Caution: high voltage, or when tech support needs support

- Good morning, this is Parallels technical support. Can I talk to Joe?
- He died! Do not call here anymore!

So, on the early Sunday morning, my regular work shift began. In general, people often turn to technical support specialists in an emotional platoon, ready to shout and curse everyone and everything. On the one hand, they can be understood, because if you did not cope with the situation that has arisen yourself, then the problem is really unsolvable, urgent and important. On the other hand, imagine that the average time to process each request by a contact center employee is about five minutes. A consultant’s work shift lasts eight hours. Total: about nine dozen emotional dialogues per day. Of course, not all of them are filled with curses, but the chances are great. Under the cut a few life hacking and life stories. I hope, for some of you, my thoughts will help to cope with the stress at work, especially now, in the spring, when the number of strange calls is traditionally growing.
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The client is not always right

“I work as an accountant, I have all my reports in Windows for the last three years. You are generally aware that I have to pass an annual report today, but I cannot run your Windows! ”

At the other end of the line, someone shouts hysterically into the phone. It is immediately clear that you should not even ask about backups. The shift continues. I ask questions. I try to understand the cause of the problem and propose a solution.



My friends often say that people should work “slightly armadillos” in support. Those who can not take to heart the emotional attacks of the interlocutors in his address. But what about the hypothesis that responsive and benevolent people should work in tech support, you ask? Where is the line between the desire to help and the chance to be in the position of a victim, a kind of girl / whipping boy? In my opinion, the border clearly runs through the territory of self-esteem. Any technical problem does not give the right to your interlocutor to stoop to personal insults. In a situation like this, you only need to maintain composure and try to gently put your opponent in place. An elementary request to answer clarifying questions can sometimes knock arrogance from the most inadequate interlocutor. The second important quality helping to work in technical support is the ability to switch.

Switch

During the years of my work in the support of funny and not very funny stories there have been many. I remember once I had a very interesting dialogue.

- Hello, this is Parallels technical support. I'm calling about your application ...
- Where is my wife? I know that she is cheating on me!
- Sorry, is this Mike?
- Yes! where is my wife? I know that you can track her mobile phone! Tell me where is she? I want to know!

And then there were the interlocutor's tears. Real sobs in the phone. Cry together? This is exactly the case when you need to mentally switch your inner “Mother Teresa's switch” to the “Off” position. You are 9000 kilometers apart, and even if you really want to help, you do not have any technical ability and moral right to interfere in the privacy of other people. The maximum that you can - calmly listen to the appeal and politely inform you that in this situation you cannot help. Further, you may have to listen to another emotional response, after which you can hang up, exhale and move on.

Analyze it ...

“Oh, no, I seem to have removed something wrong for him.”
- What happened?
- Yul, his Mac doesn't turn on. Totally. He wants to talk to the manager.
- Of course.

The user quite often insistently requires you to solve their problems. Even when there is no problem. Or there is a problem, but not on your side. In front of you is a panicked engineer. What to do? Do not panic! As the military say: - Panickers are shot! Take care of yourself. Learn to think with facts. Get some Dr. House. Interrogate the victim. Quickly and thoroughly build with it a clear plan of action. Knowing what will be ahead, you will have no time and energy for emotions. Crying, laughing, and tearing your hair out will be possible later, when everything is repaired (although then you will hardly want to).

Conventionally, all external stimuli can be divided into 4 categories: user, colleagues, boss and subordinates. Of course, the most emotions come to us from users, but do not forget about the people around. What if your neighbor all night long complains about life, and the boss starts the morning with harsh and unwarranted criticism? What to do if you spent three hours explaining to a new engineer what is written in the logs and where, and in a day, he forgot even where this log is? As a technical expert, I don’t like spatial tips and mantras, I need specifics, so I will try to gather my experience into a simple instruction.

User

This may be a simple grandfather from Iowa or a bearded admin from a large international company. He can be angry, furious, apathetic, phlegmatic, tired or at worst dying. It doesn't matter to you anyway. The most important and the first rule : whatever and how you would not speak on the phone - do not evaluate the interlocutor . Leave your emotions and your attitude to him with you, but rather do not think about it at all. Just listen to the problem description and try to help.

Tip # 2 , which may seem even more trivial - be polite and use the right words . Yes, yes, we all seem to already know that some phrases are simply forbidden to speak to the interlocutor, and some are undesirable. If you have difficulties with this, I recommend looking at the book "How to talk to users."

Colleagues

What to do, if a disgruntled engineer sits next to you on a shift and constantly talks about how bad he is? You can "napapat" the authorities. But this option, you see, does not greatly contribute to the preservation of harmony in the team. The second option is to follow the principle of "Honest to be profitable." Do not keep stress in yourself. Sound the problem. Tell a colleague that you are not very comfortable working in such an environment. If an engineer wants to discuss how bad he is, then it can be done in a smoking room, having coffee or with friends, but not at all in a shift, and certainly not in the entire shift without a break. Ask your neighbor why he is complaining to you? Can you help him in some way? Not? Then why does he tell you all this? Such questions, as a rule, stump the whiner.

Chief

- Director? Fuck you ... director ! I think that everyone remembers this imperishable phrase from Masyanya. What to do if your boss as a whole suits you, but sometimes he also has “flares in the sun”? Remember the legendary Carlson, who lives on the roof: - Calm, only calm! If someone shouts at you, try to keep calm. In case of substantiated claims, try to make constructive from the conversation that took place. You can also calmly ask the other person not to raise his voice on you. This is a normal reaction of a normal person. Shouts can not help.

Subordinates

This may be your immediate subordinates or newcomers who you have been asked to train, or fellow engineers who have changed the product and living with you on the same team, under your strict supervision. And so, you have your immediate responsibilities, there are colleagues who are constantly asking for help and there are still those who need to be taught. Full box. What to do?

Tip # 1 - Learn to delegate authority . This will definitely help you in the future. How would you solve the problem yourself? Elementary question can make others think independently.

The second tip is to systematize the processes and designate priorities . Any action of an engineer on a shift, in theory, should be regulated. Especially when it comes to interaction with other departments. For example, whom to call if everything is broken? With clear instructions, you will most likely not be woken up at 2 am on Saturday to get the answers you need to burning questions.

Conclusion

I remember being very surprised when I learned that in the West, technical support of a number of respected IT companies does not work on weekends. And the one that works usually does it until 18.00 hours. In addition, calls to support on Saturday and Sunday from colleagues are paid to the user. And then there are two options for the client: either you live with your problem until Monday, or you open a wallet, count cash and call with your questions, complaints and suggestions. We have this is extremely rare. In Russia, the situation is diametrically opposite. People are used to asking for help whenever possible. Moreover, they are ready to communicate only with a living person, ignoring autoinformers and other smart robots. The second observation concerns the culture of seeking help. Almost every fifth caller in technical support, initially dissatisfied with something or aggressive. The interlocutor seeks to let off steam, not hesitating at times in expressions and forms of conveying information. And if we imagine that before this “happy rendezvous”, the same engineer had eighty other users, a nagging colleague at his side and slaying everyone today and the whole boss? The level of ambient stress just rolls over. Therefore, if you suddenly need help and you contact technical support, do not spoil the karma for yourself and others, say elementary "Hello!" At the beginning of the conversation, be polite and ready to explain the essence of your problem. Well, save heart-rending screams and profanity for a football game with the participation of the national team of our country.