: The work content of B-end product operations is very complicated, and many people will feel that they are gradually reduced to customer service in the product technology department. So how do you avoid becoming a customer service agent? The author of this article shared the level of problem handling in B-side operations and the methods and logic to improve the level of problem handling. Let's learn about it together. I hope it will be helpful to you.
I have been doing B-side operations for a long time. People often ask me a question, "What is your main job in operations?" Especially colleagues on the business side will make you feel particularly uncomfortable. "What is the difference between you and the customer service staff? There is no difference." of".
Let’s talk about the five levels of problem handling (work orders) to prevent everyone from unknowingly becoming a customer service staff in the product technical department.
1. Why colleagues on the business side have such thoughts
There are several main reasons:
1. Job responsibilities are unclear
The B-side product operation position has not been around for a long time, so the formulation of job responsibilities is actually relatively vague, and the work content It is relatively complicated, such as product demonstrations, production of product-related documents, product and user training, answering customer platform usage questions, etc. These tasks are so full of the daily life of B-side operations that everyone would joke that they are just handymen and do everything.
2. Solving problems is the norm in operations
Solving customer platform usage problems accounts for a large proportion in the initial operation work, and it is also where we deal with the business department the most; whether there are problems from customers or business departments, we will first Contact product operations for answers. Over time, everyone will find that product operations have been answering customer questions. Invisibly, they will feel that operations and customer service are actually very similar.
3. Different business development stages
are actually caused by different business development stages. During the incubation period and initial expansion period of SaaS products, the operation work is mainly to maintain customers in depth and help customers better use the product. It needs to answer user questions. Support customer business development and support users in using products. Therefore, answering user questions in the early stages of business is also one of the essential tasks for operators.
In addition, the company's organizational structure division and product ease of use are all reasons why B-end product operations become customer personnel.
But we are very clear that we are different from customer service.
2. Five levels of handling problems (work orders)
In fact, there are different levels of handling problems (work orders). Different levels represent different working methods of operations, and also reflect the different stages and ability levels of operation personnel.
1. The first level: the porter of problems (work orders)
I believe that friends who are new to the workplace have this feeling. Due to less work experience, in order to understand the business and customer situation faster, 80% of the work is operated by the B-side They are all about problem processing (work orders).
Regardless of whether the company uses , Dingding , software on the market, or a self-developed work order system, the main job of operations in this link is to determine the type of work order, whether it is a usage problem or a technical problem, whether it is a BUG or a user Configuration reason?
then circulates the work orders according to the type. In fact, it plays a very small role in problem solving. In the long run, it becomes a porter of problems (work orders). In fact, from the perspective of work ability and scope,
is indeed similar to the job responsibilities of customer service. However, with the increase of operation experience and understanding of business processes, everyone will soon reach the second level.
2. The second level: problem solving (work orders) and problem communication
After working for a period of time, as the operations staff understand the business and the product. Usage problems in
work orders can usually be solved independently, which can greatly reduce the flow of non-technical work orders; for technical problems, you can tell which functional module the problem is and what the cause may be; in the problem (work order) It plays the role of screening and screening in single) processing.
At this time, the operation personnel can solve the usage problems on the one hand, and on the other hand, they can help the technical personnel to initially judge the problem module and cause. The main function of the operation at this time is to improve the efficiency of work order processing.
During this period, colleagues in the business department will find that the operation staff know more than ordinary customer service staff and are more like so-called "senior customer service".
3. The third level: promote problem (work order) processing and data statistics
With the in-depth understanding of product logic and business, the operation staff and teachers in product, technology, business and other positions have a good run-in. On the basis of handling usage problems of
, the operators have a deeper understanding of the root cause of the problem. Not only do they know which module the problem is and who is responsible, but they also know what is the root cause of the problem, whether it is a product defect or Performance issues, etc.
thus promotes technical staff to handle problems faster and more preparedly. At this time, the main job of operations is actually to discover problems in the business and promote product and technology optimization and iteration.
