Customer Service Skills for User Support Help Desk Customer Service Skills for User Support

Customer Service Skills for User Support Agents Communication and interpersonal skills are very important for help desk and user support staff. Whether they supply help to end users personally or via phone, fax or email, all successful support staff must be able to: Listen Understand Communicate Work effectively with users to solve end user problems 2 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service Communication is a two way process that involves listening, speaking and understanding. A support organisation that can solve user's problems effectively and efficiently, and does so using good interpersonal skills, creates customer satisfaction and demonstrates that the support organisation provides excellent customer service. 3 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service Satisfied customers are repeat customers. Dissatisfied customer is more likely to generate user support results that could include: lengthy calls repeated call-backs complaints and ill will among clients (which can translate into poor public relations and lost sales) calls to rerouted to a higher level support specialist or a user support manager product returns for a refund 4 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service A customer service ethic means that, in the pursuit of customer service excellence, support staff employees: provide users with the information, service, or solution they need if there is any reasonable way to do so. explain to customers what they can do for them, if they cannot solve their problems. treat customers and potential customers with respect. 5 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service communicate to callers how long they are likely to be on hold and provide time estimates of how long it may take to provide information or solve a problem. return calls when promised, even if it just to report that no progress has yet been 6 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service To create customer satisfaction and help reach an organisation customer service goals, support specialists must master the essential communications skills. listening carefully build understanding respond effectively 7 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service Listening In any support conversation, learn to listen before you speak. Listen to the caller's description of the question or the problem; develop a thorough understanding of it. Interrupting the caller is one indication that you are not listening carefully. 8 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service Listening First:- listen also to the language that the caller uses to phrase the question or describe the problem. This will give you clues as to whether the user is a novice or an experienced user. Second:- listen to how the caller describes the problem, which can provide further insight into the problem and the caller. What tone of voice does the caller use, are they angry or sound frustrated. Do they hesitate or struggle with technical terms. Cues such as these provide you with valuable information on how to handle the call and the caller. 9 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service Build Understanding Once you have listened and understood the users problem, try to develop an understanding of the users situation. You should ideally develop a level of empathy (an understanding of and identification with another person's situation, thoughts and feelings). Try to understand, for example, why the problem is important to the caller. 10 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service Respond Effectively There are three important aspects that you should be aware of when speaking effectively. They are: call greeting call scripts tone and style 11 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service Use a Sincere Greeting The greeting is the ice breaker which can affect the course of the entire call. First impressions of the organisation and support staff are formed on the basis of the greeting. A sincere positive greeting can work towards calming an angry or frustrated customer. Most organisations have a standard method which often includes the employee's first name and name of the organisation. 12 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service Use Scripts Appropriately Many support organisations supply and use scripts to help handle routine calls. A script is a prepared list of questions and statements that cover the important parts of the call. They direct support staff according to responses. Scripts are useful training aids for new support staff. 13 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service Use Tone and Style Effectively How you communicate with a caller is often more important than the content of the communication. Your tone and style have a direct impact on the caller's satisfaction level. Consider the following caller statements: 14 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service "The support specialist did provide me with the minimum of information I requested, but I felt throughout the whole conversation that I was intruding on their time. They spoke rapidly and curtly, and weren't very pleasant.” or "The support specialist couldn't tell me what I needed to know, but explained why the information wasn't available yet, when it would be, and invited me to call back. I felt like a valued customer and that my call was important to them. " 15 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service Use Tone and Style Effectively Often an organisation will indicate which type of communication style they would like their employees to use: formal, informal, casual or professional. They realise that the style is important because it communicates the organisation's image. Use clear succinct speech and match your speed to the callers or users proficiency level. Communication with callers / users should be positively phrased rather than negatively. The following example highlights this: 16 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Communication Skills & Customer Service "The problem with your file occurred because YOU didn't follow the procedure described in Chapter 2 of the manual“ use “I think the procedure on file handling in Chapter 2 of the manual describes a way to avoid the problem with the file you experienced. Let me find the page for you….....................” 17 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Develop an Incident Management Strategy An incident management strategy is a collection of tools, techniques and approaches that successful support specialists use to move through a call effectively and efficiently, from the initial greeting to the end of the call. The four goals of incident management are: Provide the user with the information he or she needs. Manage stress levels for both the user and the support specialist. Ensure that the incident progresses from start to finish in an effective and efficient way. Make the user more self reliant. 18 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Develop an Incident Management Strategy All support specialists develop and refine their own strategies in relation to incident management. Resources that you can build on and incorporate into your own personal strategies could include: Organisational policies on incident management philosophy and expectations. Incident management strategies covered in support specialist training programs. 19 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Develop an Incident Management Strategy Observation and imitation of respected senior support staff agents. Your personal communications experience and style. Feedback from users, peers, and supervisors on your call management strengths and areas for improvement. 20 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Develop an Incident Management Strategy An incident management strategy begins with knowledge of the support organisation's philosophy and policies, an understanding of : an automated helpdesk helpdesk software package user support tools guidelines that user support specialists have found useful 21 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Develop an Incident Management Strategy Listed are some examples of incident management guidelines: ask goal directed diagnostic questions be honest say “I don’t know” when “You don’t know” apologise say thank you use incident management NOT user management teach self reliance 22 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Strategies for Difficult Clients and Incidents A difficult client is one that requires special handling strategies because the user is angry, uncommunicative, rude or in a variety of other states. The challenge for the support worker is to transform the difficult call into a successful one. 23 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Strategies for Difficult Clients and Incidents users who complain contacts from power users incidents that get off the track users who are upset or angry users who are abusive users who won’t to talk users who won’t stop responding 24 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Comprehensive Customer Service Communications and interpersonal skills are essential to excellent customer service. Yet a comprehensive approach to excellent customer service is also based on specific values, attitudes and actions. Firstly:- client service starts when each employee in the organisation recognises that clients are the primary reason for the organisation's existence. Each employee's job depends directly on client satisfaction. 25 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support

Comprehensive Customer Service Secondly:- client service excellence is based on whether the support staff is willing to take extra steps to make sure clients are satisfied. This can be by keeping clients apprised of the progress or lack of progress towards a problem solution. This promotes a win ‑ win outcome for each call. Thirdly:- excellent client support depends on adequate support resources. Client service excellence is the result of planning, adequate staffing, and a sufficient budget for help desk tools and information resources. 26 Certificate III Software Applications Customer Service Skills for User Support