Russia vs Germany. Inside about the processes of those. support, quality service and Russian hackers
To make Okdesk - the first specialized Help Desk for after-sales b2b service, we communicate a lot with representatives of service companies in Russia. It is important for us to see not only the problems of this industry, but also to understand how it can be changed. That is why we are studying in detail, including foreign experience. What is the real situation with "overseas" companies? What is the difference between the organization of processes? How does work with clients work there? What can our companies learn?
Especially for Habra, we interviewed one of the technical support staff of the company from Hamburg (Germany), who has experience in a similar direction in Russia
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As far as the insider data is concerned, we do not disclose the names and names of companies. However, the point here is not at all in a particular business, but in the fact that the principle of interaction with customers in our markets is really different. The added value of the interview is that the speaker worked in technical support in Russia, and went to Germany for a similar position. And because the answers do not contain abstract arguments about the differences "here" and "there", but real experience and opinion, even if a particular person.
Our speaker's name is Anna (name changed).
She has extensive experience in technical customer support. Starting from the first line of a major Russian software manufacturer, she went all the way to a technical specialist in one of the largest systems integrator in her circle. In recent years, her work in Russia included not only technical support for users, but also product testing, as well as working trips, including trips abroad as part of automation system deployment projects.
4 years ago, thanks to the accumulated IT background and language skills, she was invited to a German company (partner of a Russian employer), where she works on technical support and implementations to this day.
Of course, the market where Anna’s employer is presented imposes a number of features on sales and support — we’ll stop here a bit more later. However, some general trends cannot be explained solely by the influence of the market; here the mentality and the established pattern of interactions between service organizations and their customers play a big role.
Anna's German employer, together with a Russian partner, automates the business processes of enterprises in their narrow industry. They have been working on the market for more than 20 years, about the same as their partnership.
The target audience of the implemented tools includes both small companies and large enterprises covering several branches from one market segment (the clients are not IT companies). Among customers, including companies with state. participation. Large and state-owned clients conduct orders through tenders, and, both in Russia and abroad, the personal agreement of the management plays a huge role in the success of participation in the competition.
An important point - the availability of customer infrastructure for technical work.
Since the industry under discussion is quite specific, the infrastructure is not available at any time, but only in short periods of time agreed with the client in advance. Sometimes these issues are resolved through the backup infrastructure, and sometimes you have to work “live”, and mistakes can cost reputation and money to the customers themselves.
Both German and Russian companies, in addition to the one-time implementation of automation tools (this is usually accompanied by some hardware purchases), offer customers periodic updates. For small clients, an update is a kind of solution support, continued cooperation with the developer “in the normal way”. For large companies, renewal is often a separate large-scale project when it comes to phased transformations in a multitude of offices.
In both companies, subscription contracts for support are concluded, in which the speed of reaction to requests is stated. Contracts may include a regular update (or may not include).
The partnership itself is as follows: the team that develops the software part of the solution is located in Russia (apparently, due to the relatively low cost of specialists). Hardware components are manufactured both in Germany and in Russia, and at the same time from other partners in the world. The Russian partner sells and supports the decision on the territory of a number of CIS countries. The German partner presents the solution - i.e. sells it, implements and supports it - in the rest of the world.
Both in Russia and in the rest of the world, the solution being implemented has competitors, including almost free ones. They differ primarily in functionality. Cheap and free solutions have basic functionality, sufficient for small customers - they take over a certain market segment. There is a similar foreign software, but its cost is higher, so, for example, it is poorly distributed on the Russian market. However, he has his own niche.
Important:
Okdesk: Anna, let's start from afar - with support contracts. It is believed that in Russia, customers are not used to paying for service, and in Europe they are used to. Did you notice this difference?
Anna: Indeed, the contracts are concluded with both partners, but in Russia it is still a rarity. Due to the crisis, financing of large clients is curtailed, and for small ones, it was not even special to him. In addition, Russia has free support covering a range of issues. Under the terms of this support, the answer comes, of course, not within a few hours, but within a few days. But many are content with this.
In Germany, the concept of free support is not in principle . If the client has not entered into a subscription agreement, then for the slightest appeal (if the specialist has spent more than half an hour) he will be billed. Therefore, in principle, it is not necessary to persuade anyone.
Okdesk: Are there any variations of support contracts?
