Thrun, who founded the famous Google car project and is the chairman of Udacity, is bang on. If you really think about it, all of AI is basically a march towards building machines which can behave, process, and think like humans (but of course, not replace them).

In 2019, remote work is becoming more and more popular: to hire the best talent from all across the world and keep up with the competition, startups and big companies alike are building distributed teams. There are also numerous productivity tools that support organizations as well as individuals. However, transitioning from a colocated team to a remote environment can be still challenging.

If you’re looking for ways to improve your company’s customer support, you’ve likely come across a solid amount of articles and lists that tell you the things your team should be doing. These kinds of tips can be an excellent starting point for putting together an effective support approach. But it’s equally important to have an idea of the strategies you’ll want to avoid.

Customer support is a make or break service for a business that differs by region. While 24/4 live chats and support phone numbers that connect to skilled agents and managers are the most direct ways to communicate with your audience, it helps to also practice proactive support techniques.

Running a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) company is fun. It’s usually created by a couple tech enthusiasts with a great idea and extensive coding knowledge. Getting those first few customers feels amazing, and your core focus is on making them happy. They’ve got your cell number and you’re just a phone call away for anything they need.

Unsatisfied customers are three times more likely1 to share their negative experiences than happy ones. There’s also the fact that unsatisfied customers tend to cost you. It can take up to 12 positive experiences to make up for just one unresolved negative one. Angry and frustrated customers can tarnish your brand’s name, while satisfied customers mean more great recommendations and reviews for your business.

The customer support agents in tier 1 provide general product support across one or more products. This includes things like helping customers set up their accounts, resolving billing issues, helping them understand how the product works, and any other help customers need to use the product.

On any given day, a startup owner might wear a dozen hats, taking on the role of a business analyst, marketer, human resources personnel, inventory clerk, warehouse manager, and customer service agent, among other things. With so many priorities competing for attention, it can be daunting to ensure your customers receive top-grade service without detracting from an already strained budget and timetable.

Data shows that, for global businesses, providing support in multiple languages is well worth the effort. Nearly three quarters of people search online in their native language, which means that if you’re only communicating in English, for example, you’re probably losing customers and adding layers of inefficiencies for your agents.

For many larger businesses, it can often be difficult to keep up with the flood of support tickets and customer issues that flood in – even with a powerful helpdesk. Often, the proposed solution is to hire more support staff to alleviate the extra work, but that’s not always a great solution. For instance, you’ll have to be able to afford the extra staff. That may not always be a possibility.