The Supportive Podcast

Mat sits down with David Sparks — lawyer turned full-time creator — as he shares how 28 years in the courtroom shaped his approach to serving his technology audience. From playing imaginary clown music at raging opposing counsel, to personally answering emails from 93-year-old customers, David reveals what it looks like to build a business around kindness, craft, and staying close to the people you serve.https://www.helpscout.com/resources/supportive-podcast/macsparky/ for full show notes.

NapLab — Our First Customers on The SupportiveMat Patterson talks with Derek Hales, founder of mattress review site NapLab, about building a customer-centric business in an industry that works hard to keep consumers in the dark. Derek shares how a frustrating mattress shopping experience led him to create one of the web's most rigorous product review platforms — and what happens when the reviews don't work for readers.For the full show notes and transcript: https://helpscout.com//resources/supportive-podcast/naplab/

Mat sits down with Oscar McMahon, co-founder of Sydney brewery, Young Henrys, as he shares how community, values, and a ‘challenger mindset’ have helped build one of the city's most loved independent companies. From the Inner West music scene to their “Serve the People” ethos, Oscar shares how purpose shows up in hiring, customer service, and business strategy.Full show notes and links: https://www.helpscout.com/resources/supportive-podcast/younghenrys/Listen out for:(04:16) The birth of craft beer culture and why engagement matters(06:01) Inner West Sydney: the impact of local culture(09:05) How a passion for music shaped Oscar’s leadership(11:04) Lessons from touring bands and applying them to business(14:09) Every touchpoint matters: holistic customer service(15:36) Why shared company values come first(17:16) Making values stick with a self-policing culture(19:06) Hiring for fit: values vs experience(22:26) Embracing challenge for genuine growth(28:30) Human connection beats tech in hospitality(29:16) Community partnerships and authentic marketing(33:13) What “Serve the People” really means at Young Henrys(34:11) Sustainability, B Corp and the innovative algae project(39:13) Building real customer value beyond transactions(44:23) Independence vs. challenge: what keeps brands thriving

Todd Curtis, CEO of YNAB, shares how customer support became the foundation for sustainable growth. Learn why they embedded support in product teams and used it as a training ground for company-wide leadership. Here's the original YNAB Support Ethics document (long since replaced with expanded versions)https://2760806.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/2760806/YNAB%20Support%20Ethic.pdfDiscover how YNAB’s “education first” approach shaped not only how they help customers, but also how they build their own business. If you’ve ever wondered how support can become a secret engine for company growth (and even leadership) this is the episode that shines a light.(01:39) The Excel spreadsheet that started it all(05:16) Early support workshops and one-to-one coaching(07:15) “Five case Monday” and whole-team support(10:31) Why YNAB sees itself as an education company(12:47) Crafting the YNAB Support Ethic(17:27) Embedding support specialists in product teams(22:36) Support as a pipeline for talent across YNAB(28:43) Navigating major product and branding changes(33:09) Moving from “budgeting” to “planning” – and why words matter(34:01) Living core values inside and outside the company(36:57) Balancing customer experience with sustainable business growthSupport is about more than technical issues: YNAB’s support team isn’t just resolving sync errors and resetting passwords — they’re helping people change their mindset about money, and get their financial life back. The most impactful conversations in the queue often go beyond troubleshooting to coaching, education, and emotional support.Empathy drives long-term success: By noticing and celebrating deeper customer interactions (not just ticket volume), YNAB builds trust and loyalty. Expanding the definition of support work makes for a more satisfying role, stronger customer relationships, and helps grow the business.Support Talent Powers the Company: At YNAB, support is a launching pad for roles across product, marketing, and operations. Hiring for values, communication, and willingness to learn pays off when support pros bring customer focus and cross-functional skills company-wide.

Chris Savage, co-founder and CEO of Wistia, shares how staying in the support inbox for ten years, walking away from a potential major deal with HBO as customer #4, and choosing patience over growth helped their team build a video marketing platform where every product decision starts with understanding customer pain—not just counting feature requests.

Erez Zuckerman, CEO and co-founder of ZSA Technology Labs, shares how a focus on craftsmanship, honest communication internally and externally and deep support has helped his small keyboard company punch well above its weight.

