Historically, Customer Support has been undervalued.

It’s been considered a cost to companies rather than a driver of revenue, like Sales or Marketing. After all, it’s easy to measure the value of a sale or a lead. It’s harder to understand the impact of a successful support experience. The result: customer support has been, in a way, neglected.

For example, Support typically doesn’t have much influence over the product, yet it’s still expected to assuage any problems it creates; the department has always been a fixer, a band-aid. The Product team, meanwhile, was capable of enacting change that could impact the overall direction of a company, leaving Support to pick up the pieces on the backend.

That was then. Now, the climate is different.

The market is saturated with technology, thousands of similar tools, and it’s becoming harder to differentiate yourself with technology alone. Tech is table stakes, so brands that invest in their frontline people—providing the tools and training necessary to deliver faster, more personalized support—will win over the competition.

This article explores how modern organizations can elevate Customer Support from within, a process that starts with Sales, Marketing, and Support coming together and working as one.

Enable Support, Sales, and Marketing to work together

Imagine this: A customer bought two new smart-home speakers based on the surround sound capability they saw in an ad on TV, but found out afterwards that feature isn’t scheduled to be released until later in the year.

Sound familiar? These sorts of dilemmas happen all the time—and then Support is left to deliver the bad news, stuck at the tail-end, tasked with making an impossible situation better:

“I don’t understand,” says the customer. “I was told this feature exists?”

“I’m sorry,” explains Support. “We’re working on it, but it’s not generally available yet.”

The result is wasted energy, stagnated growth, and angry clients, consequences that can be avoided by aligning Sales, Marketing, and Support to create a consistent customer experience that holds at scale. Get it right and your company will stand out the way Zappos, Amazon, and othercustomer-centric organizations do.

Ready to come together? Here’s how to start:

1. Agree on a customer profile.

A customer profile, or persona, will create cross-departmental consensus about who you’re selling to. Because whether you’re in Sales, Marketing, or Support, it’s important to know your customer the same way. If you don’t, how can you communicate effectively about her needs and desires, about what moves her to take action?

Crafting a customer profile that the entire organization buys into will help every department understand their role in the acquisition process.

New to personas? Here’s what you do:

Describe your ideal customer(s):There could be more than one. Who are they? What do they care about? Why would they ultimately do business with your company? After answering these questions, give each persona a name and a face. You’re on your way. Dig deeper: Now that you have the basics, it’s time to fill in the details. Why wouldn’tthey buy your product? What’s their decision-making process? Understanding the nuances of your persona’s psyche will help you create deeply relevant messages that engage and delight them. Determine how your ideal customer will discover your brand: To complete this step, think content. That is, what blogs does your ideal customer like to read? What social media platforms does she use? What is she Googling? Where does she get her industry news? Identifying where your customers spend time online will help you intercept their attention.

Creating personas will bring clarity to every conversation, enabling interdepartmental employees to make better, more informed decisions together.

2. Onboard new employees.

Hiring the right person isn’t enough. You must also ensure that he or she understands your business: your culture, your processes, and of course, your customers. And while it’s tempting to let someone with experience find their own way, sometimes it’s best to pave them a path that provides context, comfort, and confidence.

New to onboarding? Here’s what you do:

