Customer Service Skills

The object of this section is to discuss customer service skills that employers find desirable in their employees. Many companies have formal customer service guidelines that they make all employees aware of. However, these guidelines are not universal.

Everything discussed so far concerned the development of good technical skills.

For the most part, a high level of technical proficiency alone is not enough to sustain a career in the world of computer service. For most of the service jobs available, good customer skills are just as important as good technical skills. In most cases, these are equal partners for a successful career. Good customer service skills are a must for those who work directly with the public. The field, or bench, technician must possess a good set of interpersonal skills to be able to handle customers.

Research Your Job

Determine the type of equipment to be serviced. Make sure you have all of the service manuals available. Set a realistic schedule for the repair. Make sure you have the needed tools to do the repair. Check for a service history on the customer.

Establish Good Rapport

Learn each customers name and use it as you greet them. Be as open and friendly as your personality will allow. If your repair is in an office environment where material and conversations are confidential, go about your business and keep your thoughts to yourself.

Establish Your Presence

Make good eye contact with your contact person. Maintain your composure. If you remain calm in a difficult situation, it is likely you will calm your customer as well. If you are moody, you will likely undermine your credibility. Doing an efficient, professional, and complete job will leave the customer praising your work.

Be Proactive

Show each customer how to handle maintenance tasks that they should be doing. Walk them through how to replace a printer cartridge, fix a printer jam, or how to check for a virus. Taking the time to show them how to take charge of such tasks will save you a service call.

Don't try to push new technology on a user that is not ready to use it. Wait until management requires it.

Listen and Communicate

One of the attributes that make a good customer service or repair person is the ability to actively listen to the customer. Real listening means not just hearing what the customer has to say, but trying to pin down what he means. Mentally (and maybe physically) identify key points as the customer describes the nature of the problem. Do not interrupt customer descriptions before you have all the details. Even if you are sure that you know what is going on after the first sentence, have patience to listen to the complete description. This is not only common courtesy, but also serves to uncover extra data about the problem.

Listening will help you eliminate the user as the source of a problem. In the case where the user is expecting too much you may need to help the user understand what is a realistic expectation. If they are repeatedly causing the problem, you may need to diplomatically suggest where they can get advanced training.

If the person you are working with in a company is your superior, avoid competitive situations of who knows more. Recognize the abilities of those you are working with and adjust your conversation to accommodate them. For the technically challenged customer, avoid computer jargon they will not understand, possibly leaving an impression of your service. If a user is technically literate, don't insult their intelligence by over explaining a situation.

Be Responsive

Concentrate on the customer's problem or request. Give consideration to the customer's sense of urgency. Don't undermine the customer's sense of urgency. Work with his priorities. Discuss with the customer steps needed to fulfill any unresolved problems. This shows commitment to getting the customer's problems solved. In this way, the customer will be assured that he is not being left adrift.

Be Accountable

Document your promises and dates so that you may demonstrate accountability to your customers. Follow up on return dates for yourself and/or equipment. Take personal responsibility for being the point of contact for the service call.

Be Flexible

If a problem runs beyond your capabilities, take the initiative to move it to the next level of authority. Never leave a customer hanging without a path to get the problems settled. Provide alternatives to the customer when possible (such as down time scheduling, loaner equipment availability, and so on).

Be Professional

You should always make certain that your attire is clean, neat, and appropriate. Your attitude and behavior should be equally appropriate. It is much more beneficial to establish the relationship with the customer based on your abilities and integrity.

From time to time, you may be exposed to information that is of a sensitive nature. Respect the confidentiality of this information. Never reveal or alter information that you have obtained from a staff member's system. This includes friends.

Avoid distracting others while you are working at a customer's site. In education, nothing will upset a teacher more than a technician that disrupts the teaching process. If a student inappropriately talks to you, just look at the teacher to acknowledge that you understand that the comment was not appropriate. Sometimes your best course of action is to not comment at all. Work as unobtrusively as possible. Ask permission to use the customer's facilities, such as the telephone, copier, or other equipment. Straighten up the work area before leaving it (for instance, don't leave the paper from print tests laying around).

