Customer Success Associate

About Almabase

Our mission is to make education affordable by helping institutions increase alumni giving. Founded from personal experiences with the lack of student scholarships, Almabase has become a leader in the US alumni software space. We are on a path to even faster growth through a unique strategic partnership with Blackbaud. Our clients are universities and high schools, and we help them engage more alumni and raise more funds. While 90%+ of our customers are in the US, we are expanding into the UK and Canada. Our team is based in India (Bangalore) and the USA (fully remote).

The Opportunity

Almabase is seeking a Customer Success Associate to work directly with customers, ensuring they effectively use and understand our product. You will provide resolutions, proactively enhance product knowledge, and demonstrate high empathy and accuracy in understanding and resolving customer issues. This role offers the advantage of gaining complete product mastery, working with diverse customer types, and serving as a potential stepping stone to other roles within the company. As part of the Customer Services team, you'll interact with Product, Engineering, and Customer Success teams, acting as the voice of the customer internally and the face of the company externally. We pride ourselves on providing an excellent customer experience, as evidenced by our customer reviews.

Work Timings

Primarily supporting US educational institutions, work hours are expected to be 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST. You will also be part of the "Critical Support" squad, providing 24/7 support for critical issues one week per month, with additional incentives.

Key Responsibilities

Accurately Identifying Problems and Providing Solutions

• Take complete ownership of customer issues, researching, reproducing, troubleshooting, and resolving concerns via in-app chat or email.
• Develop a deep understanding of the product to provide optimal resolutions.
• Understand customer needs and resolve issues using specific product features.
• Be proactive and reactive in customer communications, anticipating needs and answering questions.
• Analyze technical issues and collaborate with engineers for resolution.
• Gather feature requests from customers and communicate them to the Product team.

Enhancing Customer Experience

• Diligently follow set SOPs for handling support requests.
• Resolve complex issues/queries within set KPIs and SLAs.
• Collaborate with the product team on workflow enhancements.
• Consult on optimal next steps for customers to maximize product benefits.
• Go above and beyond by creating resources like videos, suggesting best practices, and workarounds.
• Regularly check in and follow up with customers until issues are resolved.
• Assist Customer Success Managers with customer requirements and issues.

Other Responsibilities

• Update and write new help articles based on product changes and new features.
• Participate in onboarding new team members, sharing product knowledge and support value.

Must-Haves

• 1-2 years of experience in top-notch customer service.
• Self-motivated, ready to thrive in a fast-growing startup with strong problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written communication skills: precise, clear, and well-articulated responses.
• Ownership mentality: volunteers for challenges and takes responsibility.
• Fast learner, able to quickly understand SaaS/technical products like Almabase.

Good-to-Haves

• Proficiency with tools like Google Suite, Intercom, Slack, Loom, Notion.
• Adaptability to new challenges and interest in process improvements or scaling initiatives.
• Prior SaaS / B2B experience.

Your First Year at Almabase:

First Month

• Gain context of the industry and product.
• Understand the Customer Support team's contribution.
• Understand Support KPIs and CSA KPIs.
• Meet team members from all functions.
• Respond to basic customer queries with assistance.
• Explore Almabase products to build knowledge.
• Get proficient with internal tools (Slack, Intercom, Asana).

By the 3rd Month

• Understand how each team functions and interaction timelines.
• Develop a good understanding of at least one product feature and basic knowledge of others.
• Resolve customer queries on a well-understood feature with minimal assistance within SLA.
• Shadow 8-10 customer support calls.

By the 6th Month

• Independently handle customer and internal team requests.
• Possess strong product knowledge and resolve issues within SLA without assistance.
• Contribute to updating help documents.
• Suggest initiatives for the Customer Services team.
• Own key team results and develop initiatives to achieve them.
• Take complete ownership of customer experience for handled conversations (CSAT, CES).
• Participate in product improvement discussions.

The 1-Year Mark

• Lead support initiatives for the following year.
• Develop strategies to achieve SLAs and CSAT scores.
• Effectively communicate roadblocks to the Director of Customer Services and work on solutions.
• Assist CSMs with product-related queries and new team members with product knowledge.
• Assist in the recruitment and hiring process for customer support.

Benefits

• Strong Culture: Work with amazing people in a culture that fosters growth. See our team's feedback on Glassdoor.
• Transparency & Trust: An environment that trusts individual ability and creativity, with high transparency across the business.
• Great Salary & Equity: Competitive salaries with stock options for top performers and leaders, offering an opportunity for wealth creation.
• More than just work: A balance of work and play with year-round activities promoting esprit de corps.