Our First Customers: NapLab
Episode 6 — Derek Hales on building trust in an industry defined by information asymmetry, and what it took to hand off support after four years doing it solo.
See my work
Most of the work below was created for Help Scout as part of The Supportive — articles, podcasts, videos and talks I wrote, hosted, and produced for customer support professionals.
The Supportive Podcast
Episode 2 · The Supportive Podcast
Our First Customers: ZSA
A monthly show from Help Scout featuring customer experience insights, practical tips, expert advice, and a bit of fun. I hosted, wrote, and produced each episode.
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Our First Customers: Young Henrys
Episode 5 — Oscar McMahon on how community, values, and a challenger mindset built one of Sydney's most loved independent companies.
Escape the Queue
Elyse Mankin on the challenge of extracting yourself from the support queue to make time to actually lead your team.
Articles and blog posts
26 Customer Support Tips For 2026
Practical tips grouped by theme: back to basics, writing clearly, self-service, management, and navigating AI. January 2026.
How to Maintain Your Knowledge Base
Why knowledge base articles quietly go stale, why it matters more than ever now that AI is reading them too, and how to build a maintenance process that actually sticks.
How to Format Knowledge Base Articles
Having the right words isn't enough if the layout makes them hard to read. A practical guide to contrast, white space, headings, and visuals — with a before-and-after redesign to show each principle in action.
Your Support Career in an AI-Powered World
A grounded look at four directions support professionals can take as AI reshapes the industry — move up into management, in as an AI specialist, ahead as a stronger individual contributor, or out into adjacent roles.
26 Customer Service Interview Questions
A bank of tested questions organised by what they reveal — values, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, communication, and AI readiness — plus tips for running interviews that surface more than rehearsed answers.
Optimizing Support for Messaging Channels
Why messaging support needs a different approach from email or chat, and how to adapt your team's tone, staffing, and processes to match what customers expect on mobile.
COVID-19's Impact on Customer Service Volumes
A data-backed examination of the early impact of COVID-19 on customer support teams, broken down by category and including practical advice.
Work For Customers, Not Personas
Personas are a useful generalisation at best. The case for getting your whole company in contact with real customers — and practical steps to make it happen despite the usual objections.
Emergency Response Tips for Support Pros
A planning framework for support teams to prepare before a crisis hits. November 2025.
When to Hire for Your Support Team
Six metrics that signal a need for more headcount, the principles for timing a hire well, and a capacity calculator for making the case before you're already stretched too thin.
13 Response Templates for Tricky Customer Service Emails
Ready-to-adapt templates for the hardest situations in customer support.
Dealing With Abusive Customers
How to recognise customer abuse, protect your team, and respond without abandoning your values.
Writing Your Own Customer Service Recipe Book
Why your team needs its own documented approach to support, and how to build one that gets used.
Breaking Into SaaS Support
Practical answers to the most common career questions for people moving into SaaS support roles.
The Best Role for a Second Customer Service Hire
How to think through who to hire when your solo support person finally needs backup.
5 People You Need on Your Customer Support Team
The five archetypes that make up a well-balanced, effective support team.
Measuring Customer Service ROI
A practical framework for connecting support activities to business outcomes and building a case for investment.
I wrote a book. Don't read it.
Newsletters
Newsletter collection · Help Scout
The Art and Craft of Online Service
A collection of Supportive Weekly newsletters written for people who care about support. Please subscribe!
Selected conference talks
Talk
The Support Team of 2028
Elevate CX, London
Talk
Power-up Your Support Team to Create Better Documentation
Write The Docs, Melbourne
Talk
I've Done All the Dumb Things
SupConf, Seattle
Talk
Customer Service and the Chamber of Secrets
Webstock, Wellington
Short-form videos
Video
Museum of Customer Support: The World's Oldest Complaint Letter
Video
Top 5 Customer Support Songs
Video
4 ways to avoid fragile knowledge in customer support
Video
Soggy shoes, airport queues, and 5 To Dos for better support questions
Video
Answer, Elaborate, Anticipate: A model for good customer support
Video
Answer the Need, Not the Question
Video