Interview with Rohan: Secrets of Great Support Manager
What it takes to be a support manager for one of the best-rated support at Envato and how to keep each and every customer happy? It is a tough task, but it seems that Rohan from WPBakery knows the secret. Lately, we had a talk with one of our support managers, Rohan Khandeparkar, about his experience as a support manager, his personal life, and the secrets of being a great support manager.
Hello Rohan, please tell us a bit about yourself.
Hello Raitis, first of all – I am glad to be a part of this interview. I live in the beautiful state of Goa. I am a tea drinker and prefer it over coffee (All the ticket replies are due to the power of tea :)). When not using my laptop, I prefer reading books or watching/playing cricket. I am also a philatelist and have quite a few stamps from all over the world. Apart from WordPress, CSS is something that I absolutely love.
You are a highly qualified support manager. How did you get into this and what has been your career path?
By qualification, I am a computer engineer. I started as a software developer coding in C# and .NET. Over time I became interested in web development and discovered WordPress in 2012. I was a regular visitor of ThemeForest forums (as they are a great source of information) and one day saw a vacancy posting from Michael (CEO of WPBakery). I applied quickly and after a few interviews got an offer to join the WPBakery team.
Rohan Khandeparkar – Support Manager at WPBakery
You are located in a beautiful resort part of India – Goa. Do location and surroundings affect your job process?
I think it affects them to a great extent. Life in Goa is “sushegad” which means relaxed and absolutely content, unlike rest of the India. The beach is around 5 km from where I live, so whenever I am tired, I take a walk at beach-side and it refreshes me again. It also helps me to clear my thoughts and start afresh.
You have been working with WPBakery for around 3 years already. What has been the most remarkable experience for you so far?
I keep learning new things each day and get to see awesome websites designed by clients. It is an absolute joy to see people expressing their creativity through WPBakery Page Builder.
Goa, India is the place where great support managers come from.
The pace you have with answering support questions is tremendous, leading to think that there is AI behind it 🙂 What is your secret?
Thank you for the compliment:)
I think it comes with the experience. I was quite slow at the beginning but used to spend some time checking out the replies sent out by Michael, forums, and the comments section. This really helped me to adjust to various situations.
Any interesting support cases you can remember?
I still remember in the beginning, a client who was stressed over some issue and I was replying in a timely manner. But, he was expecting a much faster response. Due to this, he left a negative review. After about 6-7 months he again contacted us and I helped him to sort out the issue. He was so impressed that he apologized for his earlier behavior, and I guess gave a positive review as well.
What advice would you give to the customers who are using the WPBakery support portal?
Our customers are awesome. My only advice would be that, do not hesitate to share your login details up-front. This helps us to check the corresponding issue and cuts down on additional waiting time. If we need to carry out any tests/fixes, we will definitely make sure that we seek your permission before proceeding with them.
In your opinion what are the most valuable skills for a great support manager to have? How do you craft your own skills?
I think three things are very important: patience, patience, and more patience. Off-course language control is also crucial. Reading books has helped me to get control over my language and I think patience comes with time.
Few quick responses: favorite movie character, last book you read, favorite WPBakery Page Builder element, the best part of the day.
- Favorite movie character: James Bond (Bollywood: Bajrangi Bhaijan);
- Last Book I read: My Inventions – The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla (A must read if you are interested in physics);
- Favorite WPBakery Page Builder element: Row – “One element to rule them all “;
- The best part of the day: Early morning – everything is cool, calm and you can actually hear sparrows chirping;
Thank you for your time and answers. Any final comments you would like to share?
My pleasure. Looking forward to WPBakery Page Builder crossing 100,000 direct sales and eventually a million 🙂
Also as per the news received from Michael, our new support system will be up soon. This will be full of new features and enhancements. So, stay tuned for it 🙂
