Keap support doesn’t have the best reputation.
Some might say it’s terrible even.
And personally, I’m not proud of the role I’ve played in that reputation, because I honestly think it’s unfounded and based on presumptuous assumptions (consonance alliteration ftw). More on that in a second.
I always get what I need when I connect with Keap support. Always.
I always walk away from the experience satisfied with the outcome. Always.
And now I’m going to tell you how I manage that. But first, some obligatory exposition. 🙂
In my decade+ of dealing with Keap, I’ve only been disappointed in support when I expected them to be something that they aren’t (and let’s be honest, never have been) – experts in everything having to do with everything.
Keap support don’t know everything about everything. In fact, some interactions may make us feel like they don’t even know very much about Keap. As frustrating as that may seem, that is not the reason why we have trouble getting what we need from them.
The real reason is that we already know they don’t know everything, but we go ahead and act like they do (or at least should) when we call them. No wonder we’re always mad at them.
How to Work with Keap Support
Step 1 – Don’t
We all know that Keap is not the best resource for simple how-to questions. That’s not to disrespect Keap – quite the contrary; it’s virtually impossible for an entry level employee of any company to have enough context from enough industries and businesses to be capable of giving advice on specific setup questions.
Instead of calling Keap with a question that we know they probably can’t answer, why not turn to one of the plenty of other (free) resources available to get questions about implementation, strategy, or functionality answered? There are plenty of Facebook communities teeming with business owners and seasoned experts that can provide more applicable answers in realtime.
Step 2 – Prepare
Online communities can help with just about everything when it comes to Keap, but still there is the occasional situation where the issue you’re running into can only be explained as a “bug in the software”. Most of the time, frustrated business owners will call Infusionsoft support and the first thing they say is, “There’s a bug in the software.”
That is not an effective technique. A support rep can’t do anything with that. And the minute they start to feel you getting upset or angry or frustrated, it will put them on the defensive. And a defensive support rep is an unhelpful support rep. Get ready for disappointment if that’s the route you choose.
Here is a list of things that you should have prepared before you call or join chat support:
- Your appname
- Your security details (they can’t help you if you don’t have this)
- The name and id of the affected feature (e.g. Marketing Campaign, id 123)
- The exact steps that you took that caused the issue
- The exact steps that you took trying to replicate the issue
- Whether you were able to replicate the issue
- Screenshots (of everything)
I like to do all of this in one shot by recording a screencapture video of me duplicating the error.
Step 3 – Empathize
As difficult as it can be to swallow your pride, empathizing with the support rep will always result in a better experience. Going into the call with the understanding that the individual on the other end is not responsible for causing or fixing your issue will keep you from taking your frustration out on the rep, which, again, is simply ineffective.
But if you take that one step further, and type these exact words while the support rep is looking into the issue, that rep will go above and beyond for you:
“Thank you so much for your help. I understand this is in no way your fault, and I appreciate you taking the time to help me. If you sense any impatience or frustration, please don’t take that as frustration with you personally.”
Think about it – support reps only deal with 1 type of person – a frustrated person.
If you set yourself apart from that and recognize them as an individual, a human, and not just a cog in a bigger machine, they will make it their personal mission to help you.
Keap support aren’t perfect, but if you approach the interaction correctly, you never have to walk away from the interaction feeling like the end of the world is nigh. With a little bit of preparation and a slight mindset shift, you can get so much more out of it and end up actually satisfied with the result.
Imagine that.
Editor’s note: If you liked this, tell the world (and Bret) on twitter.
Editor’s other note: If you’re looking for more suggestions for getting the most out of your support channels, check out the tips from this article written by another former Infusionite.
I would add, when you get a support rep who does a particularly fantastic job, talk about it either via email to their manager or in the Infusionsoft Facebook Group.
We complain loud enough when things don’t go as planned.
We should celebrate even louder when they go great.
Very valid point.
Amen, Brian. This is SUUPER important.
I’m surprised to read that there’s a general complaint about Infusionsoft Tech Support. My experience with their *phone* support has been stellar (Chat is another story – I don’t even try it anymore). I’ve only had one bad phone support experience in over 3 years – and I used to call them a lot … ’til I joined Monkeypod Grove, which is like Tech Support in technicolor … and already documented for handy future reference.
Thanks for this post – I really appreciate the numbered list of how to prepare, and the empathizing script – great stuff! And the idea of creating a screencapture. I usually do create a screencapture of problems, but didn’t realize I might be able to *share* that with tech support.
One other thing I like to do at the end of Tech calls is to ask which part of Infusionsoft is the Tech’s favorite and why. Hands down, it’s the campaign builder and I’ve learned to appreciate it more through their enthusiasm — though it took Monkeypod Grove to actually get better at implementing new campaign-builder ideas. Thanks for this post!
Awesome contribution – I think it’s fair to say that there are plenty of examples of positive results with support, of course. This blog was really more for the folks who are feeling defeated, as a recipe for more productive interactions in general.
LOVE your tip about asking the reps for their favorite part of the software; that’s a great way to draw inspiration on where you may wanna spend more time.
(Also, thanks for the Monkeypod love. Proud to count you a a member. ✊ )
This is excellent advice for any interaction with any type of help group – not just Infusionsoft
Yes, agreed. This wisdom is “platform agnostic”. 😉
To compliment the mindset component, build time into your expectation.
