Tales of service. A frivolous post about serious work
Service engineers are at gas stations and spaceports, in IT companies and car factories, at VAZ and Space X, in small businesses and in international giants. And that’s all, absolutely all of them once heard the classic set about “it itself”, “I wrapped it with electrical tape and it worked, and then it banged”, “I didn’t touch anything”, “I definitely didn’t change it”, etc. There are many legends, myths, funny comics and sad stories in our world. We have compiled the coolest ones, translated them for you and added a few paragraphs about the most important - how to make the work of the service department really cool. In general, under the cut is fun, but not just for fun.
Service engineers have their own name :-)
If you are a service company, you have technical support, you have engineers who fix problems on the client side, you need to think first of all about how to overcome the most annoying customer factors. And this is not only peppy music that your customers will listen to until they find out that their call is important to you.
Naturally, the top situations that customers disliked did not arise just like that - dissatisfaction arose in different companies from time to time, because there are systemic problems, and there are them all over the world. No wonder our team came up with HubEx to make equipment maintenance convenient and transparent. Here is what one (!) Only employee who came to us from the service department tells.
')
As you can see, this is the experience of one person, but how many banal and offensive reasons are there for losing profit. However, a business without proper automation of equipment maintenance processes (both for external and internal customers) is doomed to certain losses.
- Hello, tech support ...
- Turn it off, pour coffee and you can call back ...
“Oscar, do you even know anything about computers?”
- Nope.
“Actually, we should have fired you, but your customer approval rating is sky-high.”
Of course, this is very bad when your employee is poorly versed in equipment. But softskills are also important, that is, communication skills - even if you serve hotels, refrigeration units or car centers. Any employee is part of the image of the company, and today it is not a competitive atmosphere to be a harsh engineer, what is the light on the mother of someone who has applied increased voltage to the machine, disrupted power in the data center or overloaded the weighing equipment.
Here is a list of 21st Century Service Engineer Basic Skills.
Well, returning to the comic, a little empathy will not hurt anyone. Every joke has some truth.
Get used to the fact that the customer will always climb into the equipment himself before calling you. Neither a seal on the case, nor a service sticker (how expertly they stick it together!), Nor a supplier’s brand will interfere with this. Just because there is always an employee who will say that he understands the topic and does it quickly and free of charge. In fact, often this is just the result of communicating with Google. Meanwhile, this behavior of the customer is associated with problems that have to be solved precisely by service engineers:
The task of superhero engineers is not only to eliminate, but also totap on hands to explain that such interventions are not only harmful, but also paid extra.
I will give my father an hour of free technical support for the holiday
Just google it. They go and google.
Call support. Brother Ernest has a paper jam
There is the opposite situation, which is no less costly for the contractor in time: the client is frightened of every little thing and draws up an application for any reason, afraid to even shake off the dust from the equipment, not to reboot or reconfigure it. Of course, this is a burden on engineers, trips for everyone, expenses on travel and gas, etc. You can try to fight in two main ways:
We were going to get rid of this supermonster, but he is the only one who understands this new IT system ...
It’s very cool when your support, equipment maintenance or outsourcing service has a real guru - he can understand any topic, eliminate any accident and overcome the most difficult incident. But such a specialist is not only expensive, he, as a rule, is also in demand on the labor market - which means that he will be lured by all available means. Therefore, the task of the leader is not only to work on retention, but also to make the company relatively independent of key specialists. A business should not collapse with their departure. Therefore, there are several working tips:
Your Jedi must be the power of good and not go to the dark side for cookies.
- Something broke?
- Yes, the computer flew in the morning, I called the master, he is on the way.
“Will it cost us money?”
- No, he says that he does it for free, we only have to pay for the trip.
- Excellent. And where does he get to us?
- From Bangladesh.
