Phone Support: Pleasantly and Productively

Many of you in the information technology industry find yourselves in the inevitable position of having to work someone through a problem on the phone. Even if your job isn’t actually phone support, one of your internal (or external) customers will find themselves in a pickle, and you’ll find yourself on one end of a phone conversation with a potentially irate or annoyed customer that needs your help.

I’ve compiled a list of things you can do to deal with situations like this. Hopefully they will help make the experience more productive and less painstaking.

Stay calm

Although you might be having a bad day, to the customer, that doesn’t matter. If they’re calling you, they are most likely at their wits end and you’re their last resort. If you get mad and raise your voice, you aren’t helping the situation in the slightest.

Stay on their level

Even if you are walking your customer through a mundane task that you’ve completed a thousand times, just remember, they haven’t. Don’t be condescending when they need you to repeat yourself or want to confirm what you said. Don’t assume the level of someone’s technical competency. Get a feel for their skill level before you start firing off acronyms.

Stay humble

Humility goes a long way when dealing with a potentially irritated customer. Here is something I like to keep in mind: even if they aren’t as technically inclined as you are, they probably have a lot more experience in another area than you. Everyone has their specialty. Showing off your knowledge doesn’t make you look smart; it just makes you look conceited.

Stay accessible

When you resolve the issue, don’t make them feel guilty for asking you for help. Try suggesting alternative channels where they can get more information about their problem. This can improve interpersonal relationships as well as make future dealings with this individual more pleasant.

Stay committed

Follow up with the customer, if appropriate, to make sure the problem isn’t reoccurring. Some users will simply live with a problem because they don’t want to bother you. Even if their problem is fixed, this shows that you remembered they had a problem and took the time to follow up.

In Conclusion…

The next time you get a frantic call from a customer who has a dire problem that must be resolved, don’t shrug and roll you eyes. Instead, take a deep breath, sit down, and concentrate on getting the problem resolved. A bad attitude isn’t going to fix anything.

Anything I forgot? Chime in below!