Customer Support Manager

Department: Customer Support
Level: Management
Primary objective: Support department performance — KPIs, system configuration, self-service strategy, CRM integration

What this role does

The Customer Support Manager defines how support works: configures all system settings (statuses, priorities, departments, email pipe, WhatsApp, bots), monitors team KPIs, approves major escalations, and ensures support contributes to customer retention — not just resolves problems.

Modules managed

Support system configuration — initial setup

1. Department structure

Where: /admin/departments

Create one department for each support area, each with a dedicated email address:

Email sent to the department address → forwarding → pipe.php → ticket created automatically in that department.

2. Ticket statuses (`/admin/tickets/statuses`)

Define the lifecycle. Recommended model:

3. Priorities (`/admin/tickets/priorities`)

4. Services (`/admin/tickets/services`)

Issue categories for analysis and reporting:

Examples: Account & Access · Billing · Orders & Delivery · 
          Bug / Technical Error · Feature Request · 
          Onboarding · Contracts · Other

Agent selects the service when creating/processing the ticket → you filter reports per service.

5. Custom fields on tickets

Where: /admin/custom_fields → entity: Tickets

Add business-specific fields:

Fields with show_on_client_portal = 1 also appear in the ticket form in the customer portal.

WhatsApp configuration for support

Where: /admin/whatsapp → Settings

Meta Business setup (once only)

1. Create Meta App + WhatsApp Business Account
2. Connect Business phone number
3. Register webhook: {site_url}/whatsapp/webhook/getdata
4. Enter in CRM: Business ID, WABA ID, App ID, Access Token
5. Sync templates from Meta (manual or hourly cron)

Auto-lead from anonymous WhatsApp

If you enable whatsapp_auto_lead_settings = 'enable':

• Any message from an unknown number → automatically creates a Lead in CRM
• Configure: default status, source, assigned agent

Bots for automatic replies

Where: /admin/whatsapp/Bots

Create bots for recurring situations:

• Business hours bot: automatically replies outside hours with schedule and alternative
• Receipt confirmation bot: "Your message has been received. An agent will reply within X hours."
• FAQ bot: answers simple frequent questions (opening hours, address, portal link)

Note: Automatic ticket creation from WhatsApp is partially implemented — WhatsApp tickets are created manually by agents.

WhatsApp templates for support notifications

Where: whatsapp_api → Event mapping

Configure automatic messages sent at CRM events:

Self-service strategy — Knowledge Base

Recommended KB structure

Where: /admin/knowledge_base/manage_groups

📂 Getting Started
   → How to register / How to access portal
   → Platform navigation
   → First recommended settings

📂 Account & Access
   → Password reset
   → Adding new users
   → Permissions and roles

📂 Billing & Payments
   → How to download an invoice
   → How to add a payment method
   → What "Overdue" status means

📂 Orders & Delivery
   → How to track an order
   → Return procedure
   → Order status explained

📂 Common Errors
   → [Error message X] — what it means and how to fix it
   → Sync issues
   → Import errors

📂 Advanced Guides (staff only)
   → Internal procedures
   → B2B escalation
   → SLA per contract

KB metrics

• Articles with > 20% negative votes → review and improve
• Articles not viewed in 30 days → assess if they're relevant
• Tickets on same topic as existing article → agent isn't sending link → training needed

CSAT & NPS satisfaction surveys

Where: /admin/surveys

Standard post-ticket survey

Survey: "How was your experience with our support?"
  → Question 1: Rating 1–5 (overall satisfaction)
  → Question 2: "What could we improve?" (free text)
  → Question 3 (optional): NPS — "How likely are you to recommend us?" (0–10)

Triggered automatically: Ticket Closed → Wait 1h → Send survey

Analysing results

Where: /admin/surveys → Results tab

• Average rating < 3.5 → systemic issue → immediate investigation
• Negative comments → read manually → identify patterns
• NPS < 20 → churn risk → escalate to KAM / Sales

Support department KPIs — monthly monitoring

Integrating support with the rest of the CRM

What the agent can see from the customer file

When opening a ticket, the agent has direct access to:

Frequent cross-department flows

Support → Sales:
  Customer complains but is open to an alternative solution
  → Create Opportunity in CRM → pass to KAM/Sales

Support → Finance:
  Invoice dispute
  → Document in ticket → escalate to AR Accountant
  → Track resolution → inform customer

Support → Warehouse:
  Delivery / return issue
  → Check AWB and order status
  → Create Delivery Return if needed → notify warehouse
  → Ticket remains open until customer confirms resolution received

Support → IT/Admin:
  Confirmed technical bug
  → Document: reproduction steps, browser, exact error, screenshot
  → Create Task for IT assigned from ticket
  → Inform customer about remediation timeline

Practical tips

Good support is measured in customers who stay, not tickets closed. A ticket closed in 2 minutes with a generic response is worse than one closed in 2 hours with a real solution.

Invest 20% of your time in prevention, not 100% in reaction. A well-maintained KB, proactive incident announcements, and smart automations reduce ticket volume more than any new hire.

Configure auto-close carefully. "Closed after 7 days of inactivity" is reasonable. "Closed after 24h without customer reply" irritates them. Find the balance with feedback from the team and CSAT scores.

Ticket analysis by service category tells you what to fix in the product. If 30% of tickets are about the same module, the problem isn't support — it's the product. Escalate the data to management with concrete numbers.