At the same time, the operation staff began to perform data statistics and simple analysis on the problems (work orders) being processed. Through the work order data analysis, they exposed some problems in the current business and became part of supporting their workload.
Operations personnel at this level actually have their own professionalism and are no longer in a role similar to customer service. Most operation personnel stay at this level when dealing with problems (work orders), which has also become a bottleneck for some operation personnel. Going up actually requires operation personnel to have corresponding working methodologies and in-depth understanding of the business.
4. The fourth level: Promoting product optimization and data prediction
In fact, the true reflection of operational capabilities should start from the fourth level. At this time, operations can reversely push the core factors and causes of problems based on the problems.
- On the one hand, it promotes technology upgrades and BUG repairs, and tracks the entire repair process to avoid the situation of only dealing with problems without fixing bugs or bugs recurring;
- , on the other hand, can promote product iteration and upgrade of products; thus becoming the production and research department The external window becomes the connector between business and products. At this time, there will be great requirements on the logical ability, communication ability and process-oriented ability of product operators.
In addition, operators can not only analyze problem (work order) data from different dimensions, expose existing problems and hidden dangers in the current system, but also predict subsequent hidden dangers in the business, thus promoting subsequent product planning and work arrangements.
5. The fifth level: the promoter of user research
Through the continuous upgrading of problem (work order) processing, problem (work order) processing at this time has become an assist for operations personnel to conduct user research. Through problem (work order) processing Understand users' usage habits and business scenarios, discover the weak links of the platform's user experience, put forward professional suggestions, help the platform continuously polish the user experience and usage process, and truly help product upgrades and iterations to become a highly usable product. On the one hand, operators at this level of
have professional product operation capabilities and promote product optimization; on the other hand, they have in-depth understanding of business and users and become experts in related businesses.
3. How do operators improve the level of problem handling
From being a porter of problem solving (work orders) to a promoter of user research, it actually reflects the operators' continuous understanding of the business and the continuous improvement of their operational capabilities. It mainly includes several aspects:
1. Understand the business
B-side product operations often shuttle between users and products. On the one hand, they solve user problems and help users better use products, thereby promoting business indicators such as customer renewal and repurchase. On the other hand, On the one hand, it serves as an inputter of product requirements and an outputter of product functions, inputting user feedback to product personnel for product iteration and optimization, and then combining product functions with user usage scenarios for promotion.
As a link between users and products, we must have a deep understanding of the business, users, scenarios, processes, etc., in order to truly do a good job in product operation.
2. Logical ability
Compared with C-side products, B-side product functions and processes will be more complex. Operators must have strong logical thinking to quickly understand the product, streamline and standardize complex business, and quickly solve user problems. .
3. Data analysis capabilities
B-side operations are data-driven. Only by collecting statistics on relevant issues and work orders, and using data models to analyze according to different dimensions and scenarios, can we truly be targeted and have evidence to rely on.
4. Communication ability
needs to communicate with people in different positions in the process of handling problems. Operation personnel must have strong communication skills, look at problems from different angles, and understand the demands and difficulties of different people in order to smoothly promote the problem. processing and product upgrades.
4. How to change the business's "prejudice" against operations
Due to the particularity of the B-side, if the operation wants to win the recognition of the business, it must have an in-depth understanding of the business and users. Only in this way can it be targeted based on the business situation.
There are no shortcuts in B-side operations. You need to continuously accumulate and polish yourself, so as to become an industry operation expert and win the recognition of business and users.
5. Summary
In fact, in B-side operations, it is not just the business that does not know what operations are, but often technical teachers. Sometimes it’s not clear what the positioning of operations is. What’s more, operations personnel need to be able to determine their job responsibilities and change everyone’s view of operations through constant integration and collaboration.
In addition, handling problems is inevitable in B-side operations, otherwise how to ensure that you understand users better than everyone else.
This article was originally published by @思无xie on Everyone is a Product Manager. Reprinting without permission is prohibited. The
title picture comes from Unsplash and is based on the CC0 license.