Anna: Both we and the Russian partner have several contract options. In Germany, due to the fact that we are few, there is no 24/7 option, while in Russia there are more cheap contracts for 3 months, only for the post-installation period, etc. ( In Germany, the minimum contract period is 1 year ). In terms of the response of the contract do not differ - the reaction time differs when there is and in the absence of paid support.
Okdesk: What do you think prevents you from canceling free technical support in Russia by building it according to the German model?
Anna: In my opinion, this should be done, but gradually. Such things must be negotiated with customers in advance.
At one of my first jobs in support, I just caught the moment of switching to paid support. Then it was decided to answer free of charge only general questions, such as the available functionality in the client version or the address for placing the manual on the Internet. Improvements, errors, problems, etc. - only for those who have paid for support. In the beginning, the people were scandalous, did not want to pay, but over time, in principle, everyone put up with it.
Now our Russian partner does not really want to start such a “reform”, because it is afraid of the customers leaving. The company is afraid not to survive the period of general discontent due to the economic downturn.
Okdesk: And where is it easier to refuse a client who has not paid for support (or paid for less expensive support)?
Anna: It depends not on the country, but on the principles of the company. In the software company in which I worked at the very beginning in Russia, this issue was solved simply: there is no contract - there is no support. For the Russian partner, the reluctance to respond or delay the response (which is determined precisely by the conditions of free support) sometimes caused a stream of complaints from the client to my superiors - depends on who you get on.
It’s impossible to compare with Germany, because here, as I said, there is no free support, there are time limits for paid contracts. All comply with them , if nothing happens absolutely extraordinary.
Okdesk: Is the level of support important in Germany?
Anna: Yes. Here, customers expect support (no matter how organized) will be at the level. The lack of support as such or its poor quality can push the client away from the decision to make him choose a competitor . Within the industry, we know many examples of how customers abandoned their usual products because their suppliers “got off” support - the response time increased or they stopped responding to any queries altogether.
Okdesk: What's the role of updates in terms of support? They help to sell or, perhaps, on the contrary, go “to the load”?
Anna: Updating is difficult here. Many try to use the old version as long as possible. It happens that we have to push the update, when the old version is removed from the support and some necessary improvements are performed only in the new one.
Often, the commitment of the old version is explained by the savings: here the payback period of the implementation is calculated on the basis of large terms. For example, among state-owned companies among our potential customers, purchases occur every 10 to 20 years (if nothing critical happens).
Okdesk: Is the process of updating somehow different - is it a matter of readiness for work on infrastructure, agreement on temporary difficulties?
Anna: Yes. This, by the way, is one of the notable differences between Europe and Russia. In Russia, you can say to customers: “It's time to update - we will organize the day of the move through the backup infrastructure,” and it will be accepted there. In our country (in Germany), people in general do not like to use a reserve that has been curtailed in its capabilities or interrupt work altogether. Prevention is not laid out for them initially - after all, any downtime should be paid, including in the form of wages to employees who have an unexpected day off. And no one wants to pay extra. As a result, during the upgrade, you have to “juggle” parts of the infrastructure, doing everything on the production system.
Okdesk: And support? Do I need a separate technical support in Germany? Isn't it easier to put all the support in the same office with the developers - in Russia?
Anna: Alas, no. There are many problems here, each of which can be solved by itself, but together they add up under the circumstances that it is easier to have separate support in Germany.
First, the language of communication. Although technical support in Russia (most recently we analyzed the financial component of the technical support market in Russia and abroad .) Is recruited with knowledge of the English language, candidates come to interviews who are not very healthy with the language (even if their resume is fluent) . Theoretically, you can find specialists, but they will have to pay more. It all comes down to money: if you understand the software, the environment (hardware settings, etc.), languages ​​are all a plus to the salary of a specialist. And if you want to find a smaller employee for a salary (and the Russian company itself determines the level of salaries), you will have to give up something.
Secondly, there are many minor difficulties in organizing work, for example, with tools. Here is one of the last situations: to optimize costs, the Russian company plans to change the used toolkit for remote support. However, the planned to introduce software - Russian development. And here we cannot use it, because customers, like fire, are afraid of hackers and viruses from Russia . And this example is, alas, not the only one.
As a result, all requests for support come to us, and we, if necessary, translate them and address them to the developers (if the issue is really in the finalization of the software, and not in its proper configuration - with the configuration, we ourselves understand). After we achieve the answer, we localize it here and give it to the client.
