The Supportive
Insights, advice, support, and entertainment for people who know that customer support is about so much more than answering questions.
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Customer Service Writing: Why Shorter Replies Take More Skill
Mathew Patterson
June 15, 2026
Teach Your Customers the Alison Groves Way
Mathew Patterson
June 1, 2026
How Kristi Created Her Own Customer Success Job
Mathew Patterson
May 18, 2026
5 Lessons Learned on The Supportive Season 2
Mathew Patterson
April 20, 2026
Stop Wasting Happy Customer Reviews
Mathew Patterson
March 19, 2026
Season 2 Episode 07: MacSparky
Help Scout
March 24, 2026
The Dutch Supermarket Selling Slower Service on Purpose
Mathew Patterson
February 19, 2026
Season 2 Episode 06: NapLab
Help Scout
March 8, 2026
Season 2 Episode 05: Young Henrys
Help Scout
January 18, 2026
26 Support Tips For 2026
Mathew Patterson
January 14, 2026
How to avoid fragile knowledge in support
Mathew Patterson
December 22, 2025
Season 2 Episode 04: YNAB
Help Scout
December 9, 2025
Let's call a bot a bot
Mathew Patterson
December 3, 2025
Emergency Response Tips for Support Pros
Mathew Patterson
November 20, 2025
Season 2 Episode 03: Wistia
Help Scout
November 19, 2025
Sales Tips for Support Pros
Mathew Patterson
October 28, 2025
Season 2 Episode 02: ZSA
Help Scout
September 17, 2025
Season 2 Episode 01: Help Scout
Help Scout
September 17, 2025
Support Pros Recommend...
Mathew Patterson
August 6, 2025
Reframing AI Chatbots as Self-Service Tools
Mathew Patterson
July 21, 2025
The Not-Particularly-Weird Science of Support
Mathew Patterson
July 6, 2025
The 4 Bucket System for Support
Mathew Patterson
June 26, 2025
Noticing the Small Wins
Mathew Patterson
June 16, 2025
Air Canada’s Chatbot Walked So Cursor’s Chatbot Could Ruin
Mathew Patterson
June 5, 2025
The Supportive Podcast Wraps-Up Season 1
Mathew Patterson
June 3, 2025
Conversation Corner Live: Teacher Appreciation
Mathew Patterson
May 29, 2025
Criticism in Customer Support
Mathew Patterson
May 14, 2025
Companion Planting for Diversity in Support
Mathew Patterson
April 30, 2025
Episode 10: Inside Buzzsprout Support
Help Scout
April 25, 2025
Inside Learn Something Days: The Help Scout Support Team
Christine Chavez
April 16, 2025
Support Pros React!
Mathew Patterson
April 1, 2025
Episode 9: On Community
Help Scout
March 26, 2025
Help Scout Classes: Learning to Educate at Scale
Alison Groves
March 24, 2025
Episode 8: On the Origin of Support with Sarah Hatter
Help Scout
March 4, 2025
Leveraging Transferable Skills for a Career Change
Kristi Thompson
March 3, 2025
Episode 7: Getting Started in Support
Help Scout
February 6, 2025
How Do You Manage Support During Federal Holidays?
Mathew Patterson
February 3, 2025
It's Groundhog Day in the Queue, Again
Mathew Patterson
December 9, 2024
Episode 6: Support Teams of 2028
Help Scout
December 4, 2024
Data Quality: Why It’s Key To AI Support
Tim Jordan
November 27, 2024
Episode 2: Self-service is the future of online support (1)
Help Scout
October 24, 2024
AI and the Race for the Light
Mathew Patterson
October 14, 2024
Conversation Corner: Making Support a Whole Company Sport
Mathew Patterson
September 24, 2024
Improving CX by Overcoming the Challenges of AI Support
Craig Stoss
September 23, 2024
Building a Future in Support: The Demand for AI Skills
Nouran Smogluk
September 17, 2024
Episode 5: Escape the Queue
Help Scout
September 23, 2024
Episode 4: Greatest Mistakes in Customer Service History
Help Scout
September 20, 2024
Smile, You’re in an AI Photo
Mathew Patterson
August 23, 2024
Episode 3: Secrets of a Product Manager
Help Scout
September 20, 2024
Conversation Corner: Real Support Talk
Hillary Noble
June 4, 2024
Episode 2: Self-service is the future of online support
Help Scout
August 10, 2025
Between Two Borgs
Mathew Patterson
May 20, 2024
Beyond the Biscoff: Thoughts on Building Customer Loyalty
Cameron Mitchell
May 3, 2024
The Supportive Podcast
Help Scout
March 24, 2026
Building Skills for the Sport of Support
Christine Chavez
April 15, 2024
Catch Me if You Can
Mathew Patterson
March 29, 2024
