Spotlight: Daryl Jason Lazaro @ Salesbricks

How did you get into customer support?

I was hired early on at Salesbricks as a senior engineer, and got to know the ins and outs of our product while developing it from the ground up. Eventually, the team needed someone with a strong technical background to support our customers. Rather than hiring someone externally and ramping up their product knowledge, the company decided to invest in someone who already had that knowledge, and gave me the tools I needed (Pylon included) to make the move into CS and grow.

What's a mistake you made early in your career, and what did you learn from it?

When I first started in CS, I used to preface a lot of my responses with "I think..." I had a bad case of imposter syndrome, honestly. I was always nervous about offering wrong answers. Luckily, I've got an awesome team who reminded me that I'm the expert on our product, and that I don't need to second-guess myself. The imposter syndrome faded with time; I learned to trust my knowledge and ditch the "I think."

What advice would you give to someone starting in customer support?

First and foremost, be a nerd about your product. Your customers appreciate learning from someone who really knows their stuff and can explain it clearly. They chose your product to help their business grow, so listen to them, understand their needs, face and overcome the gaps in your product, and don't be afraid to ask questions as often as you answer them.

What's the most rewarding part of your role in customer support?

The most rewarding part for me is when I see a customer's questions evolve. It's great to see them go from basic how-to questions to the next level, where they're pushing me to really think and come up with solutions. It shows their business is growing, and that's exciting because it means we're growing too: those complex issues translate into valuable real-world product feedback for Salesbricks.