Okdesk: The company is located in Germany, but the support language is English?
Anna: Not really. Everywhere you have to use different languages. In communication with the Germans - German, and when, for example, I went to the introduction to Spain - to communicate with a local provider I had to remember Spanish.
As for our internal system, the Germans tried to write tickets in German. But it all came down to the fact that no one in the Russian partner’s office really knew German — somehow they translated everything into English (and received the answer at it). Therefore, back to English.
Okdesk: What does the “European” part of support look like?
Anna: Officially, three employees are supporting me, considering me. My colleagues - the Germans - focus on customer support (building relationships with customers) , but as soon as we are talking about technical problems, the task is transferred to me. We do not have a generally accepted line division. By the way, he does not have a Russian partner either. When I worked there, clients turned to the employee whose contacts they had survived after implementation. ( approx. in our opinion, such a popular practice in Russia has a detrimental effect on the very quality of support and leads to the reluctance of “accounts” to switch to the process component, where dependence on each of them will be less) Since I traveled to many implementations — more often they contacted me, and depending on the task, I either redirected the application somewhere or I dealt with it in working order. Customer time zones are different - at first (after one mass implementation) questions and problems came in round the clock. But later this situation was slightly regulated - they distributed the duties among the employees, but even then they did not divide the lines - this was not very convenient for the company.
Okdesk: You mentioned extracurricular work in Russia. And what about this in Germany?
Anna: The Germans are pretty strictly organized. Any extra-hour work is paid, and any simple work, too. In fact, my personal communication with the current German colleagues began with one of the projects in the US, where the Russian participants “covered” the shoals of local Mexican migrant workers who did not have time to pass the room after the repair (we were at the end of the chain of construction and implementation). , and the launch date was strictly defined, plus there was a delay with customs clearance of iron). The Germans were surprised that the Russians accepted this order with understanding and did not demand payment for space travelers for collecting and adjusting everything had to be in emergency mode. For them, this is not a typical situation. And since they paid for the work then, their joy knew no bounds.
Those. in general, after-school work is not accepted here, but sometimes it happens. Although, whenever possible, the parties do everything to postpone the resolution of issues for working hours.
Okdesk: Are there any means of automating technical support from the Germans and, accordingly, in Russia? It is believed that in Russia with the tools is still very bad, especially on the background of Western Europe. Is it so?
Anna: In our case, no. I think that here, too, the prevailing habits in the market itself are more influenced than geography. The Russian partner works with an analogue of the Help Desk system, we interact with them through it. We do not have our own solution.
Okdesk: Are any support metrics monitored?
Anna: Response dates are monitored under paid support contracts. In addition, customer satisfaction is taken into account. Here a lot of attention is paid to it. For example, it is necessary not only to accept the application, but to give some detailed answer.
Upon receipt of the appeal, we collect all the information. If we can immediately solve the problem, we solve it. Or we answer that it takes so much time to study. And there are customers who will really call back through the voiced period of time, and there are those who will sit on the phone and refuse to hang up. It all depends on the urgency of the problem. Sometimes there are situations when the score really goes for a minute.
Okdesk: Where is it easier with dissatisfied customers? Where is it harder to work?
Anna: With those who have moved a certain “boiling point” when we move from a constructive discussion to complaints, in my opinion, it is easier in Russia. Russians, on the one hand, are more indifferent to different problems, and on the other, some of them are used to solving their own problems. And there is no such thing. If you (a tech support employee) have to solve some problem, then no one will do it for you. Moreover, if there is support, then it is extreme, regardless of who is really to blame. There was a story: our product fell due to the officially recognized error of the framework used. But clients did not want to hear about it, explaining their position by saying that “everything else - the same mailer - works”. Telling them that the “mailer” does not use this framework was meaningless.
In any situation, even if we are not selling anything to the software we sell, we must show the client that we are actively working to solve his problem. Ideally, we should also solve the problem, since we are paid support. But even if we cannot solve anything, we always need to show that you care, love and remember your customer .
Okdesk: Does it make it difficult for you personally to have the fact that you have to actively show a client that something is being done to solve his problem?
Anna: A bit. All this is correct, but sometimes it is funny. For example, my immediate superior is outraged when I set up something for 2 hours at the customer’s office (and he, without warning me, arranged for 4 hours of work and already billed). It would seem that everyone should be glad that I do it faster, but the client does not see that the money is 100% worked out.