Episode 1: The Future of AI-Enhanced Support Teams
Help Scout
October 2, 2024
First Impressions Last
Mathew Patterson
February 14, 2024
The Name of the Rose
Mathew Patterson
February 6, 2024
When Support Teams are Blamed for Product Problems
Mathew Patterson
January 23, 2024
Fears, Careers, Robot Peers: Help Scout Support Pros Talk AI
Mathew Patterson
December 6, 2023
A Very Help Scout Thanksgiving
Mathew Patterson
November 21, 2023
Four Customer Service Lessons Leaders Learned Early — and Still Call on Today
Diana Price
October 20, 2023
How to Enhance Customer Service with AI Tools: Featuring Close, JustCall, & Make
Mathew Patterson
October 12, 2023
Inside Support: Q&A with Support Leader Brittany Ferguson
Diana Price
September 26, 2023
Navigating Product Changes in SaaS Support
Mathew Patterson
September 22, 2023
First Impressions Are Fast Impressions
Mathew Patterson
September 5, 2023
How To Be Heard By Your Product Team
Elyse Mankin
August 24, 2023
Building Stronger Customer Relationships
Mathew Patterson
August 23, 2023
Going Off Script
Mathew Patterson
August 11, 2023
Comparing SaaS and Ecommerce Support
Mathew Patterson
May 5, 2023
Beyond Tickets: How Support Teams Impact Revenue (Featuring Litmus and Close)
Kristen Bryant Smith
February 23, 2023
Artificial Integrity: Trust, AI, and Customer Service
Mathew Patterson
February 21, 2023
How Distributed Customer Service Teams Improve Each Other’s Skills
Mathew Patterson
December 19, 2022
7 Predictions for Customer Service and Support in 2023
Mathew Patterson
December 5, 2022
How To Tell if a Company Is Really Customer-Centric
Mathew Patterson
November 29, 2022
Removing customer service accents via AI: The wrong solution to a real problem
Mathew Patterson
September 27, 2022
A Love Letter to Social Media Customer Service Pros
Mathew Patterson
August 29, 2022
Changing a Company Culture
Mathew Patterson
August 9, 2022
If Customer Service Were Really Superheroes
Mathew Patterson
July 29, 2022
Work For Customers, Not Personas
Mathew Patterson
July 26, 2022
Guiding clients to email support instead of their account managers
Mathew Patterson
June 28, 2022
Is Google's LaMDA sentient, and if so would it like a job?
Mathew Patterson
June 16, 2022
Turning support requests into customer insights
Mathew Patterson
June 3, 2022
Museum of Customer Support: Ancient Fast Food
Mathew Patterson
May 18, 2022
Help Scout’s Conversation Corner on Experience This!
Mathew Patterson
March 15, 2022
Teaching Analytical Reading
Mathew Patterson
February 23, 2022
How to Change Your Team’s Behavior
Mathew Patterson
February 17, 2022
Museum of Customer Support: The First Shopping Cart
Mathew Patterson
January 27, 2022
Measuring Customer Service Success More Broadly
Mathew Patterson
January 19, 2022
Encouraging Support Teams To Write Help Docs
Mathew Patterson
January 12, 2022
12 Predictions for Customer Service Trends in 2022
Mathew Patterson
January 5, 2022
Fast Food vs. Fine Dining in Customer Service
Mathew Patterson
December 17, 2021
Reducing and Handling Ecommerce Shipping Cost Complaints
Mathew Patterson
December 15, 2021
Dealing With Abusive Customers
Mathew Patterson
December 9, 2021
How Support Teams Can Improve Customer Retention
Mathew Patterson
December 2, 2021
Museum of Customer Support: The World's Oldest Complaint Letter
Mathew Patterson
December 1, 2021
Writing Your Own Customer Service Recipe Book
Mathew Patterson
November 23, 2021
Terrifying Tales of Spooky Support
Mathew Patterson
October 27, 2021
Annual Planning as a New Customer Support Leader
Mathew Patterson
October 22, 2021
Visit Sea Sat, the Customer Service Restaurant
Mathew Patterson
October 20, 2021
Why Customers Ask Vague Questions (and What To Do About It)
Mathew Patterson
October 14, 2021
5 Steps Support Teams Can Take To Get Product Bugs Fixed
Jesse Short
September 29, 2021
The Book That Changed My Customer Service Career
Mathew Patterson
September 27, 2021
The Supportive: A Series for Service Professionals
Mathew Patterson
September 22, 2021
Small Business Customer Service Outsourcing: 4 Pitfalls to Avoid
Josh Magsam
September 16, 2021
What Should I Include in My Cover Letter?
