Technology plays a crucial role in every business, which is why you need the best tech support team more than ever. With a dedicated IT support department, you and your customers can have peace of mind knowing that you have experts to efficiently fix any technology and communication issues.
Tech support representative vs. customer service representative
The primary role of a tech support representative is to determine and address technical problems as efficiently as possible. It can be anything from troubleshooting dysfunctional or defective hardware to isolating or eliminating viruses in your software.
On the other hand, a customer service representative focuses on ensuring a positive customer experience but don’t necessarily have the technical expertise required to resolve more complex issues. What they lack in technical knowledge, they make up for in product knowledge and soft skills.
While technical support agents sport a friendly attitude, they generally do not have extensive training in providing excellent customer service experience.
That said, encouraging your tech support staff to provide customer service to an extent can enrich every customer’s experience.
Best practices for your tech support
Training your tech support staff on customer service can add significant value to your brand image. Here are seven tips they can start with:
Identify and understand the issue
Customers calling your technical support department may not consistently articulate the issues with hardware or software very well. For this reason, your team members need to help figure out the problem, and they can only do this if they have sufficient knowledge of the customer’s concern.
For instance, if your customer is calling because of a service issue with the handset they bought from your company, your technical support representative must have extensive knowledge about the device involved. It means your agent should know how it works and how to troubleshoot it even without physically handling the device.
On the other hand, if a consumer calls your support department to complain about the lack of an internet signal, then your representative should be able to identify if it is an installation or a connection problem.
By identifying and understanding the problem, your IT representative will be able to provide a reliable solution for the customer.
Check your customer’s level of familiarity with technology
Different clients have different levels of understanding of how some technology operates. Your tech support agents need to realize that, more often than not, they have to walk their customers through how some devices or software work.
Your tech support staff also needs to gauge how tech-savvy their customers are so they can adjust the information they are giving to ensure a clear understanding between them.
For example, if your representative encounters an elderly who is IT-challenged, they should educate them about the issue they are dealing with carefully. Perhaps one of your staff is conversing with a tech-savvy yuppie; then they can discuss the technical problem as it is without those extra steps.
Empathize with your customer
The abundance of technology does not always mean that many people are tech-literate. To some who lack the technical skills or know-how, dealing with a particular technology can be frustrating. After all, no one wants to look or feel foolish as they deal with hardware or software issues, which may or may not be a big deal to some of their peers.
Your IT support needs to be patient and empathetic to your clients. They can do this by acknowledging and understanding their frustration and tech problems to be equally valid.
Simplify your explanation
Clarity is essential in any conversation to ensure a clear understanding between the parties involved. It means articulating your thoughts as concisely and clearly as possible.
For your tech support staff, it is essential to avoid using jargon as this just leads to more questions from the customer. Using layman’s terms can also help you and your client better understand what you are talking about.
For instance, instead of saying ISMS or information security management system, just say security system or anti-virus. Rather than use the term user interface, you can probably say screen.
Remember, your agent’s goal is not to be particular about the exact terms and their usage but to bridge the communication gap. Doing so will help determine the customer’s primary concern and how to resolve it best.
Inform and offer any self-service channels
Sometimes, customers encounter technical issues that they think are simple enough to solve by themselves. In such cases, having self-service options on your brand’s website makes for an efficient alternative.
Have your support employees inform and offer your customers self-service options for their convenience. Have them do this after resolving an issue so the next time your clients encounter an issue, their first action is to try looking for solutions on their own.
It saves your IT department and consumers time and serves as a catch-all resolution, giving your customers a positive customer experience. It also helps filter issues that your support team deals with every day, leaving all but the most complex ones.
Be diligent in following up
Time is valuable for both your business and your customers. Every time your clients need to contact you to follow up on an issue, you take away valuable time from them, which they can devote to their families and other important matters.
You should train your IT support to follow up on customers to ensure prompt and timely resolutions of their technical concerns. Doing this boosts your first-call resolution rates and promotes an excellent customer experience.
Be prompt and responsive to customer follow-ups
Sometimes, customers will call back about a previously resolved issue or follow up on an unresolved issue. Whichever the case, it is paramount that your support team responds and fixes any problem on time.
Doing so retains the customer’s positive experience working with your brand and can build and strengthen customer loyalty.
Why your tech support team should care about customer experience
Caring about your customer’s experience with your company is in your best interest. Training your technical support employees on delivering an excellent customer experience adds value to your company. After all, a satisfied and happy customer is a loyal customer.
