Christopher H. King
ABSTRACT
In tech support, the customer is rarely right. Customers have a tendency to approach problem resolution by coming to their support staff with a solution rather than just discussing the visible issues and letting the professionals do the rest. Customers don't necessarily know what they need, but they can be extremely vocal about what they don't know, and it is up to the support staff member to hear one thing and understand what it means down the line. In the 2012 SIGUCCS closing keynote, Brian Janz likened this to a patient demanding a type of surgery before the doctor has even heard the symptoms. This paper and presentation will discuss the dying art of translation and discuss methods for communication, rapport, and technical association that will empower front-line staff to hear what customers are saying and translate it into useful information for problem resolution.
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Index Terms
- The dirty Hungarian phrasebook of tech support
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