The Six Steps in a Successful Tech Support Session: Customer Service Training 101

[Music] when you take a user support call there is a specific order for how things should happen it starts with your greeting you want to avoid Curt greetings such as just saying teex support and conversely avoid lengthy can greetings such as thank you for calling gigantic comp technical support services this is John supportan CCNA mcdst my goal is to provide you with a perfect 10 support experience how may I provide you with excellent customer service today oh please pleas make it authentic friendly professional and respectful something like this tech support this is Don may I help you after the greeting you go into the active listening phase this starts when the caller begins to explain the problem after the initial explanation of the problem be sure to get a call back phone number just in case you get disconnected during the active listening phase give the caller verbal cues so he or she knows you're still there and paying attention this is also the phase where you gather information such as the software version that's installed and similar information to ensure you're providing the correct solution after the active listening phase move into the gain agreement phase this is where you repeat the problem and get confirmation from the caller that you understand what the problem is you might say something like I'm going to repeat back the problem just to make sure I understand what it is and to ensure I'm not missing anything then repeat it back to the caller and ask if you got it right after the gain agreement phase you move into the apologize empathize reassure phase in this phase if an apology is warranted offer one but only apologize if the problem was caused by you your company or a product or service for which you're responsible of course an expression of sympathy and understanding for the user's difficulty is always appropriate as long as it's authentic you can empathize by using empathic statements such as I understand I don't blame you I'd be upset too if that happened to me or anyone in your situation would be upset one word of caution here don't say you understand if you don't that will only make things worse instead be authentic and say something like I've never been in your situation so I'm not going to pretend I understand I'm sure if I were in your shoes I'd feel the same way you do the reassure part of the equation means that you take ownership of the problem and let the user know that you're going to see it through to its conclusion use phrases such as I'm going to take care of this personally or if you have to escalate it say something like this I'm going to escalate your ticket to level two and I'm going to personally monitor it to make sure it's taken care of after you finish the apologizing empathize reassure phase you're ready to do the actual problem solving one comment about handling problem solving if the user remains on the phone with you while you're working every 20 or 30 seconds say something to let him or her know that you're still there something like I haven't forgotten you I'm still working on it problem solving however is not the Final Phase the last phase is confirmation that the problem is indeed resolved that's where you ask if the problem is resolved to the user's satisfaction and do not close the ticket until the user confirms that the issue is resolved to his or her satisfaction if there's time and the user doesn't seem to be in a rush you can ask the other two questions that go at the end of a support session which are are you satisfied with the way I handled your problem and is there anything I could have done better but if the user seems to be in a hurry don't ask the last two questions you must always always always however ask the first question to get confirmation of resolution before hanging up and closing the ticket now here's an example of how to handle the support call good morning technical support this is Andrew may I help you hi I'm I'm having a problem accessing the network share I've clicked on it at least a dozen times but it still won't open and I've got a report due in a half an hour can you fix it well let me get that taken care of for you first of all let me get your name and phone number or extension just in case we get disconnected my name's Janet and I'm ADD extension 931 thanks Janet can you tell me what operating system you're using and which network share you're trying reach please it's a brand new computer and it's got that strange start screen with all the pictures on it I think it's Windows 8 yes that's Windows 8 and which share is it oh it's uh the K Drive got it and have you received any error messages yes it says something about permission denied all right uh what's your user ID please Janet soundtraining.net okay thanks now I know this may seem silly but let me just make sure I understand the problem you're not able to access the network sharer on the K drive from your Windows 8 computer you get a permission denied error and your user ID is Janet soundtraining.net do I have everything right yes exactly okay well I'm sorry that's happening especially while you're in a hurry I can take care of it right away from my computer do you want to stay on the line with me while I fix it or would you prefer for me to call you back I'll just stay on the line okay this will just take a moment there may be some silence while I'm working on it I haven't forgotten you I'm still working on it okay it should be working now can you check it while I'm still on the line please okay hey great it's working thank you my pleasure uh so does that take care of the reason for your call yes thanks again is there anything else that I can help you with nope this is great please call anytime that's what we're here for have a great day thanks again bye bye what about inperson support calls instead of on the telephone well the same six steps still apply you still have to offer a friendly professional greeting you must still do active listening and gain agreement to ensure you correctly understand the issue you'll still apologize empathize reassure you've still got to problem solve and you certainly don't want to leave without confirming that the problem is resolved whether it's on the phone in person in a chat session or even an email following these six steps will ensure that you manage the support ticket or situation in a professional manner that will reflect well on you and your department [Music]