Jawnt customers experience the best of modern commuter benefits through our thoughtfully designed platform, close partnerships with transportation providers, and best-in-class Jawnt Pass commuter debit card. But surprises always happen, and when they do, our amazing human-powered Customer Success team springs into action. This is the first in a new series exploring what happens when customers need to reach out to us and how we get them riding again as smoothly as possible.

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Ruth, our Director of Product Partnerships, sat down on behalf of Jawnt with Leo, Senior Customer Success Manager, and Edwin, Senior Customer Success Specialist, to check in on the support queue.

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Jawnt: How’s the vibe in the queue these days?

‍Leo: There are always some folks that are stressed out when they get to us, but there are a lot that are just really nice and sweet. We’re usually able to resolve someone’s question in 15 minutes. It’s one message out, one in, and the problem is solved.

Edwin: I had a wild phone call last week where I helped six people at once. They were just passing the phone around the office. I’d say “hi, how can I help you?” and they were just like “same thing as the other guy,” so I was like “ok, let’s do this.” We knocked it all out so fast.

Jawnt: That is wild.

Leo: Something I’ve noticed is that the expectations people bring for working with us are so, so low these days. Just the fact that we’re humans and responding in a decent amount of time creates a very pleasant surprise at the start, and then we do our job and resolve the problem with good and clear communication. We’re proud of our work, giving people a good experience, but it’s hard not to be aware that the bar seems to be very low.

Jawnt: I can relate to that. Having a human pick up is such a treat.

Edwin: I feel like that's what gives me the most pride, to be able to solve someone's issue. Not a lot of people are comfortable with chatting or emailing, so they tell me to call them, and I’m like boom, you got it, and you get a phone call within two minutes. I just waited on hold with another company for 30 minutes, and I was just thinking to myself, God, this sucks, we are so much better than you guys.

Leo: We take Inbox Zero very seriously, and Edwin is extremely good. We respond to emails within an hour, chats within two or three minutes. If we miss a phone call, we call them back immediately. It’s a lot of work, but these are the conversations that help us make the experience better.

Edwin: I wish we could convey the tone of these conversations, while protecting privacy and all of course, because we have this very friendly, no pressure tone. We’re both working on this issue and not making anyone feel stupid or dumb for not knowing what to do.

Leo: We’re a tech company, and a lot of our users are not tech-friendly people, and they just don’t want to worry about passwords or all these different accounts or things. Some people prefer chat, but hopping on the phone is always going to be the preferred way of communication for a lot of folks. Tech companies need to keep in mind that everyone has their own needs and styles for communication and meet them where they’re at. Yes we’re building technology that’s user-friendly, and we need our support queue to be just as user-friendly.

Jawnt: What do you wish people knew about getting in touch with us?

Edwin: I want people to know that Jawnt is where they are. So many times I get a phone call, and the person has this predetermined idea that we’re providing support from far away, another country. But then as the conversation progresses, they start noticing small things that clue them in that we’re local, and they warm up to that. Hey, we’re in town with you, we know SEPTA, we know how good it is, how bad it is. As Jawnt expands, I’m excited to continue growing local customer support. We know what you’re going through. We know what it’s like to tap your card four times and nothing happens. I know what it’s like to lose my card and not know what to do. But it still happens that people see Jawnt on a poster or an ad, they may assume we’re just another company that’s come to Philly, not that we’re familiar with their experiences.

Jawnt: How often do people in Philly look at a company called “Jawnt” and not suspect that we’re local to them?

Edwin: You’d be surprised! They call our 267 number and start describing their problem: “I tapped my jawn.” So I just say “yeah, go get your jawn, I’m gonna fix your jawn and take care of the rest. That’s absolutely what I’m going to do for you.”

Leo: That’s amazing. I want to share also that people really feel connected to us in a way that I find surprising. I was in the support queue the other day and noticed a reply in a thread to Edwin, long after the issue was resolved, where the person followed up to say, “Edwin, I'll never be able to express how professional and clear your communication is. So refreshing and appreciated. Thanks for always having it together. You rock.” And that’s a normal kind of conversation with Edwin.

‍Edwin: Was that [name]?

Leo: Yes.

Jawnt: I feel bad saying this, but I don’t think I remember the name of any support person I’ve ever interacted with. That’s incredible that you’re able to turn what could be a frustrating challenge into such a connection.

Edwin: This happens a lot at Jawnt. But yeah, [name] is my guy. He knows me and we have this bond. He’s cool.

Leo: This extends to our HR administrators, too. We had an admin who was so happy to meet us, but especially Edwin. He was like “you’re Edwin? No way.”

‍Jawnt: I give you two all the credit for that. Seeing you talk about cases in Slack, you’re referring to people by their name. I’ve worked other places where we’re passing around user IDs trying to search for things, and here the norm centers that this is a person we’re trying to help. And it’s because you two maintain this humanizing culture that’s really joyful.

Leo: And that’s what transit is – humans coming together to ride together, to connect. It’s part of the greater puzzle that we’re trying to solve. It all goes together.

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