How to NOT piss off Technical Support
We've all done it. Searching the front and back cover of an owner's manual or scanning the "Contact us!" page of a website. It's that dreaded moment: You have to call Technical Support. (*cue sad music*)
Like I said, we've all been there but it doesn't have to be the painful, frustrating experience that society has depicted in movies and TV programs. Believe it or not, it's really a 2-way street. If the rep you get on the phone is a dick then no amount of preparation or politeness on your end can save you. However, all companies really do strive to provide fast, simple solutions, contrary to what you or others may think.
Being a Technical Support Rep takes a special kind of person. Such a person must possess a passion for technology but also a desire to help. Other factors such as being a quick learner, being creative, resourceful and having a good attention to detail definitely help but loving all things gadget and genuinely enjoying helping others are the most important factors. However, the rigors of being oh so helpful can be draining because most problems we deal with are id10t errors. I'm not generalizing that anyone who calls Support is retarded but most of the time, the problem is between the monitor and the chair. This is why some Support reps you come across seem like they woke up on the wrong side of the desk after a night of raiding in WoW.
But fear not, for making your call to Technical Support can go great with a little preparation.
Ok, so not everything comes with a manual, per se but there's going to be some instructions or guide available for whatever it is. You don't necessarily have to read whole thing front to back (or top to bottom if it's a PDF) but at least give it a skim. Most calls or emails to Technical Support can be avoided by a little reading.
Again, you'll need to put you reading hat on for this one too but I absolutely cannot stress this enough. If you're experiencing a problem with a piece of software or a website, there's about a 99.99999% chance that you're not the first person to experience this issue. That's not to say that there's a problem and the company is telling you how to fix it rather than fixing it themselves. They're just common issues that occur due to factors that are outside of that company's control. FAQs (which stands for Frequently Asked Questions) are simply that. Questions we get all the time. Chances are, your problem can be solved by reading through some of these. This way, you won't even have to call Support!
One might argue that these are often hidden but the truth is that websites are designed with the user in mind. When a company makes a website, we try to make it intuitive and easy to use for you. We're not going to purposely hide these things. If it were up to me, my company's site would have a huge banner at the top of the page that says "HAVE A PROBLEM OR QUESTION?" which would be a link to our FAQ section. However, they've done well with a mere 2 clicks from the home page landing a user right at the FAQs. 90% of my job is explaining information that's available on our website.
As Tech Support, nothing pisses me off more then when someone calls me up, says that they tried installing software but got an error message and cannot provide any further information because they're in line at Starbucks or driving to work. We get that your schedule may be busy but if you call up saying you need help but have absolutely no information about the problem, you'll likely be disappointed when we say that we can't help you and that you should call back when you're actually AT the computer. (I'd love to assume it goes without saying but that also means the computer should be on, connected to the internet if necessary, most preferably with the error message still on the screen.) Trust us. If there was some magical button that would fix whatever error or problem you're experiencing, we'd be pressing it non-stop. Unfortunately, in this realm, no such button exists.
My years working with computers has taught me a very important lesson about problem solving: The first step to solving problems is reproducing them. I understand that this may be counter-intuitive but it's totally true. In order to truly solve a problem, you have to be able to reliably reproduce it. When you can reliably reproduce a problem under a given set of conditions, hopefully, you'll get a better understanding of the problem and can change the condition that you feel is causing the problem, thus, solving said problem.
This might sound like mumbo-jumbo to you but my point is that even when you don't understand what we're doing, you have to trust that we do.
(With that blurb on problem solving said, many people take the screw-with-it-until-you-accidentally-fix-it approach. Sometimes, you just happen to fix things by unplugging it and plugging it back in. You don't know what the problem was but you "fixed" it. Yes, it happens for us esteemed Technical Support geniuses too.)
Ok, so we won't be total jerks about it but understand that if you call or email, we provide instructions and you refuse to follow them, you're only hurting yourself. I can't count how many times I've had an upset customer refuse to follow a simple instruction as part of the solution. Even better is if you do something different because you think the Support rep is wrong and you're right. Because you're the computer expert, right? Wrong. Calling Support over the phone is a 2-way street but remember who's calling who for help. (Frankly, most of us are quite nice too. If you're nice, we're nice too.)
