Hiver

“We turned our Voice of the Customer sessions from a data readout into a story everyone could rally behind.”  — Karen Lam, Director of Customer Support at Top Hat In our latest episode of the Experience Matters podcast, Karen talks to Niraj Ranjan Rout, CEO and co-founder of Hiver, about how empathy, storytelling, and context shape her approach to leadership. ✨ She opens up about: - How “Voice of the Customer” sessions build real alignment across teams - Why support can’t just be seen as a cost center, and what to do if it is - Where AI fits in (and where it doesn’t) for the future of customer support - Why she rewrote 500+ help docs into 100 high-impact resources Karen’s biggest advice? Support leaders do invisible, vital work. Recognize it. Invest in it. Celebrate it. 🎧 Listen or watch the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gMd--nck #Leadership #CustomerSupport #ExperienceMatters

“Don’t be an ant on the anthill. Even if you’re one rep in a giant call center, take ownership of your customer’s experience.” That’s the kind of advice you get from someone who’s been on the ground, navigated the burnout, and still chooses to lead with clarity and care. In our latest edition of CX Spotlight, Neal Travis 🌱, Head of Customer Experience at AIHR | Academy to Innovate HR, gets real about what it takes to lead (and survive) in support: 🧠 Why empathy starts with understanding the product like a customer 🤖 How AI can ease the mental load 💬 And how a “Super Simple” mindset helps him break down complex problems 👇 Link to the full conversation in comments. #CXSpotlight #CustomerSupport #CXLeadership

How do you check for empathy when you’re hiring for your support team? In our latest episode of Experience Matters, Karen Lam, Director of Customer Support at Top Hat, talks to Niraj Ranjan Rout, CEO and Co-founder of Hiver, about the thoughtful questions she uses to identify these traits in candidates: ➡️ “Explain a hobby you love as if I know nothing about it.” ➡️ “Is there anything I haven’t asked that you wish I had?” These are simple questions, but they reveal how someone thinks, connects, and communicates. 👉 Check out the full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/gMd--nck #Leadership #Hiring #ExperienceMatters

“An elderly man once came to our office because he couldn’t change his email through the app. That moment taught me the importance of adapting our support channels to the needs of customers and recognizing those who go out of their way to resolve an issue.” — Giulio Castiglioni, Customer Care Director at PLAYTOMIC In this edition of CX Spotlight, Giulio gets candid about what it really takes to lead with empathy and impact. He talks about: 💬 Why every agent must use the product like a customer 🤖 How AI turns meetings into onboarding guides 🧘♂️ And what does “zen-like empathy and surgical precision” mean in practice 🔗 Link to the full conversation in the comments 👇 #CustomerExperience #CXSpotlight #Hiver

A customer once called support from jail. Not to complain, but to make sure no one picked up his 75” TV while he was gone. He said, “I’m getting out before the Super Bowl, and I’m hosting the party.” For Zack Hamilton (Founder, Unf*cking Your CX), moments like this show how personal customer relationships can be. In this edition of CX Spotlight, Zack talks about building systems that turn friction into action and not just mere insights that get ignored in the long run. Highlights from his playbook: 🔹 Every piece of feedback becomes a business case.  🔹 Support teams have real power if they speak up. 🔹 AI is your co-pilot. It will help you find patterns fast and prove value in outcomes. 👇 Link to the full interview in comments. #CustomerExperience #CXLeadership #CXSpotlight

Everyone’s talking about AI in customer support. But very few are showing how it’s actually being used on the ground. So we asked 20+ customer support leaders — from companies like Tailscale, Zapier, and Fullscript — to walk us through what’s real, what’s working, and what still feels like smoke and mirrors. Here’s what they told us 👇 - AI is helping onboard and coach agents - QA is being scaled without growing headcount - Broken personalization is being fixed with real context - Co-pilot tools are outperforming full automation - Sentiment data is catching churn before it happens If you’re building the future of support, this is the playbook you want in your hands. Download it. Share it with your team. Start making smarter moves with AI. 👉 Get the full report: https://lnkd.in/gj5uUN6X •Shep Hyken | Miles Goldstein | Karen Lam | Giulio Castiglioni | Chloe Shill | Alex Rainey | Christian Sokolowski | Stephanie Ouellet, MBA | Justin Bonar-Bridges | Dan Gingiss, CSP | Sarah Caminiti | Alex Marantelos | Louise Baldwin | Kel Kurekgi | Jordan Hooker | Siobhán James | Craig Stoss | Peter Harrison | Daniel Allen

A customer once used a blow torch on their yoga mat. Jessica Botello has seen a lot in her six years leading support at Manduka, but this one stood out. In this edition of CX Spotlight, Jessica shares how she approaches customer experience through the lens of empathy, clarity, and follow-through. Jessica’s background as a yoga teacher shows up in her leadership style. Calm, intentional, and people-first. 💬 “Everyone is doing the best they can.” That mindset has reshaped how her team responds to customers. 🧘♀️ Her advice to support folks: take care of your own energy before trying to support others. 🤖 And yes, AI plays a role too, but only when it’s trained to genuinely help. Link to the full conversation in the comments! #CustomerExperience #CustomerSupport #SupportOps #EmpathyInSupport #Manduka

“Start with your roadmap: how much of it is driven by customer input, and how much tech debt are you clearing? Then look at who’s in the room—if your support leaders aren’t part of product, launch, or marketing meetings, you’re not customer-obsessed, no matter what you say.” — Sarah Caminiti, Manager of Customer Support at Tailscale On the latest episode of the Experience Matters podcast, Sarah challenges us to rethink our planning by asking the hard questions that keep CX front and center. 👉Watch the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gwE5BiJM #CustomerExperience #CXStrategy #ProductRoadmap

Rob Dwyer once handled support for Snoop Dogg’s wireless phone account. But that’s not even the most interesting part of his customer experience journey. In this edition of CX Spotlight, Rob — VP of Customer Engagement at Happitu — shares how he’s scaling QA with AI, building feedback loops that actually influence the roadmap, and why curiosity is still his go-to superpower. Highlights from his playbook: 🔹 AI is perfect for QA as it helps surface coaching insights at scale 🔹 Every time a customer says, “I wish your product did X,” Rob’s team logs it, tags it, and feeds it into product planning 🔹 Great support starts with listening, not rushing to solve 👇 Full interview in the comments below. #CustomerSupport #AIinCX #CXSpotlight

As Handel Bouw Advies B.V. grew, so did the volume and complexity of client communication. They were managing everything from solar studies to heat loss evaluations, and their team was juggling it all through a shared Gmail inbox. It worked for a while… until it didn’t. That’s when they turned to Hiver. In just one day, their team rolled out a new system that gave them structure without adding friction. They kept the tools they already knew and layered on the visibility, accountability, and automation they needed. Here’s what changed: ✅ 100% team-wide visibility into client conversations ✅ 400+ hours saved every month through automations ✅ 80% improvement in client satisfaction In the words of Tim Mijzen, Director at HBA: “The automations in Hiver fix a lot of things that other tools couldn’t…..I couldn’t think of anything that doesn’t work well.” 👉 The full story of how a fast-moving construction consultancy made their workflows faster, clearer, and more collaborative is here: https://lnkd.in/g5_Vv638 #CustomerService #EmailManagement #Hiver