Listening and communications skills are equally valuable when performing phone support work. Because you cannot see the customer or interpret body language, it is even more important to assess the state of the customer quickly. It is important to determine the technical abilities of the user as quickly as possible. Asking a receptionist to remove the cover of a computer is not normally an accepted practice.

When giving instructions over the phone, be precise. Provide detailed instructions for work to be done, and ask lots of questions about what is happening on the other end. Cellular or cordless phones are extremely valuable tools for customers using phone support. At your end of the phone, take good notes of what the user has been instructed to do.

Handle Conflicts Appropriately

Inevitably, you will run into a customer who is having a bad day. No matter what you do, you will not be able to keep him from getting angry over the situation. What you can do is realize that this is the case, and attempt to de-escalate the situation. The easiest thing to do is let the customer vent verbal frustrations without reply. Try to avoid taking a defensive stance. Redirect the conversation to creating solutions to the problems. Remain calm, talk in a steady voice, and avoid making inflammatory comments. As soon as possible, withdraw from the confrontation and let the situation cool off. Inform your superiors as quickly as possible so an alternate plan of relief can be implemented.

Handle Paper Work-And Follow Up

A number of non-troubleshooting, non-repair activities must be handled to have an efficient organization. As a service person, you are not alone. You are part of a team that must communicate effectively for the system to operate smoothly.

Other members of the team won't be able to do their jobs effectively if you don't follow through on yours. Process paper work as soon as possible so that it can move through your system. It will be important that you record your work on a daily basis in our "Help Desk" tracking system. In our repair center each computer entering our work environment must have a work order attached to it. This will help everybody know the status of the job and it will help identify those that are working on it.

Maintain an Orderly Work Area

Handle jobs one at a time so that components from one job do not get mixed up with components from another job. Store equipment not being used so that there is ample room to work and so that these items do not become a safety hazard.

Keep an inventory of parts and equipment in your area of responsibility. Order parts needed for a job promptly, and keep a log of when they should arrive. If the parts do not arrive as scheduled, you should have a reminder that they are still missing. This reminder will enable you to track repair parts so that when a customer calls to check on equipment or problem you will have the information at hand.

Tag parts brought into the work area so that they do not get lost or mishandled. Store them so that they will not be damaged by environmental factors, such as ESD. Include all pertinent information about the part, including the problem description, repair notes, and customer name and location.

Please read each of the following scenarios and select a response you believe is appropriate. Defend each answer with a couple of sentences.

Scenario 1

A teacher who has picked up a repaired computer from our service center brings it back within a few hours, complaining that it doesn't work. What should you say?

a. "What happened to it?"

b. "Sometimes I can't believe our technicians can find their way home at night. I'll get this thing fixed up for you."

c. "It was working when it left here. I don't know what could have happened to it. Let's take a look at it."

d. "Did it ever work when you got it home?"

Scenario 2

An irate staff member calls, complaining that a technician from our service center has recently performed a software upgrade on their system and now the network card will not connect them to the Internet. How should you handle the customer?

a. "I'm sure none of our technicians would have left a condition like that. Let's see what the problem is."

b. "Give me the technician's name, and I'll have him get back to you as soon as he returns to the office."

c. "Please describe the symptoms to me, so I can see what might be causing the problem."

d. "This is really easy. Take the top off of the computer, and check to see that the card is installed securely."

Scenario 3

You arrive on a service call, and the office Supervisor turns on the malfunctioning machine. She begins to explain what she thinks the problem is, but you can tell from the operation of the machine that it is something else. What course of action should you pursue?

a. Listen to the explanation until she is finished, and then fix the machine.

b. Sit down and fix the machine while she is describing the rest of the problem to you.

c. Begin troubleshooting the problem she is describing until she leaves, and then fix tge-problem.

d. Stop the explanation, and tell her that vou are pretty sure that you already know what the problem is.