If you do not manage the service, it is not automated for you, you run the risk of incurring additional costs for incorrectly executed applications, dispatcher errors, purchases of unnecessary equipment and unnecessary spare parts. Therefore, use a small checklist to avoid troubles:
These days, yoga alone cannot survive; you have to earn extra money in tech support
Take care of your nerves! The work of a service engineer is a priori associated with an incredible psychological load, stress, mental activity. How to overcome these problems, everyone decides for himself, but to lose some of the routine and nervous little things on the software is as easy as shelling pears. We, as the creators of such software, declare: there are no trifles, and managed trifles are the key to peace and success.
- Customer Service? I think the server crashed.
“Ok, I'll take care of that.”
In the server room:
- Don’t fall, Servachka, we all think that you are doing an excellent job, everyone loves you.
This is how some users imagine the work of an engineer. Those who pay the most are those who pay: accountants, top managers, commercial services of your customers. They are ready to accuse you of laziness, delaying working hours, too expensive services and unprofessionalism, if only to pay a little less. The question is solved simply: the cost and scope of work are clearly specified, everything is implemented strictly according to the technical specifications, application, act or contract. Any derogation should also be motivated and spelled out in the documents. So you save yourself from most of the headaches associated with calculations.
Dear customer service! First of all, you should know that I am typing this appeal with my middle finger.
Yes, the client is often angry and it is difficult to get an application or clear background information from him. That’s why it’s better to give him a chance to contact you through an application with smart customizable forms, because the electronics will endure everything, and the aggressive manager will have a chance to concentrate.
By the way, the customer’s anger is understandable: in the event of breakdowns, malfunctions, downtimes and equipment malfunctions, the customer incurs direct losses, and the response rate of the service department often determines how serious these losses are and how quickly they will be covered. Now you understand that 45 minutes of waiting for an answer on the line is a disaster?
Our computers are out of order, we are forced to do everything manually!
For the same reasons, the client often exaggerates the extent of the breakdown from the point above: reports that everything has broken (but the plug has actually fallen out of the socket), nothing works (in fact one module has failed), all devices are on (the jammed button flashes ), we incur tremendous losses (the column pours 2 ml per liter), the employees entered the criminal syndicate and raider the business (the column does not add 4 ml per liter). In any case, there is a reason to contact, and your task is to help the client fill out the application as realistic as possible. The task will again be handled by the application creation forms and the client’s personal account (or even a personal mobile application, like HubEx ). It is especially important to provide the client with the ability to track changes in the status of his application.
Thank you for your support call. In order to control quality, the call can be recorded, but most likely it will just give us a reason to laugh later in the rest room.
Yes, in the life of service engineers there really is a lot of funny things, here are a few quotes from different employees:
The key to a successful customer service is the creation of a good service management structure and a streamlined business process for dealing with customer complaints.
You must forget forever about:
A good service department with high-quality automation is the company's additional income. Of course, the temptation is not to create a service and use the capacity of existing employees, because the creation of a service is a cost. However, these costs will quickly pay off, because:
Have a service, tech. support, to be an outsourcer or to solve all problems on the side of your company for an internal customer is to take responsibility for someone else's profitability, quality and speed of someone else's work, in fact to ensure the efficiency and continuity of the processes. And the external humorous side of support activities is not even the tip of the iceberg of the tasks that services face daily. So, they smiled - and that's enough, for work!
HubEx Review Article
For those who are ready to evaluate HubEx right away - our site.
Taking this opportunity, our team congratulates everyone on the past System Administrator Day, and also on the upcoming August 1 Day of the technical support worker! Anyway, for labor professionals - to work like a holiday :-)
Service engineers have their own name :-)
What do customers not want?
If you are a service company, you have technical support, you have engineers who fix problems on the client side, you need to think first of all about how to overcome the most annoying customer factors. And this is not only peppy music that your customers will listen to until they find out that their call is important to you.
