You’re struggling to build your professional network in Customer Support. What are you missing?

3 How to start and maintain conversations

Networking in customer support can be a challenge, especially when you need to initiate and sustain meaningful conversations with people you don't know or haven't met before. To overcome this challenge, it is important to be proactive, curious, and respectful. A few tips to help you start and maintain conversations with other customer support professionals include introducing yourself briefly and clearly, asking open-ended questions, sharing your own insights and experiences, and following up and staying in touch. When introducing yourself, explain who you are, what you do, and why you're interested in customer support. Ask questions that show genuine interest in the other person's background, role, challenges, and goals. Don't be afraid to offer your perspective, advice, or feedback on customer support topics; however, don't dominate the conversation or brag about your achievements. After the conversation is over, send a thank-you message or email and express your appreciation. Additionally, keep the connection alive by following up on any topics or actions you discussed, sharing relevant resources or opportunities, or inviting them to another event or group.

5 How to measure and improve your networking results

Networking in customer support is not a one-time activity or a numbers game; it’s a long-term process and a quality game. To make the most of your networking efforts, you must measure and improve your results. For example, set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) to define what you want to achieve from your networking activities, how you will measure progress, and when you will review results. Additionally, track your actions and outcomes by using a tool or system to record conversations and follow-ups. Be sure to review your actions and outcomes regularly to identify what worked and what didn’t. Lastly, seek feedback and improvement by asking for feedback from networking contacts and mentors on how you can improve networking skills and strategies. Learn from mistakes and successes, and apply learnings to future networking activities.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?