The Box.net team just keeps growing and growing. This week, I’d like you to meet Ron Gross, who recently joined our team as Box.net’s new Director of Support. He’s got some great thoughts on how he got into the support field, how he’d like to build on our customer support efforts and a funny story about how his kids reinforce some common sense rules on providing a great customer experience.

Tell us more about your role at Box.

I am responsible for making sure our customers are heard and that they have an easy and enjoyable experience on Box. Part of my role is making sure we respond to our customer’s needs, but the other part is making sure that the rest of the company gets the opportunity to learn from what our customers have to say.

How did you get into the field of customer and technical support?

Back in the early 90’s I got recruited to work at Apple supporting their new “System 7” OS (they were building their first customer support team). I was a big Apple fan from its beginnings, and having the chance to work there supporting their new OS seemed like a cool job. From that role I found I really enjoyed the Support world. I also really enjoyed the Silicon Valley tech culture.

I know you’ve worked for other cool companies like Excite, Adobe and Friendster. What are some of the common lessons you’ve taken away from your work there around building a great support operation?

It may sound cliché, but it is all about the team. Support itself can have a high burnout rate. No matter what you are supporting you need a team that loves their product, enjoys assisting others, and fits together well, so that they look forward to coming to work. You also need to empower them to feel that the work they are doing has a positive impact on the company they work at. At the end of the day I want them to be able to point at the product and say, “I had a hand in building that.”

What appealed to you about Box?

Everywhere I have worked has had a product and a potential that excited me. Box is another company in that mold. We have a great product, a young energetic team that seems to be passionate about what they do, and a management team that is engaged and responsive. There is an opportunity here for me to have an impact on a cool product and be part of something I enjoy.

What are some of things you’d like to do that will make the Box customer experience even better?

I want to bring all the existing points of contact into one place. We touch our customers in a number of different ways (end user support, business accounts, outreach, help and training). I want to bring this all together and take it to the next level. I want to look into how else we can make our customer’s experience be a successful one. Bringing in dynamic media, giving our community other ways to communicate with us, and so on. I also want to put tools and processes in place that better enable us to learn effectively from our customer’s experiences.

Going off topic, what’s your favorite book - and what does it say about you?

Currently that book would probably be ‘Gates of Fire’ by Steven Pressfield. It is a fictionalized account of life back in ancient Sparta and events leading up to the battle of Thermopylae. I guess what I enjoyed about it was the passion for life, honor, and loyalty that it portrays. I hope that what it says about me is my passion for enjoying the moment and living for the greater goal. You never know where life will take you, and you don’t get any points in the end for the stuff you “meant” to do.

Closing things out, I know you have a growing family - do your experiences in managing teams, putting out fires and troubleshooting ever come in handy at home? If so, what’s a fun example you can share?

Similar to support, with four little kids one of the most important things is keeping a consistent message. Always follow through with what you say.

There is a quick quote I remember from my oldest daughter. She was 5 at the time and one day I came home and she said, “I was pretty good today. Mommy was pretty good too, but she messed up a bit. At lunch she told Kira ‘no happy meal’. Then she got her a happy meal. Later she told me ‘no cookies’. Later, I get cookies. I mean…WHAT’S UP WITH THAT!”

“What’s up” is that she has a nice mom, but the point is that even at age 5 she appreciated the consistency of message.

Post by Sean Lindo, Community Manager