Okdesk: Do customers expect any over-fulfillment of the task?
Anna: Occasionally. But this, in principle, is also not accepted. In each contract (at least here) there is always a clause on processing or work that is not included in the paid list. And the cost there is usually “with a margin” .
In Russia, this was more, because clients hung a lot of “admin” work on us: “We don’t have a normal admin. You need a network - and you run ”. Everything else is paid, and you cannot move, because it is not. Of course, many for additional work then billed. But in general, if you came across tasks that you yourself can solve, you had to solve them in parallel (this state of affairs was 3 years ago; now — not up to date).
Okdesk: Speaking of non-core tasks ... Do you often have to do this in Germany?
Anna: No Everyone has their own responsibilities and any deviation (the solution of a non-core task) requires a separate agreement and surcharge.
The reluctance to poke around in other people's problems leads to the fact that customers call for support on any occasion. At the same time, the descriptions of opportunities do not like to read as in Russia. They may even call several times with the same question, if they themselves do not consider it necessary to memorize some kind of setting or a feature of the work. It happens all day you sit on the phone, but in fact no one has anything critical happened.
Of course, there are those here who are interested in who remembers the technical details, although they don’t need them for work, and may even help colleagues when I'm on vacation or on a business trip. But they are among our customers units.
Okdesk: Are there any factors complicating the work?
Anna: Perhaps, yes. First, this is the already mentioned fear of Russian hackers . When searching for the cause of a malfunction, we use logs, and if nothing is clear about them, we connect to the client remotely so as not to waste time, asking “to go there - click here”. Some customers do not give access.
Secondly, the attempt to establish long-term relationships with customers occasionally translates into the fact that we (support staff) cannot obtain the information necessary for work, because it is impossible to disturb the client once again . In Russia, it is normal, before answering a question from a customer, to require (politely!) A clear description of what is happening and some information - logs, the result of the execution of some test command, etc. To be honest, my head doesn’t fit very well, how can I solve technical problems otherwise. Guessing on the coffee grounds? And here we sometimes have to test ourselves somewhere without taking into account the client infrastructure and other factors in order to reproduce the problem. However, this is not shown by all companies. I talked to colleagues on the market with whom we did the integration, and they did not notice this problem. Yes, and we are not with all customers.
It should also be noted that customers, in principle, accept the proposed scheme of work, if problems are solved. I have been working here for 3 years already, and during this time the relationship with some clients has seriously changed. They have become more relaxed about what is happening, they trust more.
Okdesk: What do you think Russian companies need to learn from their German colleagues?
Anna: In software companies (with whom I came across) we are testing up testing. Testers are usually less than all, and in fact their work largely determines the frequency of calls to support. Not enough application stability. It hinders the passion to cover everything when a bunch of projects are conducted in parallel, they write everywhere, little by little, and throw it away, because half the time is frankly not enough. The desire to “embrace the immensity” great prevents the development of high-quality software and adds work support. We must get away from this.
In addition, our developers are less sociable (compared to the European companies with which I have to communicate), it is difficult to interact with them, solving minor problems - with modifications or integration . But in fairness it should be said that when everything is completely bad, they normally resolve the necessary issues.
In general, in terms of customer support, in Russia less attention is paid to “courting the customer”, i.e. building long-term relationships . But the movement in the right direction is already there. Client-oriented recent years has become more.
Probably, it is necessary to pass by the ears client requests and wishes, and, most importantly, to react to the first statement of their discontent. In particular, discontent should be taken more seriously.
We, at Okdesk, confirm that in Russia there is still practically no concept of customer support (we are talking about b2b) and quality service. There is technical support for which specialists with certain technical or product competences are responsible. In this case, often, these are people with frankly poor communication skills. For client support, however, you need the ability to communicate, smooth out conflicts, be a psychologist or even a friend. Finding a person who will combine deep technical competence and ability to communicate is a very difficult task and such specialists are expensive. Unfortunately, most companies here are not yet ready to pay for quality service with a “human face” (both on the part of customers and performers), but we see how this trend is changing under the influence of competition.The understanding of service companies about the need to work "for the future" and provide quality support, including using specializedHelp Desk making. We are confident that in 3-5 years, organizations that will not be able to restructure themselves for a long-term relationship with a client will practically disappear from the market.
