he customer support industry is in the midst of a renaissance. Customer support as a specialty is coming into its own, offering companies a competitive advantage that’s difficult to copy.
Modern customer support isn’t the same thing as customer service, although it employs customer service techniques. And it’s not the same thing it was 50, 20, or even 5 years ago — the definition is still evolving.
In this post, we're going to take a look at the world of modern customer support, what it is, why it's important, how it's changed over time, and how it differs from the stereotypical view of customer service.
A brief history of customer support
Before call centers and social media, local business owners often knew their customers really well. In the video below, Help Scout's Emily Triplett Lentz discusses the principles of old-school customer service with her father, who ran a butcher shop for 37 years.