- With a long response from the company, we will begin. We live in the era of advanced IVR technologies, chat bots, rented call centers and other ways to entertain the client in the 30 seconds that an engineer needs to view the caller’s card and answer the call. In addition to jokes, the world is so fast nowadays and there is so little time that during the waiting period for a response, a client can google a competitor’s website and price and already start writing to him in a chat - simply because it’s faster. Do not be dial up, this is terrible. Reduce the response time to a client’s appeal on any channel to a minimum and the client is submissive.
- Unprofessionalism is something that should not be in principle, but meets. If your engineer does not know how to cope with the task, is not familiar with the equipment and does not even try to read the instructions, this is a sure sign that it is time to make it not your engineer. Hours and even minutes of downtime of customer equipment is a loss of money, and the customer does not have to pay unprofessional service employees. Therefore, accumulate a knowledge base, train employees, actively adapt them to new conditions for working with clients. Otherwise, you may also fly into a lawsuit related to a violation of the terms of the contract.
- In no case should you deceive the client. Be honest in terms of time, quality, pay. Do not try to hide behind force majeure circumstances or excuses from the category “the supplier did not manage to deliver the nozzles”.
- The client does not tolerate a conveyor relationship - it will be best if you can demonstrate personalization at 100%: contact by name (CRM), relationship history (CRM), history of problems and incidents on the facility or equipment with maximum detail ( for this we created a platform HubEx Equipment Service Management ). Attention to the client and the constant maintenance of relationships - a killer weapon against your competitors.
- Inconsistency in the quality of service is a sign of problems in the business, from personnel to resource. The client will not understand if the first time they do it in half an hour and with the highest quality, and in the next one the intern arrives and digs for 24 hours without completing anything. Another mistake: to assign the status of a VIP client, provide priority service, and then lower it to a regular client. Remember: VIP-status, provided free of charge, must remain so throughout the life of the client in your company. Not ready for this? Ok, do not scatter statuses and make priority service paid. At least that's honest.
- The client does not tolerate distrust of himself and his employees. If he informs you about the incident, and receives in response, “This cannot be!”, It looks ugly - in fact, you recognize the client as a fool. If you value your experience and keep the brand, confident that you are right, travel / connect remotely and prove correctly and in practice. And what if the automatic gas station at the gas station doesn’t top up, but not because of your settings, but because of the refueling engineer / hacker talent?
All events are not invented, any coincidences are not accidental.
Naturally, the top situations that customers disliked did not arise just like that - dissatisfaction arose in different companies from time to time, because there are systemic problems, and there are them all over the world. No wonder our team came up with HubEx to make equipment maintenance convenient and transparent. Here is what one (!) Only employee who came to us from the service department tells.
')
I managed to work in a company where there was no organized after-sales service and I witnessed obvious problems.
- In order to close the application, service specialists had to hang on the phone for up to 45 minutes, which led to employee downtime, which reduced the efficiency in fulfilling applications and, as a result, low SLA and shortfall in revenue.
- An application by mistake of a dispatcher could be assigned to a service specialist from another region, to gas stations with the same number, as a result, we had an idle check out.
- The application could be assigned to the wrong executor, as a result of which the time allotted for the execution of the application was lost and, as a result, penalties on the part of the Customer.
- Communication with the gas station was carried out through the control room, resulting in increased costs for the services of this control room.
- It was impossible to assess the actual workload of the performers and, as a result, the excess staff.
- Applications could be “lost." The application was assigned to the contractor, and he forgot about it, as a result of either lost revenue or a fine on an untimely executed application.
- Loss of service sheets for completed applications. When executing the application, the service specialist could not bring the SL to the office, lose it, as a result of which part of the work was not exhibited to the Customer and revenue was lost.
As you can see, this is the experience of one person, but how many banal and offensive reasons are there for losing profit. However, a business without proper automation of equipment maintenance processes (both for external and internal customers) is doomed to certain losses.
They laugh at a problem - that means it exists
Comic 1. Simple picture, deepest meaning
- Hello, tech support ...
- Turn it off, pour coffee and you can call back ...
“Oscar, do you even know anything about computers?”
- Nope.
“Actually, we should have fired you, but your customer approval rating is sky-high.”