Especially for Habra, we interviewed one of the technical support staff of the company from Hamburg (Germany), who has experience in a similar direction in Russia
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A small intro about the interlocutor
As far as the insider data is concerned, we do not disclose the names and names of companies. However, the point here is not at all in a particular business, but in the fact that the principle of interaction with customers in our markets is really different. The added value of the interview is that the speaker worked in technical support in Russia, and went to Germany for a similar position. And because the answers do not contain abstract arguments about the differences "here" and "there", but real experience and opinion, even if a particular person.
Our speaker's name is Anna (name changed).
She has extensive experience in technical customer support. Starting from the first line of a major Russian software manufacturer, she went all the way to a technical specialist in one of the largest systems integrator in her circle. In recent years, her work in Russia included not only technical support for users, but also product testing, as well as working trips, including trips abroad as part of automation system deployment projects.
4 years ago, thanks to the accumulated IT background and language skills, she was invited to a German company (partner of a Russian employer), where she works on technical support and implementations to this day.
Of course, the market where Anna’s employer is presented imposes a number of features on sales and support — we’ll stop here a bit more later. However, some general trends cannot be explained solely by the influence of the market; here the mentality and the established pattern of interactions between service organizations and their customers play a big role.
Features of the market segment and business of the German employer
Anna's German employer, together with a Russian partner, automates the business processes of enterprises in their narrow industry. They have been working on the market for more than 20 years, about the same as their partnership.
The target audience of the implemented tools includes both small companies and large enterprises covering several branches from one market segment (the clients are not IT companies). Among customers, including companies with state. participation. Large and state-owned clients conduct orders through tenders, and, both in Russia and abroad, the personal agreement of the management plays a huge role in the success of participation in the competition.
An important point - the availability of customer infrastructure for technical work.
Since the industry under discussion is quite specific, the infrastructure is not available at any time, but only in short periods of time agreed with the client in advance. Sometimes these issues are resolved through the backup infrastructure, and sometimes you have to work “live”, and mistakes can cost reputation and money to the customers themselves.
Both German and Russian companies, in addition to the one-time implementation of automation tools (this is usually accompanied by some hardware purchases), offer customers periodic updates. For small clients, an update is a kind of solution support, continued cooperation with the developer “in the normal way”. For large companies, renewal is often a separate large-scale project when it comes to phased transformations in a multitude of offices.
In both companies, subscription contracts for support are concluded, in which the speed of reaction to requests is stated. Contracts may include a regular update (or may not include).
The partnership itself is as follows: the team that develops the software part of the solution is located in Russia (apparently, due to the relatively low cost of specialists). Hardware components are manufactured both in Germany and in Russia, and at the same time from other partners in the world. The Russian partner sells and supports the decision on the territory of a number of CIS countries. The German partner presents the solution - i.e. sells it, implements and supports it - in the rest of the world.
Both in Russia and in the rest of the world, the solution being implemented has competitors, including almost free ones. They differ primarily in functionality. Cheap and free solutions have basic functionality, sufficient for small customers - they take over a certain market segment. There is a similar foreign software, but its cost is higher, so, for example, it is poorly distributed on the Russian market. However, he has his own niche.
Important:
- This conversation is not about the market as a whole, but about that part of it, which Anna is well acquainted with;
- around the time of Anna's move from Russia to Germany, the Russian partner began the migration of processes to the agile methodology. To a certain extent, this has affected both the quality of the product offered, and the approach to updates, and technical support.
About the “marriage contract” or “for the slightest appeal you will be billed”
Okdesk: Anna, let's start from afar - with support contracts. It is believed that in Russia, customers are not used to paying for service, and in Europe they are used to. Did you notice this difference?
Anna: Indeed, the contracts are concluded with both partners, but in Russia it is still a rarity. Due to the crisis, financing of large clients is curtailed, and for small ones, it was not even special to him. In addition, Russia has free support covering a range of issues. Under the terms of this support, the answer comes, of course, not within a few hours, but within a few days. But many are content with this.
In Germany, the concept of free support is not in principle . If the client has not entered into a subscription agreement, then for the slightest appeal (if the specialist has spent more than half an hour) he will be billed. Therefore, in principle, it is not necessary to persuade anyone.
Okdesk: Are there any variations of support contracts?
Anna: Both we and the Russian partner have several contract options. In Germany, due to the fact that we are few, there is no 24/7 option, while in Russia there are more cheap contracts for 3 months, only for the post-installation period, etc. ( In Germany, the minimum contract period is 1 year ). In terms of the response of the contract do not differ - the reaction time differs when there is and in the absence of paid support.