I say this because I work for a company providing primarily customer-side support. I've lost track of how many times I've had users ask me about computer problems that are well outside the scope of my support. Understand that in these sort of situations, a rep can really only help you as it relates to the product. If you call Support for a website because when you print a page it comes out as jibberish, and the rep has you try printing a page from an entirely different site and the same thing happens, that means that the problem lies within your computer or your printer, not his website. At that point, this hypothetical representative can't instruct you to open your printer, change the ink, download drivers for it, etc. As much as we Support folk love helping, we're bound by our company for liability reasons to only help with our products. This situation is primarily for customer-side support instances.
My company makes a software product that is only compatible with Windows 2000 and up. At least 30% of our calls and emails are about trying to run our software product on their iOS device or Android device. First of all, any company that sells a software product will also have said software's minimum requirements linked from or listed on the product page itself. Secondly, I know everyone and their dogs have iPhones but that does not mean that every software publisher has an iOS (iOS is the operating system of the iDevices, FYI) compatible version. It's not always economically sound to develop an iOS app due to license constraints of Apple's App Store License Agreement but that's not really the point. The point is that just because a company makes software, don't assume that it'll run on your phone too.
"But everyone has a Mac, right? Macs are better in every possible way." I'm not anti-Mac but I don't understand how Apple has fooled people into thinking that Macs are just as common as PCs. If I bought a Renault (a French car company, in case you didn't already know that), I buy it knowing that I might not able to get it serviced at the Mom&Pop auto shop down the street or get parts for it at AutoZone. The same goes for Mac. Somehow, people who buy Macs seem to forget that their beautifully engineered computer only has a small percentage of the marketshare when it comes to computers in the world. However, this gets into a topic of "mindshare" over marketshare which I'll discuss more in the future.
Even as Support reps ourselves, we know that you don't want to talk to us. Nobody wants to call Technical Support. You only call when you have a problem and need help. We get that. We're here to help. Seriously. So when you get mad, start dropping F-bombs like you're Eminem, and calling us names, it doesn't help at all. The old saying about the squeaky wheel getting the grease usually only works in Sales or general Customer Service environments. In Tech Support, our only goal is to help.
In short, just use common sense and common courtesy. Unfortunately, these things aren't so common anymore. Work with us a little and we'll get that program working, the computer started, your printer working (and we might even fill up the paper-tray for you too), etc. If you're nice, we'll go to the ends of the earth. If you're throwing a tantrum then you're just raising your blood pressure and making us hate our lives for a short time. Nobody wins.
Like I said, we've all been there but it doesn't have to be the painful, frustrating experience that society has depicted in movies and TV programs. Believe it or not, it's really a 2-way street. If the rep you get on the phone is a dick then no amount of preparation or politeness on your end can save you. However, all companies really do strive to provide fast, simple solutions, contrary to what you or others may think.
Being a Technical Support Rep takes a special kind of person. Such a person must possess a passion for technology but also a desire to help. Other factors such as being a quick learner, being creative, resourceful and having a good attention to detail definitely help but loving all things gadget and genuinely enjoying helping others are the most important factors. However, the rigors of being oh so helpful can be draining because most problems we deal with are id10t errors. I'm not generalizing that anyone who calls Support is retarded but most of the time, the problem is between the monitor and the chair. This is why some Support reps you come across seem like they woke up on the wrong side of the desk after a night of raiding in WoW.
But fear not, for making your call to Technical Support can go great with a little preparation.
Read the Manual
Ok, so not everything comes with a manual, per se but there's going to be some instructions or guide available for whatever it is. You don't necessarily have to read whole thing front to back (or top to bottom if it's a PDF) but at least give it a skim. Most calls or emails to Technical Support can be avoided by a little reading.
Read the FAQs!
Again, you'll need to put you reading hat on for this one too but I absolutely cannot stress this enough. If you're experiencing a problem with a piece of software or a website, there's about a 99.99999% chance that you're not the first person to experience this issue. That's not to say that there's a problem and the company is telling you how to fix it rather than fixing it themselves. They're just common issues that occur due to factors that are outside of that company's control. FAQs (which stands for Frequently Asked Questions) are simply that. Questions we get all the time. Chances are, your problem can be solved by reading through some of these. This way, you won't even have to call Support!
One might argue that these are often hidden but the truth is that websites are designed with the user in mind. When a company makes a website, we try to make it intuitive and easy to use for you. We're not going to purposely hide these things. If it were up to me, my company's site would have a huge banner at the top of the page that says "HAVE A PROBLEM OR QUESTION?" which would be a link to our FAQ section. However, they've done well with a mere 2 clicks from the home page landing a user right at the FAQs. 90% of my job is explaining information that's available on our website.
