From 6-9 November a few of our team members had the opportunity to travel to Portugal to attend Web Summit 2017. Charlotte, Teresa and I (Louise) represented our Customer Support Team and Callum and Nick travelled from the Development Team.
Being part of an international company and working remotely means that we don’t often get to meet face-to-face, which is why Web Summit was an incredible opportunity for us to meet our co-workers and also to do some brain-storming. We discussed our strengths and weaknesses and methods of improving our internal communication. Nick and Callum are both from New Zealand, the home of SMTP2GO, but both of them currently work in Lisbon. Charlotte is Welsh and works in London, Teresa is English, I’m Irish and both Teresa and I work from Madrid. Naturally, it made sense for us to all congregate in an Irish bar! The best ideas are fuelled by Guinness…
When we got to the conference, we all split up to get the most out of the various stages and speakers. A common thread that I noticed through many of the speeches was their focus on Customer Service. One of the talks that really stood out to me was Ragy Thomas‘ “How brands can build customer trust with social”. The talk centred around the importance of providing effective customer service, but also accessible communication for customers. This really reassured us that our focus at SMTP2GO is in the right direction, as we dedicate so many of our positions to customer service. Thomas spoke about how many companies focus so much more on acquiring new customers, rather than focusing on caring for the ones that they already have, and we can confidently say that our customers are our #1 priority. Our customer support team make up the largest department at SMTP2GO, and we focus on hiring internationally based agents so that we can cover all time zones. Our team also speak multiple languages (English, Spanish, French, and even a little Irish and Welsh!)
“Customer care is the new marketing.”
– Ragy Thomas, Founder, Sprinklr
It was interesting to see where the crowds flocked to and which the most popular talks were. Lars Silberbauer from LEGO also gave a really interesting presentation on using the creative powers of communities to build something interesting. It sparked a few ideas and it was great to see their process of working with an concept from scratch to turn it into something creative and powerful.
https://www.facebook.com/WebSummitHQ/videos/1594385257294179/
We felt a little sorry for anyone who couldn’t make it to the event, so gave you a little taster on Facebook live. This was Pavillion 3, out of 4, and each was a constant buzz of energy and bright ideas.
https://www.facebook.com/smtp2go/videos/1214050802029349/
What did our devs think of the conference?
“It was a privilege to attend web summit this year and be at the forefront of what future technologies will bring. Primarily for me, the most interesting topic was the future of techs role in the most pressing issues of our time; climate change and sustainability on this planet with a rapidly growing population. Whenever these two subjects arise it usually seems to be surrounded by doom and gloom, but for the first time I’m feeling very positive towards our ability to tackle these issues before its too late. I look forward to seeing these technological advancements come into play in the years and decades to come.”- Nick
“It was really good to be at web summit this year, networking with folks and discussing the future of our industry!”- Callum
The best part of Web Summit for me was the huge array of choice available to every attendee. Whether you were interested in development, creativity, communication, start-ups… There was something there for everyone! I’m looking forward to next year already. Aside from the conference itself, the setting was perfect. Lisbon is such a beautiful city that I fell in love, and am already looking at a return flight!
Te vejo em breve, Lisboa!