Okdesk: What do you think prevents you from canceling free technical support in Russia by building it according to the German model?
Anna: In my opinion, this should be done, but gradually. Such things must be negotiated with customers in advance.
At one of my first jobs in support, I just caught the moment of switching to paid support. Then it was decided to answer free of charge only general questions, such as the available functionality in the client version or the address for placing the manual on the Internet. Improvements, errors, problems, etc. - only for those who have paid for support. In the beginning, the people were scandalous, did not want to pay, but over time, in principle, everyone put up with it.
Now our Russian partner does not really want to start such a “reform”, because it is afraid of the customers leaving. The company is afraid not to survive the period of general discontent due to the economic downturn.
Okdesk: And where is it easier to refuse a client who has not paid for support (or paid for less expensive support)?
Anna: It depends not on the country, but on the principles of the company. In the software company in which I worked at the very beginning in Russia, this issue was solved simply: there is no contract - there is no support. For the Russian partner, the reluctance to respond or delay the response (which is determined precisely by the conditions of free support) sometimes caused a stream of complaints from the client to my superiors - depends on who you get on.
It’s impossible to compare with Germany, because here, as I said, there is no free support, there are time limits for paid contracts. All comply with them , if nothing happens absolutely extraordinary.
Okdesk: Is the level of support important in Germany?
Anna: Yes. Here, customers expect support (no matter how organized) will be at the level. The lack of support as such or its poor quality can push the client away from the decision to make him choose a competitor . Within the industry, we know many examples of how customers abandoned their usual products because their suppliers “got off” support - the response time increased or they stopped responding to any queries altogether.
About software updates or "Until death do us part"
Okdesk: What's the role of updates in terms of support? They help to sell or, perhaps, on the contrary, go “to the load”?
Anna: Updating is difficult here. Many try to use the old version as long as possible. It happens that we have to push the update, when the old version is removed from the support and some necessary improvements are performed only in the new one.
Often, the commitment of the old version is explained by the savings: here the payback period of the implementation is calculated on the basis of large terms. For example, among state-owned companies among our potential customers, purchases occur every 10 to 20 years (if nothing critical happens).
Okdesk: Is the process of updating somehow different - is it a matter of readiness for work on infrastructure, agreement on temporary difficulties?
Anna: Yes. This, by the way, is one of the notable differences between Europe and Russia. In Russia, you can say to customers: “It's time to update - we will organize the day of the move through the backup infrastructure,” and it will be accepted there. In our country (in Germany), people in general do not like to use a reserve that has been curtailed in its capabilities or interrupt work altogether. Prevention is not laid out for them initially - after all, any downtime should be paid, including in the form of wages to employees who have an unexpected day off. And no one wants to pay extra. As a result, during the upgrade, you have to “juggle” parts of the infrastructure, doing everything on the production system.
About organizing support processes
Okdesk: And support? Do I need a separate technical support in Germany? Isn't it easier to put all the support in the same office with the developers - in Russia?
Anna: Alas, no. There are many problems here, each of which can be solved by itself, but together they add up under the circumstances that it is easier to have separate support in Germany.
First, the language of communication. Although technical support in Russia (most recently we analyzed the financial component of the technical support market in Russia and abroad .) Is recruited with knowledge of the English language, candidates come to interviews who are not very healthy with the language (even if their resume is fluent) . Theoretically, you can find specialists, but they will have to pay more. It all comes down to money: if you understand the software, the environment (hardware settings, etc.), languages ​​are all a plus to the salary of a specialist. And if you want to find a smaller employee for a salary (and the Russian company itself determines the level of salaries), you will have to give up something.
Secondly, there are many minor difficulties in organizing work, for example, with tools. Here is one of the last situations: to optimize costs, the Russian company plans to change the used toolkit for remote support. However, the planned to introduce software - Russian development. And here we cannot use it, because customers, like fire, are afraid of hackers and viruses from Russia . And this example is, alas, not the only one.
As a result, all requests for support come to us, and we, if necessary, translate them and address them to the developers (if the issue is really in the finalization of the software, and not in its proper configuration - with the configuration, we ourselves understand). After we achieve the answer, we localize it here and give it to the client.
Okdesk: The company is located in Germany, but the support language is English?