Of course, this is very bad when your employee is poorly versed in equipment. But softskills are also important, that is, communication skills - even if you serve hotels, refrigeration units or car centers. Any employee is part of the image of the company, and today it is not a competitive atmosphere to be a harsh engineer, what is the light on the mother of someone who has applied increased voltage to the machine, disrupted power in the data center or overloaded the weighing equipment.
Here is a list of 21st Century Service Engineer Basic Skills.
- Extensive knowledge of the product and business of the company is precisely in this combination. An engineer must not only know his job inside and out, but also understand that a business process is associated with his undoubtedly brilliant work, and he himself is part of the company. Therefore, in addition to excellent work, there should be competent support: documentation, accounting of actions, billing, recording all details of the work. Nobody likes this routine, but it is the basis of the company's income. By the way, the mobile version of HubEx makes part of the routine automated and enjoyable - which is worth only one access to the equipment passport using a QR code.
- Confident problem - solving skills - employees involved in equipment maintenance should not only be able to make the mechanism workable, but also make sure that the problem does not recur, transfer knowledge to other relevant employees, explain the reasons and consequences to the customer. Only then can the problem be considered resolved.
- Adaptability is a feature that every modern employee should have, from secretary to general. Equipment types change very quickly, updates come, configurations and integration elements change - the technological environment is mobile as never before. Therefore, adaptation can be provided in only one way: training in the form of the initial development of some novelties and subtleties, and in the form of a single base knowledge (by the way, here the HubEx platform is again able to provide an accumulation of experience on tickets. But any knowledge storage system is suitable, from the corporate Wiki and CRM to the folder hierarchy on the server).
- Ability to communicate in a clear form - the engineer must react strictly and on the matter, so that without emotions and negativity to find out what happened and explain how it will work. In addition, a restrained person causes more confidence and confidence in professionalism. Work like an ambulance doctor: less emotion, more work and more accurate action. This is really impressive.
Well, returning to the comic, a little empathy will not hurt anyone. Every joke has some truth.
Comic 2. The client does nothing, it is always itself. Someone stands for "self"
Get used to the fact that the customer will always climb into the equipment himself before calling you. Neither a seal on the case, nor a service sticker (how expertly they stick it together!), Nor a supplier’s brand will interfere with this. Just because there is always an employee who will say that he understands the topic and does it quickly and free of charge. In fact, often this is just the result of communicating with Google. Meanwhile, this behavior of the customer is associated with problems that have to be solved precisely by service engineers:
- damage to related components and modules due to misunderstanding of technical connections;
- work with an inappropriate tool (manicure scissors, a screwdriver in use, the top closes the paper knife - a weak, but wildly tenacious device);
- violation of software shells - especially if you poke at the keys according to the logic of ordinary application software;
- factory reset - partially or completely.
The task of superhero engineers is not only to eliminate, but also to
I will give my father an hour of free technical support for the holiday
Just google it. They go and google.
Comic 3. The client is always right, the client is always scared
Call support. Brother Ernest has a paper jam
There is the opposite situation, which is no less costly for the contractor in time: the client is frightened of every little thing and draws up an application for any reason, afraid to even shake off the dust from the equipment, not to reboot or reconfigure it. Of course, this is a burden on engineers, trips for everyone, expenses on travel and gas, etc. You can try to fight in two main ways:
- charge a fee for each exit based not only on the complexity of the task, but also on the exit parameter and the specialist’s time (for example, metrologists and gas station engineers work this way: they directly enter the distance, cost of a kilometer, an extra charge for urgency, etc.) - the client will think five times whether the problem will be solved by telephone;
- to conduct a complete educational program: to draw up and transmit instructions on basic details, to limit the limits of permissible interference with the operation of the equipment (conditionally - you can independently change the lighting element of the equipment, but you can’t climb and change fuses and boards).
Comic 4. Secret knowledge must become apparent
We were going to get rid of this supermonster, but he is the only one who understands this new IT system ...
