You just got promoted or hired into a support manager role. Congratulations, and also: be careful. The first 90 days set the tone for everything that follows. Rush to change things and you lose your team. Change nothing and the problems that got you hired will solidify. Here is how to navigate it.

Week 1-2: Listen before you lead

Sit with every rep on your team for at least an hour. Watch how they work. Ask what frustrates them. Ask what they wish management understood. Do not promise changes yet. Just listen. You will learn more about the real state of your support operation in two weeks of listening than in a month of reading dashboards.

Week 3-4: Map the current state

Now look at the data. What is your average first response time? What is the resolution rate? Where are tickets getting stuck? Which topics generate the most volume? If your team does not have answers to these questions, that is your first finding. You cannot improve what you cannot measure. Getting basic tracking in place should be your first operational priority.

Month 2: Pick one thing to fix

Do not overhaul everything. Pick the single highest-impact problem and fix it visibly. Maybe it is response time. Maybe it is a broken escalation process. Maybe it is a knowledge gap that every rep complains about. Fix one thing well, and your team will trust you to tackle the next one.

Month 3: Build the foundation for scale

Now start thinking about systems. Do you have documented processes? Are there templates for common responses? Is there a knowledge base that reps actually use? Is your helpdesk tool helping or hindering? This is the month where you evaluate whether your tools match your needs or if you are fighting your own software every day.

The mistake every new manager makes

Trying to replicate what worked at their last company. Your team, your customers, and your product are different. What worked at a 50-person SaaS company will not work at a 10-person e-commerce shop. Adapt your experience to your context, do not force your context into your experience.