Anna: Not really. Everywhere you have to use different languages. In communication with the Germans - German, and when, for example, I went to the introduction to Spain - to communicate with a local provider I had to remember Spanish.
As for our internal system, the Germans tried to write tickets in German. But it all came down to the fact that no one in the Russian partner’s office really knew German — somehow they translated everything into English (and received the answer at it). Therefore, back to English.
Okdesk: What does the “European” part of support look like?
Anna: Officially, three employees are supporting me, considering me. My colleagues - the Germans - focus on customer support (building relationships with customers) , but as soon as we are talking about technical problems, the task is transferred to me. We do not have a generally accepted line division. By the way, he does not have a Russian partner either. When I worked there, clients turned to the employee whose contacts they had survived after implementation. ( approx. in our opinion, such a popular practice in Russia has a detrimental effect on the very quality of support and leads to the reluctance of “accounts” to switch to the process component, where dependence on each of them will be less) Since I traveled to many implementations — more often they contacted me, and depending on the task, I either redirected the application somewhere or I dealt with it in working order. Customer time zones are different - at first (after one mass implementation) questions and problems came in round the clock. But later this situation was slightly regulated - they distributed the duties among the employees, but even then they did not divide the lines - this was not very convenient for the company.
About extracurricular work
Okdesk: You mentioned extracurricular work in Russia. And what about this in Germany?
Anna: The Germans are pretty strictly organized. Any extra-hour work is paid, and any simple work, too. In fact, my personal communication with the current German colleagues began with one of the projects in the US, where the Russian participants “covered” the shoals of local Mexican migrant workers who did not have time to pass the room after the repair (we were at the end of the chain of construction and implementation). , and the launch date was strictly defined, plus there was a delay with customs clearance of iron). The Germans were surprised that the Russians accepted this order with understanding and did not demand payment for space travelers for collecting and adjusting everything had to be in emergency mode. For them, this is not a typical situation. And since they paid for the work then, their joy knew no bounds.
Those. in general, after-school work is not accepted here, but sometimes it happens. Although, whenever possible, the parties do everything to postpone the resolution of issues for working hours.
About automation, metrics, client satisfaction and guilty ones
Okdesk: Are there any means of automating technical support from the Germans and, accordingly, in Russia? It is believed that in Russia with the tools is still very bad, especially on the background of Western Europe. Is it so?
Anna: In our case, no. I think that here, too, the prevailing habits in the market itself are more influenced than geography. The Russian partner works with an analogue of the Help Desk system, we interact with them through it. We do not have our own solution.
Okdesk: Are any support metrics monitored?
Anna: Response dates are monitored under paid support contracts. In addition, customer satisfaction is taken into account. Here a lot of attention is paid to it. For example, it is necessary not only to accept the application, but to give some detailed answer.
Upon receipt of the appeal, we collect all the information. If we can immediately solve the problem, we solve it. Or we answer that it takes so much time to study. And there are customers who will really call back through the voiced period of time, and there are those who will sit on the phone and refuse to hang up. It all depends on the urgency of the problem. Sometimes there are situations when the score really goes for a minute.
Okdesk: Where is it easier with dissatisfied customers? Where is it harder to work?
Anna: With those who have moved a certain “boiling point” when we move from a constructive discussion to complaints, in my opinion, it is easier in Russia. Russians, on the one hand, are more indifferent to different problems, and on the other, some of them are used to solving their own problems. And there is no such thing. If you (a tech support employee) have to solve some problem, then no one will do it for you. Moreover, if there is support, then it is extreme, regardless of who is really to blame. There was a story: our product fell due to the officially recognized error of the framework used. But clients did not want to hear about it, explaining their position by saying that “everything else - the same mailer - works”. Telling them that the “mailer” does not use this framework was meaningless.
In any situation, even if we are not selling anything to the software we sell, we must show the client that we are actively working to solve his problem. Ideally, we should also solve the problem, since we are paid support. But even if we cannot solve anything, we always need to show that you care, love and remember your customer .
Okdesk: Does it make it difficult for you personally to have the fact that you have to actively show a client that something is being done to solve his problem?
Anna: A bit. All this is correct, but sometimes it is funny. For example, my immediate superior is outraged when I set up something for 2 hours at the customer’s office (and he, without warning me, arranged for 4 hours of work and already billed). It would seem that everyone should be glad that I do it faster, but the client does not see that the money is 100% worked out.
