Customer support operations

Desing Support
New answer on Dec 21, 2020
4 Answers
1.1 k Views
Anonymous A asked on Dec 19, 2020

There are 2 million businesses on Apps/GSuite for Google. Let's say
you were tasked to design and build a customer support operation
center, how would you proceed?

Overview of answers

Upvotes
  • Upvotes
  • Date ascending
  • Date descending
Best answer
Ian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Dec 19, 2020
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Well, I can't answer this until I've clarified a few things can I?

First and foremost, I need to know how is my business setup. Are my BUs setup based on product vertical, geography/region, or function?

Am I currently a flat/agile oganization or more pryamid-shaped?

The answers to these two questions completely change how I approach setting up my support operation center in terms of people, org struture/design, and process (hint: that's the framework)

Are you interviewing with McKinsey Digital or BCG Platinion? This is a very digital-style prompt.

Was this answer helpful?
Adi
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Dec 20, 2020
Accenture, Deloitte | Precision Case Prep | Experienced Interviewer & Career Coach | 15 years professional experience

Hey there,

There are many ways to approach...here's a simplified approach:

  1. First understand the customers and segment them- Premier or Basic (keep it simple). This will depend on type of service and support they buy. You could also segment by enterprise, government, small business
  2. Then channels of escalation/support contact (phone, email, account manager etc)
  3. Then services offered by the support centre & hours of operations- diagnostic, resolution etc
  4. Out of office/Weekend support e.g. basic support queries and logging of issues only
  5. Then create all the processes related to raising support tickets, diagnostics, resolution, escalations and customer relationship management etc
  6. Think about what tools/technology will be needed to execute the above processes effectively. Go a step further and name some popular ones if you know any (Zendesk for example)
  7. Finally comes the people layer- # of staff, clear roles & responsibilities, training, location (low cost offshore or inhouse or outsourced), language requirements etc

As you can see we have stepped through the layers systematically starting with customer layer to get the design right. Feel free to message if you wish to discuss and understand this approach. There are other simpler ways, but the above in my view is comprehensive.

Was this answer helpful?
Anonymous A on Dec 20, 2020

Hi Adi, Thanks for reply on above que.Can you share some guidance around 1)what are some of the support features to be considered 2)How the support operations can be assessed. Thanks

Clara
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Dec 20, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

Agree with what other coaches said.

To add on top, you would not get a question like this in a consulting interview.
Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Was this answer helpful?
Gaurav
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Dec 21, 2020
Ex-Mckinsey|Certified Career Coach |Placed 500+ candidates at MBB & other consultancies

Hi there,

In order for us to design a customer support operation center, we should think about three things:

  1. Divide the customer support into subfunctions (ex: install support, issues handling etc).
  2. How fast you want the request to be answered? Think about that and decide the number of people working in support (The faster - the more employees).
  3. What can be done by AI and what should be handled by human?

Hope it wass helpful,

GB

Was this answer helpful?
Yolo on Jul 01, 2023

Designing and building a customer support operation center for 2 million businesses on Apps/GSuite for Google would be a significant undertaking that requires careful planning and consideration.

Yolo on Jul 01, 2023

Customer support operations are a critical component of any business, as they help to ensure that customers are satisfied with the products or services they have received. Effective customer support can help to build customer loyalty and improve the overall reputation of a business. However, managing customer support operations can be a complex and time-consuming task, which is why many businesses choose to outsource their customer support operations. customer support outsourcing can offer several benefits to businesses. For one, it can help to reduce costs, as outsourcing companies may be able to provide customer support services at a lower cost than hiring and training an in-house team. Additionally, outsourcing customer support can help to improve the quality of support provided, as outsourcing companies often have access to specialized tools, technologies, and expertise that may not be available in-house.

Ian gave the best answer

Ian

Content Creator
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate
1,088
Meetings
76,114
Q&A Upvotes
227
Awards
5.0
150 Reviews
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or fellow student?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 = Not likely
10 = Very likely