Auctiva Vice President Kevin Kinell answers users' questions during his Customer Support rotation.

In Auctiva’s infancy, when the company totaled a five- or six-person team, everyone regularly answered Customer Support questions, including Auctiva Founder and CEO Jeff Schlicht.

“Spending time talking with our customers really helped give us a better understanding of what customers needed, where they were having problems, and gave us insight into how we should develop features and products,” remembers Auctiva Vice President Kevin Kinell.

As the company grew, Auctiva added a full-time, well-trained Customer Support staff of 34 to handle customers’ inquiries. This allows our users to get prompt service, and gives product leads and developers more time to focus on improving Auctiva products. But as the company grows, Schlicht and Kinell don’t want Auctiva to lose touch with customers and their needs.

That’s why Auctiva utilizes a companywide Customer Support rotation scheme so all employees hear from customers. Everyone participates—be they designers, IT personnel, the communications team, product leads, developers, or administrative and executive staff —rotating in and out of support, two per week.

“The rotations have gone very well so far from my perspective,” says Customer Support Manager Mike Davies. “Everyone has benefited by gaining a deeper understanding of our services that our customers use most and experiencing the reward of getting to help some of our customers use our software to achieve different goals.”

Since May, 19 employees have done their rotations, sitting in Auctiva’s Customer Support office. Among them are Spencer Smith, Auctiva’s business development manager, and Product Manager Steve Swim.

“It was humbling to get out of my comfort zone and learn new things,” Smith says. “At the same time, I had a lot of fun working with people I don’t get to see very often. We often say excellent customer service is critical to the success of our company. This program gives each employee the opportunity to show everyone that we mean what we say.”

Swim agrees.

“I think the Customer Support rotations are a great opportunity for people to interact with customers and get familiar with the biggest issues from the customer perspective,” he says, noting that he’s looking forward to his next stint in support.

“It affords an opportunity to get out of my daily routine and focus in on customers, something that I think is vital for understanding why we’re doing what we’re doing,” he adds.

Rotations are continuous, giving everyone in the company a chance to answer Customer Support questions every six to eight months.

“This is something Jeff and I are excited about, and feel strongly about the benefit it will have,” notes Kinell, who completed his rotation recently.