Knowledge Sharing with Andre Linde

In this episode, Neal Travis chats with support veteran Andre Linde about how to tackle one of the most persistent challenges in Customer Support: knowledge gaps. Whether it's tribal knowledge, outdated docs, or cross-functional confusion, they explore practical ways support teams can take ownership of knowledge sharing — and use it as a lever for growth, collaboration, and professional development.

Key Topics Discussed

1. The State of Knowledge Sharing in Support

Andre starts strong:

“Honestly, I think everyone in support does a horrible job of knowledge management.”

They unpack why support teams often struggle from scattered tools to tribal knowledge that vanishes when people leave and why simply having a help doc isn’t enough.

Support pros must own the knowledge lifecycle, not just consume it.

2. Creating a Culture of Continuous Training

Support doesn’t grow without shared learning:

“Training has to be a living document. It can’t be set-it-and-forget-it.”

Andre shares how regular cross-team reviews, clear swim lanes, and collaborative training sessions between support and technical teams (like Solutions Architects) can reduce handoffs and deepen expertise.

Upskilling your team builds credibility, speed, and internal trust.

3. Let Reps Lead the Learning

Want engagement? Involve your team directly:

“Let them vote on the topics. Let them lead the sessions.”

By giving agents ownership over what (and how) they learn, you can create accountability and enthusiasm that top-down training rarely achieves.

Empowered reps are more likely to share, teach, and retain knowledge.

4. Storytelling as a Skill for Support Ops

Bringing data to the table isn’t enough. It needs a narrative.

“People don’t remember, ‘Usage is down 50%.’ They remember the story behind it.”

Andre and Neal explain why storytelling is an underrated superpower for support professionals, especially when influencing cross-functional decisions or advocating for change.

If you want buy-in, lead with a story — and back it with numbers.

If you’re curious about the DnD story-telling video we talked about, you can find it here.

5. Learning to Say “No” (Without Stopping There)

Andre reflects on one of his biggest early lessons:

“It’s okay to say no, but never stop at no.”

Support pros often default to saying yes to stay helpful. But real professionalism is about boundaries, clarity, and problem-solving even when the answer isn’t immediate.

Setting limits is part of support maturity and a leadership skill in disguise.

Memorable Quotes

“Tribal knowledge disappears when people leave unless you capture it.”
“If you’re creating training, bring in support, product, and engineering. Everyone owns the learning outcomes.”
“If they get to lead the training, it’s not just learning. It’s growth.”
“No is okay. But always follow it with what’s next.”

Takeaways for Support Professionals

• Treat knowledge management as a core support responsibility: It’s not a nice-to-have, it’s infrastructure for performance.

• Push for cross-functional collaboration: Work with other teams to close gaps, clarify ownership, and reduce friction.

• Let reps co-create training: Empower your team to define what they want to learn and lead the learning themselves.

• Use storytelling to influence: If you want to drive change internally, make your data memorable through stories.

• Set healthy boundaries: Saying “no” with clarity is a mark of maturity, not failure and sets you up for better long-term outcomes.