Working with Sales

1. You are here:
2. Handbook
3. Support Team Handbook
4. License & Renewals
5. License & Renewal Workflows
6. Working with Sales

On this page

• General workflow
• Determining whether to pass or to NOT pass to Sales
• Specific workflows to pass to Sales

General workflow

1. Respond to the customer on Zendesk:
   1. Assign the ticket to yourself.
   2. Select the appropriate specific workflow to follow (see below).
   3. Check the Escalated to sales box and set the ticket status to Open.
   4. Set the ticket status to Pending.
   5. N.B. A Zendesk trigger will prevent a ticket from being set to Pending when an agent made an internal note instead of a public comment. It will set the ticket back to Open when that happens. So if you check the Escalated to sales box and set the ticket status to Pending, it will be reverted to status Open. Saving a second time as Pending will also work.
2. Leave a message for the Salesforce Account Owner on Chatter with the relevant details.
   • Consider adding the following note in the Chatter message:

     Please note that according to the new "Working with Sales workflow" (https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/support/license-and-renewals/workflows/working_with_sales.html) we expect a reply from you on this chatter within 24 hours (excluding weekend, Family and Friends Day & global holidays) stating when/if you will contact the customer.

   • Share the link to the Chatter message (right-click on timestamp) in an internal note on the ticket.
     • Note that you can only link to the original Chatter message, not to any of its comments.
   • You may want to check the account owner's Slack status to see if they're currently taking time off work.
   • If reaching out to the account owner on Slack (always on #support_to_sales_escalation and always as a courtesy), link them the Chatter message and ask them to respond there.
   • Note: Support should be able to rely on the Salesforce Account Owner field to determine who is responsible for the account. If that is incorrect, escalate it immediately (see point 3(i)).
3. Escalation procedure:
   1. If the Salesforce Account Owner is unable/unwilling to assist
      1. Mention the account owner's direct manager in a Chatter comment.
         • Examples of being unable/unwilling to assist:
           • Account owner no longer works at GitLab.
           • Account owner says the account is not theirs any more.
           • Account owner says they have no time to help.
   2. If the Salesforce Account Owner is not a person
      1. Find the person in charge of the sales segment and sales territory and mention them in a Chatter comment.
   3. If anyone you reach out to does not respond within 24 hours (excluding weekend, Family and Friends Day & global holidays):
      1. Mention the person's direct manager in a Chatter comment.
         • Suggested message text:

           Following the new "Working with Sales workflow" (https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/support/license-and-renewals/workflows/working_with_sales.html) I'm escalating this, as we haven't heard from <account owner> within the agreed upon time.

         • From VP level onwards, mention them in a Slack message in #support_to_sales_escalation in addition to a Chatter comment.
           • Suggested message text in Chatter:

             Following the new "Working with Sales workflow" (https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/support/license-and-renewals/workflows/working_with_sales.html) I'm escalating this, as we haven't heard from <account owner> nor <account owner's manager> within the agreed upon time.

           • Suggested message text in Slack:

             Following the new "Working with Sales workflow" I'm escalating support ticket https://gitlab.zendesk.com/agent/tickets/<ticket number> as we haven't heard from <account owner> nor <account owner's manager> within the agreed upon time.

      2. Repeat as necessary every 24 hours and go one step up the reporting line, going all the way up to CEO if necessary. * It is helpful to refer to the company organization chart to see who to escalate to.
4. When someone from sales says they'll be in touch with the customer:
   1. Post an update to the ticket, mentioning:
      • The name of the person who will be in touch.
      • Tell the customer to let us know if they haven't heard back within 2 business days.
      • Inform the customer that if we don't receive a reply from them within 20 days following our last reply, our ticketing system will mark the ticket as solved. If the customer then doesn't respond within 7 days of the ticket being marked as solved, our ticketing system will proceed to close the ticket (see Handling unresponsive tickets).
      • Set the ticket status to Pending.