It’s very cool when your support, equipment maintenance or outsourcing service has a real guru - he can understand any topic, eliminate any accident and overcome the most difficult incident. But such a specialist is not only expensive, he, as a rule, is also in demand on the labor market - which means that he will be lured by all available means. Therefore, the task of the leader is not only to work on retention, but also to make the company relatively independent of key specialists. A business should not collapse with their departure. Therefore, there are several working tips:
- encourage such professionals;
- motivate them to transfer knowledge, and the rest - to learn;
- automate the accounting of clients, incidents and decisions on them - the base of clients and tickets should belong to the company, and not to individual specialists.
Your Jedi must be the power of good and not go to the dark side for cookies.
Comic 5. Costs must be justified
- Something broke?
- Yes, the computer flew in the morning, I called the master, he is on the way.
“Will it cost us money?”
- No, he says that he does it for free, we only have to pay for the trip.
- Excellent. And where does he get to us?
- From Bangladesh.
If you do not manage the service, it is not automated for you, you run the risk of incurring additional costs for incorrectly executed applications, dispatcher errors, purchases of unnecessary equipment and unnecessary spare parts. Therefore, use a small checklist to avoid troubles:
- draw up service sheets;
- keep records in automated systems;
- make route maps and control the movement of employees along the route;
- keep a strict record of the equipment being serviced and related incidents;
- Gather the maximum information about the incident, have a scheme / template of the customer’s application that takes into account all parameters that are significant for the load and cost.
Comic 6. Calm, only, @ #! # $ !!, calm!
These days, yoga alone cannot survive; you have to earn extra money in tech support
Take care of your nerves! The work of a service engineer is a priori associated with an incredible psychological load, stress, mental activity. How to overcome these problems, everyone decides for himself, but to lose some of the routine and nervous little things on the software is as easy as shelling pears. We, as the creators of such software, declare: there are no trifles, and managed trifles are the key to peace and success.
Comic 7. They do not believe in the work of the service department
- Customer Service? I think the server crashed.
“Ok, I'll take care of that.”
In the server room:
- Don’t fall, Servachka, we all think that you are doing an excellent job, everyone loves you.
This is how some users imagine the work of an engineer. Those who pay the most are those who pay: accountants, top managers, commercial services of your customers. They are ready to accuse you of laziness, delaying working hours, too expensive services and unprofessionalism, if only to pay a little less. The question is solved simply: the cost and scope of work are clearly specified, everything is implemented strictly according to the technical specifications, application, act or contract. Any derogation should also be motivated and spelled out in the documents. So you save yourself from most of the headaches associated with calculations.
- And say, professional! You have been working so long, I can’t see the documents today!
- Hm. Will you pay me the same amount if I open quickly?
- Yes, everything in a row.
After a minute, the safe was open, after 15 - it was working. The guy signed the documents and said:
- Often, when I do the work in three minutes, they refuse to pay me the bill. But time is not worth it - work is worth it. I have to imitate.
Comic 8. The customer is always angry
Dear customer service! First of all, you should know that I am typing this appeal with my middle finger.
Yes, the client is often angry and it is difficult to get an application or clear background information from him. That’s why it’s better to give him a chance to contact you through an application with smart customizable forms, because the electronics will endure everything, and the aggressive manager will have a chance to concentrate.
By the way, the customer’s anger is understandable: in the event of breakdowns, malfunctions, downtimes and equipment malfunctions, the customer incurs direct losses, and the response rate of the service department often determines how serious these losses are and how quickly they will be covered. Now you understand that 45 minutes of waiting for an answer on the line is a disaster?
Comic 9. The problem is big eyes
Our computers are out of order, we are forced to do everything manually!