We probably didn’t discover whatever challenge we are facing in 5 min or less. Expecting someone different to grasp the issue and resolve in less time is not fair. Tools to expedite the documentation of details helps, but it still takes time to comprehend. Especially for those of us who have built a rube goldberg of processes…
Great article / perspective!
True, very true. Thanks for reading Andy!
Having been on both ends of tech support calls with Infusionsoft, I’d say this is excellent advice. Additionally, I wish I could like or +1 each of the reader comments I’ve seen so far. Thanks, Greg and Bret for this sound advice!!
Thanks for the validation Cami! Appreciate all you do for the IS community. 🙂
Exactly, there is always a person on the other side of the phone/chat.
I do have to say that my experience with the Infusionsoft Chat is outstanding. My questions always have been answered, not always to my liking (not everything I would like to be possible, is actually possible in IS), but I have always had someone willing to investigate, try things, and go above and beyond.
Awesome! Glad to hear about your positive experiences. Thanks for reading (and for sharing)!
Some good points here! While I dislike that the first suggestion on how to get help from IS support is basically “don’t even try,” you have a point.
I’ve had my frustrations with chat support, as well. No need to dwell on horror stories.
But…
Remembering 2 things helps me: Firstly – this post; they’re people who deserve to be treated decently. And of course, “Help me help you” and all that.
Secondly, most importantly, this isn’t an IS thing. I need reasonable expectations.
I’ve been in software 20+ years, and know how rarely technically-competent people stay in level 1 support – the role that takes initial calls.
As jobs go, Level 1 Support is _really_ not great. You’re the face of the company at a time the company has done something annoying, and you cop the flack for problems you had no hand in making and no power to fix. Not fun.
And the rest of the time is usually explaining the incredibly obvious over and over and over to an endless stream of people who just don’t get it. “Yes, you do put the name in that field that says name. That’s why it says ‘name’…” (An exaggeration, but not by much.)
A handful of tech-skilled people do enjoy the role and stay there, but the other 95% get out asap.
I know in advance that I’m probably not going to be talking to a tech expert. Odds are, I will know about the system than they do. I’m looking for a sounding board – that the solution will show itself when we talk through the steps I’m taking. Or that they’re a channel that can escalate something to (hopefully) be fixed. But they’re only rarely going to be able to solve my problem.
I can think of maybe 2 companies where this doesn’t apply (my web host is one) – but almost all the time, I try to keep expectations of level 1 realistic.
Thanks Julian, appreciate the contributions. I think the point of the first suggestion “Don’t” wasn’t meant as a blanket statement for “Don’t talk to support”, but rather “Think twice about what your question is, and whether or not support is the place to get it answered”.
I’m a big proponent of using the right tool for the right job (hence my tea kettle post a while back), and in this scenario I think Bret is just saying that be getting clear on the problems tech support is best at solving, you’ll reduce the frustration you get from trying to get them to help with something for which they’re not equipped.
Anyway, thanks again for the perspective!
Such good points. Greg is right, my first point is simply to acknowledge the fact that there might be a better place to get the answers to your specific question. Save yourself the time and frustration of beating your head against the wall with a support rep that simply doesn’t have the experience that is required to answer that question. There may be a better way to get your question answered.
I wish more people understood (like you do) how hard it is to be a tier 1 support rep. You said it perfectly – you’re the face when something goes wrong and you get blamed for stuff you had no hand in.
Excellent comments!
I did tech support for 7 years (MS-DOS and when Windows came out) and I am ALWAYS cordial and appreciative of Tech Support. Many times they simply just don’t have the answer.
Thanks Shoan, you’re the man.
As a former infusionsoft support rep myself i know how to interact with infusionsoft support successfully as i have been through the same training as them. So it is therefore rare for me to have to speak to them or chat to them but when I do have to contact them i know how best to do so.
Rule 1: They are only there for “how do i?” or “it don’t work” type queries. how do i is literally asking for the exact step by step instructions on how to do something inside of infusion itself, bear in mind they don’t have blocks of css, html, javascript etc for fancy stuff youll have to get that elsewhere.
anything regarding strategy in terms of whats the best way to do something they can’t help you with, firstly because theres multiple ways to do things in infusionsoft and secondly because they are not trained coaches.
rule 2: imagine that every issue has to go higher. Infusionsoft support needs to give the following details when escalating tickets higher up so make sure you can give all of this info to the rep on each support contact.
App name:
Build #:
User experiencing the issue:
clear & concise description of the problem:
precondition / setup:
duplication steps:
expected outcome:
actual outcome:
error / error log:
Examples:
the description, precondition, duplication steps, actual outcome, errors and examples can all be provided as a video of your screen via say loom and then you upload to screencast.com and give support the link.
if support can replicate your issue there end and can’t fix it themselves they will raise it higher to get it fixed, if they cant recreate your issue they assume its user error.
Thanks Stuart! Appreciate your perspective.
I’ll also add, the team answering the phones at Infusionsoft are the kindest and most helpful tech support team I’ve ever called. They don’t always know the answer BUT they do try their best and are unfailingly polite!!
Yes! Love hearing that. Thanks for reading (and commenting) Gina. 🙂