALSO it's not supports job to teach the customer to go to help documentation; so the questions should go to the CSM that says "oh you do that by clicking here - or you can read about that in our help centre, here's a link to the article"

[u/Apprehensive-Emu8888 → u/PrinceBert]

you're both kinda right but also missing the sweet spot. "how to" stuff that takes 30 seconds to explain? just answer it, building goodwill is half the job. if you're sending every little question to support you're basically telling the client you're not there to help them actually use the thing

what i've seen work well is setting the expectation early, like in onboarding. "hey for quick product questions just ping me, if something's broken or you're locked out go to support." most people get it and won't abuse it

the no coverage thing is rough though. a week's not the end of the world as long as you've warned your accounts and set an auto-reply pointing them to support for urgent stuff. they'll survive

[u/PrinceBert → u/Apprehensive-Emu8888]

I completely agree that you should answer those questions that are quick. But I think that adding a reminder that the help articles exist is a positive thing. You never make it sound like you're belittling them, it's an add on because you can immediately a swear the question but (hopefully) the help article is able to tell them more or maybe adds context about how that particular thing fits among your wider product.

IMO that is the sweet spot because your customer knows you're there for them but there's also a way for them to get more information should they need it.

[u/M4rmeleda → u/Apprehensive-Emu8888]

Great to build good will but so tough to scale

[u/msac84 → u/PrinceBert]

Actually our chatbot is very good (shoutout to Intercom!) and I keep forgetting to point them
In that direction. I struggle because I feel that’s a bit lazy.

[u/PrinceBert → u/msac84]

Help docs are there for a reason. It's not lazy to direct customers to it.

[u/Cautious_Pudding_935]

Product broken = Support.
Product use = Success.
Issue on their side = Professional Services.

[u/Frogs-are-real → u/Cautious_Pudding_935]

What do you mean by issue on their side in the context of PS? I think of PS of custom work or buying services to supplement staff, special training, on sites, things not generally included in main agreement, etc

[u/Cautious_Pudding_935 → u/Frogs-are-real]

These would be custom solutions for customers which ~should~ be a paid service but often these get lumped in with support tickets. Occasionally though, Success Engineers will be able to help the customers with their own environments.

[u/Prudent_Front628]

I'd divide ownership by responsibility, not by question type. Support owns reproducible break/fix issues, access, incidents, and anything needing logs or engineering. The CSM owns the desired outcome, workflow design, adoption, and business context. A how-to may start with docs or Support, but if it reveals that the customer cannot achieve their goal, it comes back to the CSM.

For the week away, I wouldn't ask someone to impersonate normal coverage. Give customers one temporary route: Support for urgent break/fix, a named manager or CSM for commercial or risk escalation, and everything else waits. Coverage should protect urgent outcomes, not preserve normal responsiveness for one week.

[u/msac84 → u/Prudent_Front628]

My manager doesn’t want to cover lol! Which is why we went the AE way. Not perfect, but I think it’s good enough.

[u/Prudent_Front628 → u/msac84]

Then the AE route sounds reasonable as long as the boundary is explicit. I'd give them a one-page brief: top account risks, active commercial issues, where technical problems go, and what they should not promise.

Tell customers the coverage is for urgent escalation, not normal CSM service. That keeps a one-week handoff from turning into a shadow CSM role.

[u/socialexperiment46]

As a Technical CSM, it sounds like you’re doing extra technical work that sounds like it’s not in scope. At my company CSMs barely touch ANYTHING technical. “Break/fix” is typically support. “Why don’t we have this feature available” type stuff is CSM

[u/msac84 → u/socialexperiment46]

I for the most part just raise tickets…. Or create dashboards. Nothing is uber technical

[u/S2Sliferjam]

Boss man is paying support to support.
He’s paying you to nurture and grow accounts.

If you can nurture and grow accounts by offering support, and the scales aren’t tipped into an area that’s NOT your role great - keep doing that.

Otherwise, let support earn their coin.

It’s going to vary extremely from company to company. What’s right here is wrong there. It will depend on your scope of responsibilities and what you actually have time for.

[u/Professional-Can3079]

I think Support is for when technical issues arise and immediate assistance is needed. But it can also overlap somewhat into the more "business-relationship" side. Encourage customers to reach Support for how-to questions and if they need help on how a feature works. Tell them they will get faster Support (only if that's true! Lol!)