(Pro tip: create a personal ticket view where "Escalated to Sales" = checked, to pull these out into their own queue)

Determining whether to pass or to NOT pass to Sales

Please see specific workflows below:

Pass to Sales:

• The customer wants to pay via a method that isn't credit card
• The customer had a sales-assisted purchase last year and wants to purchase on an order form (company requires a quote or purchase order)
• The purchase needs to happen via a reseller (reseller or end user contacts us)

DO NOT pass to Sales:

• The customer wants to upgrade their SaaS or self-managed plan - they can use the upgrade button in the customers portal.
• Don't escalate until you understand what the customer needs
• The customer is trying to reach sales person to renew, but haven't received a response - Instead ask customer what they need assistance with and see if we can assist.
• The customer asks a product or process question (we can answer this or put in another Support queue most of the time)
• The customer has renewed, but they didn't add enough users - ask the customer to use the Add more seats button in customers portal.
• The customer has renewed, but they didn't add enough trueups - if they need 1 or 2 trueups and their renewal is worth less than $1000, use your discretion to potentially waive the trueups as an exception for them. If the renewal is worth more than $1000, pass to Sales for a quote.
• The customer asks for fees (like trueup fees) to be waived - we can use our discretion about waiving 1 or 2 trueups in certain circumstances. We have to weigh the cost of time and effort it will take for Sales to process a quote and the monetary loss for the company. Please ask in Slack if unsure if an exception can be made for a customer.
• The customer wants to renew for less seats than their current subscription. The customer can renew for a minimum of their current usage or more. If they want to renew for less seats, they have to bring their seat usage down before the renewal.

NB, Sales does not simply waive trueups, there is an approval process for exceptional cases. Please don't set the expectation that any fees will be waived. When in doubt, ask in Slack for a second opinion.

Specific workflows to pass to Sales

Many of the following workflows advise you to Chatter Sales. How to do this is described in the expired license process.

The following workflows use the Pass to Sales Zendesk macro unless otherwise stated.

ALTERNATIVE PAYMENT METHOD: a customer wishes to pay via method other than credit card

Workflow:

• Confirm the paymemt method the customer wishes to use (wire, ACH or check)
• Chatter Sales and summarise the customer's request, ask for them to reach out
• Respond to the customer with the appropriate macro

PURCHASE ORDER / QUOTE: a customer wants to pay and has a PO or requires a paper quote or invoice

Workflow:

• Find the existing opportunity or subscription (if renewal)
• Chatter Sales and summarise the customer's request, ask for them to reach out
• Respond to the customer with the appropriate macro

RESELLER: a reseller or reseller customer wants to make changes to their subscription or follow up on an order

Workflow:

• Confirm the end-user and the reseller, by finding the account in Zuora
• Chatter Sales and summarise the customer's request, provide the reseller and end-user information, ask for them to reach out
• Respond to the customer with the appropriate macro

DISCOUNT REQUEST: a customer is seeking a discount and their subscription is above the Starter/Bronze tier

Workflow:

• Confirm their tier and the details of the discount requested, if they are not above Starter/Bronze or the discount request is unreasonable (use your discretion), explain that a discount is not available
• If you are unsure whether a discount should be given, consult with the Account Owner first
• Chatter Sales and summarise the customer's request, ask for them to reach out if they confirm a discount is possible
• Respond to the customer with the appropriate macro, set the expectation that a discount is not guaranteed and is at the discretion of the relevant approvers

PRODUCT TRANSFER - a customer wishes to transfer from SaaS to Self-managed or vice versa

Workflow:

• If the current subscription is close to its end date, advise the customer to let it expire and purchase a new subscription
• If the current subscription is close to its start date, ask billing if a refund would be possible. If they say yes, seek confirmation from the customer that we can cancel and refund their current subscription so that they can purchase a new subscription with the correct product type
• If neither of the above is an option, Chatter Sales and summarise the customer's request, specifying how many seats are needed for the new product, ask for them to reach out with a quote for the transfer
• Respond to the customer with the appropriate macro

DOWNGRADE PLAN - a customer wishes to downgrade from their current tier to a different tier (same product)

Workflow: Ask in Slack for advice on the best solution for the situation you are dealing with.