Shared Slack Channels with Customers

We offer shared Slack channels to customers and prospective customers in several circumstances:

• Prospective, new customers can have a shared Slack channel for the duration of a trial period, and keep a shared Slack channel after the trial if they qualify with at least $20k in annual, committed spend OR a subscribe to a support package which includes a shared Slack.
• Product-led customers can earn a shared Slack channel by growing beyond $20k in annualized spend.
• Existing customers can earn a shared Slack channel by committing to $20k in annual spend OR growing beyond $20k in annualized spend.

We use shared Slack channels to provide timely support and to build relationships with those at our customers shipping things with PostHog.

Shared Slack channels allow many folks at PostHog to support our customers. And, a shared Slack channel must be configured correctly in order for this support to work.

Setting up a Shared Slack Channel via Slack Connect

We use Slack Connect to share Slack channels with our customers.

To get a shared Slack channel going, follow these steps:

1. Create a new Slack channel - the expected syntax for the name is posthog-[customername].
2. When determining the [customername], make sure to make it searchable (avoid acronyms, if possible).
3. Obviously, invite the relevant customer folks! Be sure that you're inviting them to the channel you've created and not our Slack workspace.
4. Invite certain leaders who want to help monitor the channel, including: Tim, Ben, Abigail, Simon, your team lead and anyone else internal who may be connected to the customer. PostHog folks will sometimes join the channel if they're interested in the customer or the use-case
5. Invite SupportHog to ensure those from PostHog and the customer can create support tickets from Slack threads - use a slash command in Slack to invite it: /invite @SupportHog. Once it's in the channel, a ticket can be raised by reacting to any message with the :ticket: emoji or by mentioning @SupportHog in a thread.
6. Set your preferences to "Get notifications for all messages" in the channel -- this will ensure you don't miss a message and allow for speedy support.
7. Ensure that the Slack channel name is recorded on the relevant Salesforce Account record in the Slack Channel field.
8. Grab the Admin Panel link (from Vitally under PostHog Default Dashboard) and in the channel add this as a new link. Name it Org Link and add a new folder called Support. This is helpful to our Support Team for quickly accessing the customer's account when questions are posted in Slack.
9. Add your role and title to the channel description (e.g. Technical CSM: FirstName LastName). This will help team members identify who's the main point of contact for this customer.

If you have any questions as you go, ping your colleagues for support in your team channel.

Using MS Teams

Some customers may wish to use MS Teams rather than Slack. SupportHog works in Teams without a separate app - as long as SupportHog is in our Teams instance, customers can raise tickets by mentioning @SupportHog in a channel thread. Note that the :ticket: emoji reaction is Slack-only; in Teams customers should @mention SupportHog to raise a ticket.

First you will need an MS Teams licence - ask Simon, or Dana for one. Then follow these steps:

1. In Teams go to "See all your teams" and then "Create team". When naming the team the expected syntax is [CustomerName-PostHog]. Make sure to set the team type to Public and name the first channel "Shared" then finish creating the team.
2. Test that mentioning @SupportHog in the channel raises a ticket correctly before adding the customer.
3. Once you've confirmed it's working, invite the relevant customer folks by adding them as members to the team!

Onboard Your Customer to Slack Support

Welcome them to the channel when they join!

Set context for the channel's purpose and timing (if applicable). Let them know that they may hear from anyone at PostHog who is monitoring the channel, and also don't miss the opportunity to train them how to open a ticket with SupportHog.

A message like this one does wonders to help them understand how to open a ticket if you're not online to help yourself:

We also have an app here that will open a support ticket if I'm sleeping. You only have to add the :ticket: emoji to the thread and it will open a ticket automatically, and capture the back and forth in the specific Slack thread that received that emoji. You can also mention @SupportHog in a thread to open a ticket as well. It's a good habit to get into in order to make sure our distributed team can help.

The New sales playbook has more on ensuring that the customer is set up for success.