Mathew Patterson
September 9, 2021
Telling My Boss About My True Career Goals
Mathew Patterson
July 8, 2021
Being Pushed to Offer Service Level Agreements Too Soon
Mathew Patterson
May 19, 2021
Balancing Soft-Skills With Technical Ability
Mathew Patterson
April 21, 2021
Breaking Into SaaS Support
Mathew Patterson
March 16, 2021
GPT-3 and AI in Customer Support
Mathew Patterson
February 19, 2021
The Best Role for a Second Customer Service Hire
Mathew Patterson
February 17, 2021
Avoiding Cherry-Picking in the Support Queue
Mathew Patterson
January 26, 2021
Holiday Customer Service: 6 Tips for Scaling Support Spikes
Mathew Patterson
November 5, 2020
7 Tips for Becoming a SaaS Support Professional
Kristi Thompson
August 11, 2020
COVID-19's Impact on Customer Service Volumes
Mathew Patterson
May 20, 2020
Crisis Communication Tips for Customer Service Teams
Mathew Patterson
March 11, 2020
How to Handle Customer Support During Company-Wide Events
Mathew Patterson
October 17, 2019
Should I Let My Staff Complain About Customers?
Elizabeth Wellington
October 14, 2019
Inside Help Scout: How We Triage Our Support Queue
Mathew Patterson
October 1, 2019
Rolling Out Weekend Support
Nykki Yeager
July 15, 2019
5 Boring Customer Service Stories
Sarah Chambers
June 13, 2019
Humanize Your Support With Data
Mathew Patterson
June 3, 2019
How to Turn Off a Support Channel Gracefully
Sarah Chambers
February 26, 2019
Why Analytical Reading Is a Must-Have Skill
Leslie O'Flahavan
February 19, 2019
Communicating Support Successes to the Wider Company
Jakub Slámka
January 14, 2019
Support Teams and Technical Writers: A Powerful Partnership
Mathew Patterson
December 4, 2018
3 Strategies for Scaling Up to 24-Hour Customer Service
Craig Stoss
November 13, 2018
Help Your New Hires Rock: 30/60/90-Day Reviews for Support
Mercer Smith
September 24, 2018
How to Hire for Chat and Email Writing Skills
Leslie O'Flahavan
August 1, 2018
The Right Way to Consolidate Your Customer Support Tools
Mathew Patterson
July 31, 2018
AI, Curiosity, and the Future of Human Customer Service
Mathew Patterson
July 11, 2018
4 Ways to Determine What Your Customer Really Needs
Emily Triplett Lentz
March 26, 2018
Reduce Your Support Load Through Better Product Writing
Sara Culver
March 15, 2018
Turn Support Hunches into Usable Data for Product Teams
Amy Breedon-Jones
March 6, 2018
Inbox Zero: The Fast, Empathetic Way to Get Your Team There
Help Scout
March 5, 2018
Working Successfully in a Collaborative Support Model
Abigail Phillips
February 28, 2018
How Mailchimp Bridges the Gap Between Support and Product
Mathew Patterson
February 20, 2018
Taking Customer Service Beyond Satisfaction
Antonio King
February 1, 2018
Customer Service + Marketing = Improved Customer Experience
Josh Brown
December 21, 2017
Why Support Teams Must Stake a Claim to Revenue
Mathew Patterson
October 31, 2017
8 Tips for How to Approach Cross-Cultural Customer Support
Amanda Fong
August 17, 2017
Why Your Customer Service Sucks
Mathew Patterson
July 31, 2017
What I Learned About Customer Service While Working at A Bookstore
Andrew van Gelderen
July 14, 2017
How Customer Support Teams Can Maximize Seasonal Downtime
Brittany Ferguson
June 6, 2017
Take It or Leave It: What Help Desk Data Should You Migrate?
Mathew Patterson
May 25, 2017
How to Master Difficult Customer Service Conversations
Abigail Phillips
March 28, 2017
What My Mechanic Taught Me About Customer Service
Mathew Patterson
January 12, 2017
Taking the Right Tone With Customers
Abigail Phillips
December 15, 2016
5 People You Need On Your Customer Support Team
Mathew Patterson
November 15, 2016
How to Build and Optimize Your Customer Support Funnel
Molly Wojcik
October 4, 2016
Aligning Sales and Support for Long-Term Growth
Help Scout
September 27, 2016
4 Ways to Find Meaningful Opportunities in Customer Support
Gregory Ciotti
July 28, 2016
Improving Employee Retention in Customer Support
Emily Triplett Lentz
July 26, 2016
9 Tips to Improve Your Customer Support Game
Emily Triplett Lentz
June 30, 2016
Support, Sales, and Marketing Need to Work in Harmony
Mathew Patterson
June 23, 2016
Boost Customer Happiness with Exclamations and Emoticons
Emily Triplett Lentz
June 2, 2016
How We Transitioned to 24-Hour Support
Kelly Herring
May 12, 2016
Track Requests to Keep Customers Coming Back
Emily Triplett Lentz
April 20, 2016
Solving Problems Outside Your Domain
Mo McKibbin
April 5, 2016
5 Big Lessons Support Managers Wish They’d Learned Sooner
Emily Triplett Lentz
February 23, 2016
Giving Great GIFs for Better Support
Mo McKibbin
December 22, 2015
Why All Hands Support Didn’t Work for Our Company
Anna Brozek
December 17, 2015
