5 ways to provide outstanding technical support | Storm Internet

Following on from our previous blog this one focuses on how best to provide outstanding technical support:

1.    Manage Expectations. There are two sets of expectations you need to manage to provide outstanding technical support, your customer’s and your staff’s. You want to make sure that the customer understands how they’ll receive support whether it’s through a messenger, over the phone, through email etc.… They also need to know if they are getting free support or if they might have to pay for something, as well as what response time to expect. You need to manage your staff’s expectations in terms of the knowledge your customers will possess as well as making sure they understand they will be answering the same questions over and over again and need to maintain cheerfulness because every time is the first time for the customer.

2.    Make Yourself Easy To Find. One of the most frustrating situations customers encounter online is when web hosting make it difficult to find their support contact information.  I know it drives me up the wall, sometimes I even scream at my computer “Where is the Support Phone Number!!!” Even worse are sites like Amazon, which provide documentation that might not even be related to the problem you’re having before giving you a support email ticket, not even a phone number. Don’t hide your support contact information, feature it! Make it easy for your customers to contact you whenever they need technical support, they’ll appreciate it. Also try to provide tech support in, as close to real time as possible, ideally you’d be able to implement some real time chat or a technical support phone number that runs 24/7 so that your customers are always covered.

3.    Use Multiple Medias. In today’s multimedia world, people may not understand or even be able to read written directions. You should create multimedia resources like screencasts and screenshots, which clearly show what to do when presented with a specific technical issue, and instruct your support staff to use them as much as possible. A great tool for creating screencasts is Camtasia, which works on both macs and pcs. Having multimedia support documents can really help your staff solve the technical support problems your customers are having even if you have outsourced your technical support and the support agents are not particularly familiar with your business.

4.    Provide Multilingual Support. You never know what languages your customers speak. Even if you only officially provide customer support in English or another language, you can teach your staff to use Google Translate to read and respond to emails in another language. If you are considering outsourcing your technical support, be sure to inquire what languages the support company can provide technical support in. A good technical service support company should be able to provide technical support in at least the 2-3 major languages used in your country.

5.    Respond With Clear Options. The last way to make sure that you provide outstanding technical support, is to make sure that you respond clearly by quoting the customer’s email or message where possible, providing step by step directions, and letting the customer know exactly what all their options are right now. You want to make sure the customer fully understands their situation and can make the best possible choice, because this creates happy repeat customers which you can build your business on.

When it comes to technical support, the most important rule is The Golden Rule; treat your customers the way you want to be treated when you have website maintenance services or technical support problems with other businesses.

Having empathy and understanding that the person who calls, IMs or emails is already frustrated and you and your team’s job is to make it as easy as possible for them to get back to normal.

If you seek to serve your customers needs, you’ll end up standing out for your amazing technical support.

And remember the 5 ways to Provide Outstanding Technical Support:

1.    Manage Expectations
2.    Make Yourself Easy To Find
3.    Use Multiple Medias
4.    Provide Multilingual Support
5.    Respond with Clear Options.

If you follow these easy rules I’ve laid out for you in this article, you will be well on your way to providing outstanding technical support to all your customers and success online.

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