What makes a bad support experience?
Rather than go over the causes that lead to a negative support experience, I would like to outline some positive ways to approach a support interaction to make it a good experience for both the user and the technician.
Here are some tips that I have picked up from my experience working in IT support.
- Understand what the issue is and be sure that the user knows that you understand it.
Users should not be unsure if their request is understood. They have taken time to explain the issue and it is your job as the support technician to ask the right questions and ensure that the issue is properly identified and documented in a ticketing system. If there is any confusion about what the issue might be, be honest with the user and ask more questions. By identifying and clarifying the issue with the user, you are not only ensuring that you understand the request, but you will make the user feel confident in you and your ability to solve their problem.
Note:
If you are communicating only via email or chat, be sure to READ their request. I have wasted so much time telling support technicians to reference my ticket because they ask me for information that was originally included in my support request. Don’t create that headache for your users and read their request carefully before requesting more information.
- Keep it simple.
This one is obvious, but I sometimes catch myself making the mistake of over explaining what I am doing. Most people don’t want to hear about how you are fixing their problem. You don’t want to be the IT technician known for going on rants using overly technical terms.
Keep everything as simple as possible. For example, if the user’s local cache for their desktop email client is full, just say “Your email storage is full”. They don’t need all the additional information. If you need the user to do something for you in a situation where you cannot do it for them, try to keep the instructions down to one or two sentences. Be clear about what you want them to do and do not add any additional commentary. You can always answer questions if they are asked.
- Own it!
This point goes a bit deeper into the mindset of how you approach the job in general. Yes, there are situations where you do not know exactly what to do and there is no shame in escalating tickets, however, that is not an excuse to pass on a user to someone else as if they are not your responsibility. You should exhaust every option before you even consider escalating the ticket. If you do need to escalate a ticket, then go the extra mile and create detailed notes and follow up with that user even if you are no longer their primary technician. Stay involved and learn how you can resolve the same issue by yourself in the future. The situations where you involve more knowledgeable technicians are opportunities to work as a team and to learn. This not only benefits you but it also presents a great opportunity to provide excellent customer service.
- Present yourself well and build good, professional relationships with your users.
I narrow this down to the three P’s. Be pleasant, patient and polite. Use the person’s name. Present yourself in a friendly manner and reassure users that you are there to help. It is amazing how some solid people skills can diffuse even the most frustrated users. A user should never feel like they are inconveniencing you or putting you out. It is your job to help and they should feel comfortable having conversations with you. Answering the phone in an abrupt way or being too direct can come across as rude or cold. Another reason this is so important is that you want to build a positive relationship with every user you interact with. Making a good impression allows that relationship to progress throughout future support tickets. Being grumpy or hard to work with will quickly degrade your effectiveness and project a negative impression of the whole support team. I could go on forever about this topic but to sum it up, you could be the most skilled technician on the planet but if you are rude and unapproachable, you are failing to provide a good support experience to your users.
- Always be ready to learn!
There is no way to know how to do everything right on your first try. All I am presenting in this post are tips on how to approach support over all. A lot of skills are learned by simply working in an IT support role and that is the main point of #5. Be ready and willing to learn! Assuming that you are curious and excited about technology, take the opportunity to better your skills and abilities through support. This also reinforces my other points. Fixes and technical troubleshooting can be learned and taught with hands-on experience but what makes you good at the job is the overall approach. If you are great with customer service but not great technically at the moment, don’t worry! You will learn as you go, but remember that you really never stop learning. Technology is always changing and being improved upon. There will never be a day in IT where you no longer are required to improve or build your knowledge base. This is amazing because there is always something to learn and you are presented with constant opportunities to improve, so embrace it! Approach every ticket with the intention to learn. Ask more experienced co-workers and friends for help and advice. Not only does this make you more desirable as an employee, but you will also be setting yourself up for success.
Note:
The internet has a vast amount of information that can help you improve your skills and technical knowledge. I personally recommend platforms like Udemy and CBT Nuggets as paid options but there are plenty of amazing, free options through Google and YouTube. Find something that interests you and learn about it. Have some trouble understanding an aspect of your job? Go and find a video about it and do some research. If you constantly are looking for ways to learn, you will never have a shortage of opportunities to do so.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I am basing this off of my experiences both as a person who regularly requests and provides support. My perspective is formed from my experiences. I do not claim to know everything there is to know about support. My intention is to present my perspective so that others can learn from my failures and successes in the world of IT support.
Signing off.
This is JD.