Be At the Computer
As Tech Support, nothing pisses me off more then when someone calls me up, says that they tried installing software but got an error message and cannot provide any further information because they're in line at Starbucks or driving to work. We get that your schedule may be busy but if you call up saying you need help but have absolutely no information about the problem, you'll likely be disappointed when we say that we can't help you and that you should call back when you're actually AT the computer. (I'd love to assume it goes without saying but that also means the computer should be on, connected to the internet if necessary, most preferably with the error message still on the screen.) Trust us. If there was some magical button that would fix whatever error or problem you're experiencing, we'd be pressing it non-stop. Unfortunately, in this realm, no such button exists.
We Have Our Methods
My years working with computers has taught me a very important lesson about problem solving: The first step to solving problems is reproducing them. I understand that this may be counter-intuitive but it's totally true. In order to truly solve a problem, you have to be able to reliably reproduce it. When you can reliably reproduce a problem under a given set of conditions, hopefully, you'll get a better understanding of the problem and can change the condition that you feel is causing the problem, thus, solving said problem.
This might sound like mumbo-jumbo to you but my point is that even when you don't understand what we're doing, you have to trust that we do.
(With that blurb on problem solving said, many people take the screw-with-it-until-you-accidentally-fix-it approach. Sometimes, you just happen to fix things by unplugging it and plugging it back in. You don't know what the problem was but you "fixed" it. Yes, it happens for us esteemed Technical Support geniuses too.)
Do As We Say
Ok, so we won't be total jerks about it but understand that if you call or email, we provide instructions and you refuse to follow them, you're only hurting yourself. I can't count how many times I've had an upset customer refuse to follow a simple instruction as part of the solution. Even better is if you do something different because you think the Support rep is wrong and you're right. Because you're the computer expert, right? Wrong. Calling Support over the phone is a 2-way street but remember who's calling who for help. (Frankly, most of us are quite nice too. If you're nice, we're nice too.)
Stay On Topic
I say this because I work for a company providing primarily customer-side support. I've lost track of how many times I've had users ask me about computer problems that are well outside the scope of my support. Understand that in these sort of situations, a rep can really only help you as it relates to the product. If you call Support for a website because when you print a page it comes out as jibberish, and the rep has you try printing a page from an entirely different site and the same thing happens, that means that the problem lies within your computer or your printer, not his website. At that point, this hypothetical representative can't instruct you to open your printer, change the ink, download drivers for it, etc. As much as we Support folk love helping, we're bound by our company for liability reasons to only help with our products. This situation is primarily for customer-side support instances.
Not Everything Runs on your iPhone/iPad
My company makes a software product that is only compatible with Windows 2000 and up. At least 30% of our calls and emails are about trying to run our software product on their iOS device or Android device. First of all, any company that sells a software product will also have said software's minimum requirements linked from or listed on the product page itself. Secondly, I know everyone and their dogs have iPhones but that does not mean that every software publisher has an iOS (iOS is the operating system of the iDevices, FYI) compatible version. It's not always economically sound to develop an iOS app due to license constraints of Apple's App Store License Agreement but that's not really the point. The point is that just because a company makes software, don't assume that it'll run on your phone too.
Not Everything Runs on your Mac either
"But everyone has a Mac, right? Macs are better in every possible way." I'm not anti-Mac but I don't understand how Apple has fooled people into thinking that Macs are just as common as PCs. If I bought a Renault (a French car company, in case you didn't already know that), I buy it knowing that I might not able to get it serviced at the Mom&Pop auto shop down the street or get parts for it at AutoZone. The same goes for Mac. Somehow, people who buy Macs seem to forget that their beautifully engineered computer only has a small percentage of the marketshare when it comes to computers in the world. However, this gets into a topic of "mindshare" over marketshare which I'll discuss more in the future.
Keep Your Cool
Even as Support reps ourselves, we know that you don't want to talk to us. Nobody wants to call Technical Support. You only call when you have a problem and need help. We get that. We're here to help. Seriously. So when you get mad, start dropping F-bombs like you're Eminem, and calling us names, it doesn't help at all. The old saying about the squeaky wheel getting the grease usually only works in Sales or general Customer Service environments. In Tech Support, our only goal is to help.
In short, just use common sense and common courtesy. Unfortunately, these things aren't so common anymore. Work with us a little and we'll get that program working, the computer started, your printer working (and we might even fill up the paper-tray for you too), etc. If you're nice, we'll go to the ends of the earth. If you're throwing a tantrum then you're just raising your blood pressure and making us hate our lives for a short time. Nobody wins.
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