Okdesk: Do customers expect any over-fulfillment of the task?
Anna: Occasionally. But this, in principle, is also not accepted. In each contract (at least here) there is always a clause on processing or work that is not included in the paid list. And the cost there is usually “with a margin” .
In Russia, this was more, because clients hung a lot of “admin” work on us: “We don’t have a normal admin. You need a network - and you run ”. Everything else is paid, and you cannot move, because it is not. Of course, many for additional work then billed. But in general, if you came across tasks that you yourself can solve, you had to solve them in parallel (this state of affairs was 3 years ago; now — not up to date).
Okdesk: Speaking of non-core tasks ... Do you often have to do this in Germany?
Anna: No Everyone has their own responsibilities and any deviation (the solution of a non-core task) requires a separate agreement and surcharge.
The reluctance to poke around in other people's problems leads to the fact that customers call for support on any occasion. At the same time, the descriptions of opportunities do not like to read as in Russia. They may even call several times with the same question, if they themselves do not consider it necessary to memorize some kind of setting or a feature of the work. It happens all day you sit on the phone, but in fact no one has anything critical happened.
Of course, there are those here who are interested in who remembers the technical details, although they don’t need them for work, and may even help colleagues when I'm on vacation or on a business trip. But they are among our customers units.
About Russian hackers
Okdesk: Are there any factors complicating the work?
Anna: Perhaps, yes. First, this is the already mentioned fear of Russian hackers . When searching for the cause of a malfunction, we use logs, and if nothing is clear about them, we connect to the client remotely so as not to waste time, asking “to go there - click here”. Some customers do not give access.
Secondly, the attempt to establish long-term relationships with customers occasionally translates into the fact that we (support staff) cannot obtain the information necessary for work, because it is impossible to disturb the client once again . In Russia, it is normal, before answering a question from a customer, to require (politely!) A clear description of what is happening and some information - logs, the result of the execution of some test command, etc. To be honest, my head doesn’t fit very well, how can I solve technical problems otherwise. Guessing on the coffee grounds? And here we sometimes have to test ourselves somewhere without taking into account the client infrastructure and other factors in order to reproduce the problem. However, this is not shown by all companies. I talked to colleagues on the market with whom we did the integration, and they did not notice this problem. Yes, and we are not with all customers.
It should also be noted that customers, in principle, accept the proposed scheme of work, if problems are solved. I have been working here for 3 years already, and during this time the relationship with some clients has seriously changed. They have become more relaxed about what is happening, they trust more.
Pro quality service or what Russian companies need to improve
Okdesk: What do you think Russian companies need to learn from their German colleagues?
Anna: In software companies (with whom I came across) we are testing up testing. Testers are usually less than all, and in fact their work largely determines the frequency of calls to support. Not enough application stability. It hinders the passion to cover everything when a bunch of projects are conducted in parallel, they write everywhere, little by little, and throw it away, because half the time is frankly not enough. The desire to “embrace the immensity” great prevents the development of high-quality software and adds work support. We must get away from this.
In addition, our developers are less sociable (compared to the European companies with which I have to communicate), it is difficult to interact with them, solving minor problems - with modifications or integration . But in fairness it should be said that when everything is completely bad, they normally resolve the necessary issues.
In general, in terms of customer support, in Russia less attention is paid to “courting the customer”, i.e. building long-term relationships . But the movement in the right direction is already there. Client-oriented recent years has become more.
Probably, it is necessary to pass by the ears client requests and wishes, and, most importantly, to react to the first statement of their discontent. In particular, discontent should be taken more seriously.
As an expert opinion
We, at Okdesk, confirm that in Russia there is still practically no concept of customer support (we are talking about b2b) and quality service. There is technical support for which specialists with certain technical or product competences are responsible. In this case, often, these are people with frankly poor communication skills. For client support, however, you need the ability to communicate, smooth out conflicts, be a psychologist or even a friend. Finding a person who will combine deep technical competence and ability to communicate is a very difficult task and such specialists are expensive. Unfortunately, most companies here are not yet ready to pay for quality service with a “human face” (both on the part of customers and performers), but we see how this trend is changing under the influence of competition.The understanding of service companies about the need to work "for the future" and provide quality support, including using specializedHelp Desk making. We are confident that in 3-5 years, organizations that will not be able to restructure themselves for a long-term relationship with a client will practically disappear from the market.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/342390/
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