For the same reasons, the client often exaggerates the extent of the breakdown from the point above: reports that everything has broken (but the plug has actually fallen out of the socket), nothing works (in fact one module has failed), all devices are on (the jammed button flashes ), we incur tremendous losses (the column pours 2 ml per liter), the employees entered the criminal syndicate and raider the business (the column does not add 4 ml per liter). In any case, there is a reason to contact, and your task is to help the client fill out the application as realistic as possible. The task will again be handled by the application creation forms and the client’s personal account (or even a personal mobile application, like HubEx ). It is especially important to provide the client with the ability to track changes in the status of his application.
Comic 10. Service work is fun. But before - professionally
Thank you for your support call. In order to control quality, the call can be recorded, but most likely it will just give us a reason to laugh later in the rest room.
Yes, in the life of service engineers there really is a lot of funny things, here are a few quotes from different employees:
But you should not get carried away: service, support and maintenance of equipment - this is very serious.
“Your specialists came with a vacuum cleaner and poked them at computers, we didn’t call cleaners” // IT-outsourcer, employee of the oil refining company (coolers collected dust from around the world)
“It's peep, then munch-munch, and the light blinks” // the pump at the fuel dispenser flew to the gas station
“In the fuel dispenser, noises, crackling and creaking” // arrived, opened the cover of old Livna, and there the bird-wagtail made a nest and already brought out the chicks; quietly closed and did not disturb them
“In the nozzle barrel, almost half a meter” // in the fuel tank of the gas station, the sediment from very high-quality Russian fuel was cleaned with an ambulance on duty to prevent poisoning of workers
“The gun is jammed, we can’t clean it. The bosses will come tomorrow, he needs to work ” // about the column hose pistol at the gas station
“Did the server crash?” No, I didn’t fall, I’m standing against the wall! ” //
“The printer chewed everything” // permanent paper jam
The key to a successful customer service is the creation of a good service management structure and a streamlined business process for dealing with customer complaints.
You must forget forever about:
- Long chains of connection.
- Long wait times for the service.
- About forgotten customer stories - each time the failure history is perceived as whole, it has to be retold.
How to work?
- The first rule is to keep a history of the client and his equipment, which is at your service. There is nothing worse than explaining several times what the problem is with the equipment - exactly according to the number of specialists you were transferred to. Special software allows you to record all the details of the relationship, save incidents, create a passport of equipment - that is, maintain a database in such a way that any service engineer can immediately see the client’s history and can either quickly respond or immediately transfer the call to the right specialist.
- There is another important aspect of service management. If a company is not able to provide engineers with a tool to make their work efficient and measurable, it should not use KPI. Otherwise, it turns out that the coefficients were introduced, but the reality of their execution was not monitored - as a result, the staff was completely demotivated.
- You will learn more about your product and services. You will accumulate feedback, appeals, incidents and, based on these data, understand what customers expect to receive from your product. Such information will fill your backlog and help you find the right development vector.
A good service department with high-quality automation is the company's additional income. Of course, the temptation is not to create a service and use the capacity of existing employees, because the creation of a service is a cost. However, these costs will quickly pay off, because:
- You will increase sales and customer lifespan - no customer is willing to spend money on services and products that are poorly supported.
- Aftersales service saves money for both your business and your customers, as Having dedicated staff helps solve problems before they appear. Clients do not harm your reputation, because all incidents are resolved professionally and immediately.
- Your users remain your beta testers and the main advisers in business development - and this saves on research, and on full-time employees, and on the wrong steps in the development of the product.
Have a service, tech. support, to be an outsourcer or to solve all problems on the side of your company for an internal customer is to take responsibility for someone else's profitability, quality and speed of someone else's work, in fact to ensure the efficiency and continuity of the processes. And the external humorous side of support activities is not even the tip of the iceberg of the tasks that services face daily. So, they smiled - and that's enough, for work!
HubEx Review Article
For those who are ready to evaluate HubEx right away - our site.
Taking this opportunity, our team congratulates everyone on the past System Administrator Day, and also on the upcoming August 1 Day of the technical support worker! Anyway, for labor professionals - to work like a holiday :-)
And this is we and the nature of Karelia
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/461797/
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