November 20, 2022 — Learn a new framework for technical support that retains more customers, attracts new customers, and all without falling into the common trap of becoming a free developer for entitled users. This philosophy of technical support is fun for technicians and empowering for customers.

November 13, 2019 — In this talk, I’ll cover the basics of how to get to the bottom of technical issues, and to set up a workflow that prevents your site visitors’ experiences from being disrupted.

You will walk away armed with the tools you need to confidently click “Update” every time, without fear of bringing your site down.

As an added bonus, you will have an antidote for that voice in your head that says silly things like “but I’m not technical” or “I’m not a coder” as a way of avoiding leveling up.

May 9, 2019 — In customer support, which is better, promptness or empathy?

What does playing guitar or changing diapers have to do with wowing customers and users? (It’s probably not what you think.)

How can your support go from “good” to “Amazing!!!@!”

In this talk, the Senior Support Technician for a growing, international WordPress plugin business which supports roughly 200 customers a week will show you how you can level up your support team using skills learned from foster (and biological) parenting, playing guitar, and five years of supporting both free and paid WordPress plugins.

We’ll cover:
– The most important driver of customer happiness in product support
– How to outsmart your own personality deficiencies to excel in empathy
– Something you can start doing today to immediately see results in email/ticket/forum support.

There’s no secret formula for success in support, but armed with the right tools, attitude, and training you can make WordPress better, one ticket at a time.

December 11, 2018 — We’ve all had the experience of a support technician being seemingly unable to answer our questions about their theme, plugin, or service.

Believe it or not, theme and plugin developers and their support techs really do want to help you. Their goal is to make sure that the technology they provide you isn’t just a sale, but useful, and, ultimately, works to make your website successful. To make sure that you are both working in the same direction, there are some things you can do to ensure a great outcome.

Do you know that there’s a link between your support tickets and better documentation?

Do you find yourself frustrated at developers and support reps who can’t seem to diagnose issues arising from their plugins or themes?

Do you want to find better answers to your support questions, more quickly?

Plus, the two-minute method of solving +50% of your support requests before you even send them.

July 10, 2018 — Are you looking to hire remote workers to scale your business? Want to find cream-of-the-crop developers, support reps, or others?

Ben is the Senior Support Technician at WordImpress and was their first full-time remote hire. Come to this talk to hear from the employee’s perspective how the team at WordImpress has gone above and beyond to support him and make him not just feel like a part of the team — actually make him a part of it.

This talk, geared toward WordPress agency owners and HR folks, will cover the following topics:

– The fastest way to burn out remote workers and how to avoid it.
– The one non-negotiable quality to look for in a remote worker.
– Tools to effectively manage remote employees without micromanaging them.

Plus come for the one key thing you are forgetting to look for in applicants to work remotely.

Presentation Slides »

April 27, 2018 — We’ve all had the experience of a support technician being seemingly unable to answer our question about their theme, plugin, or service. Do you know that there’s a link between your support tickets and better documentation? Do you find yourself frustrated at developers and support reps who can’t seem to diagnose issues arising from their plugins or themes? Do you want to find better answers to your support questions, more quickly? Plus, the two-minute method of solving +50% of your support requests before you even send them. This talk, appropriate for all audiences, will be most beneficial for folks new to the WordPress ecosystem

Presentation Slides »

October 26, 2017 — In this talk, using years of experience helping users in both free and premium plugin support, Ben will take you through what makes a good support request, how you can create better support requests, and how good support requests make WordPress better for everyone.

Presentation Slides »