What does it take to earn the trust and loyalty of over 12,000 customers, build a team that cares like you do, and hold onto your values for over a decade? In the first episode of season 2, go behind the scenes with the three founders of Help Scout – Nick Francis, Denny Swindle, and Jared McDaniel – and hear how they turned their frustrations with clunky support tools into a business renowned for its customer focus.For show notes, transcript, and links:https://helpscout.com/resources/supportive-podcast/S2E01/

Mat answers Ita's newsletter-follow-up question: How can we frame AI chatbots as self-service tools, not worse-than-human support?Find the original newsletter here:https://email.helpscout.com/harm-joyand visit https://helpscout.com/blog/blog/reframing-as-chatbots/ for further links. Thanks Ita for the great question!

Season 1 of the podcast comes to an end, and Mat explores the recurring themes in classic clip-show style. Listen for a sneak peek of season 2!

Priscilla Brooke leads a team of support experts to help podcasters run, distribute, and grow their shows. In this episode she talks about her journey into support, and her approach to service at Buzzsprout.

Elevate CX founder Sarah Hatter chats with Mat (again!). This time, she shares her community building journey from idea to impact, revealing how in-person connections, shared wisdom, and a true sense of belonging have shaped Elevate CX into the community it is today.For the full show notes, transcript, and links: https://www.helpscout.com/resources/supportive-podcast/S1E9/

Sarah Hatter — support veteran, community legend, and founder of ElevateCX — joins Mat to talk about the early days of SaaS support, and the human support of the future.

Mat and a bunch of support experts share actionable tips, encouragement, and helpful advice for people new to support, those considering a support career, and even jaded veterans.For show notes, further reading, and links to our contributors, see https://www.helpscout.com/resources/supportive-podcast/S1E7/A huge thank you to everyone who contributed their wisdom to this episode!Andre Linde, Blake Crenshaw (Buzzsprout), Brian Johnson (Buzzsprout), Cameron Mitchell (Help Scout), Chrissy Chavez (Help Scout), Cody Magnusen, Connor Pendergrast (CustomerSuccess.cx), Erica Clayton, Hilary Dudek (Gamma), Jen Weaver (Tetra), Jordan Dibb, Kate Chupp (Buzzsprout), Nivedha Venkatesh, (Page Loop), Priscilla Brooke (Buzzsprout), Raj Stalin, Sarah Caminiti (Abcam), and Shaun Van Heerden.

In the final Supportive Podcast of the year, Santa's dealing with change, just like the rest of us, and Mat has some thoughts and thanks as we consider 2025.

A stranger delivers a USB-C stick from the future, and Mat discovers it contains a recording of a corporate onboarding for new support staff in November of 2028. What does it all mean?

Mat's away on sabbatical, so this month we're sharing an episode of Epochal Growth, hosted by Sarah Caminiti and featuring Ben McCormack. Huge thanks to Sarah for sharing her interview with us. To hear more from Sarah on Epochal Growth, visit https://www.epochaloperations.com/epochal-growth___ In Episode 6 of Epochal Growth, host Sarah Caminiti sits down with Ben McCormack, currently a fractional executive at Boldr and a seasoned customer experience professional. Ben and Sarah take a closer look at the world of customer journey mapping and its critical role in driving customer-centricity within organizations.Ben shares the possibilities when you focus on cross-functional collaboration and aligning teams around the customer journey. He provides examples of how journey mapping can pinpoint and resolve issues at various stages, emphasizing the power of naming journey stages to enhance communication and organizational alignment. The episode offers practical techniques for socializing the customer journey, such as customer learning rooms and spotlighting customer stories, highlighting the need for leaders to grasp the entire customer journey to identify trends and root causes of customer challenges.Discover how journey mapping can unify your company around customer value and drive significant business impact. Tune in to learn how you can leverage this powerful tool to enhance customer experience and achieve greater organizational success.

Mat describes his first customer service experience working as a paper boy. What was yours? Email [email protected] to let us know.

Mat chats with Elyse Mankin, experienced support leader and former headband girl to talk about her experiences moving from frontline support into a leadership role. They discuss the challenges of making time to get out of the queue, Elyse's strategies for planning her time, delegation, and focus, her favourite leadership resources, and the power of yacht rock. For the full show notes, links, and further reading, see https://www.helpscout.com/resources/supportive-podcast/S1E5/

In this episode, Mat shares stories and lessons from six examples of customer service fails throughout history — from poor quality trade goods in ancient Mesopotamia to spectacularly bad motel service in present-day Australia.