Customer Support – yes, you CAN get 1st class help with patience!
Customer support can be pretty maddening when you need help, especially if you have a “situation” going. Has this ever happened to you?
Here’s my experience. This is actually very typical when dealing with customer support with many companies.
Today… I finally got a Customer Support Manager. Have you ever had a tough time trying to get help from the support people? Yep. From many companies, you’ve probably noticed it can be a bit frustrating. Or maybe a lot frustrating. Are you feeling it?
Be patient! Here’s exactly how it works. I can tell you this from many years of experience dealing with customer support for MY customers. Plus, I’ve also been seated in the Customer Support chair. I understand what they go through, too. Have you worked in this position? It can be pretty thankless!
Customer Support is a crazy busy job. I mean CRRRAZY busy! In the course of the day, you get a lot of requests that really are a huge waste of time. I mean, people will go to the trouble of putting in a support request to find out how cold it is in Atlantic City! If you’ve worked in Customer Support, you know I’m right, right?
The folks working in the support department also get a lot of legitimate support requests, and it’s really hard to keep up. I know. I’ve been there.
Then there’s another problem. This one made me decide I would be very, very picky about who I would work support for, if at all.
Even big companies lie to cover their tails
Know what I’m talking about?
A lot of big companies have a policy of denying a problem exists until they find an inexpensive way to fix it. This applies across the board, not just to online companies with a human database. It’s common among manufacturers, including big car companies and marine engine manufacturers. Again, I have personal experience dealing with this kind of thing, and I really hated it.
Have you been there? Do you hear what I’m saying? Big companies make their customer support guys lie. I’m not making it up. If you’ve been in business long, you must at least be suspicious that it’s true.
When I discovered this, I had a customer on one side with a real problem, and on the other side, the customer support personnel from the manufacturer lying to me as required by their job description.
Here is how you deal with Customer Support.
Be polite. No matter how frustrating it is, always be nice to the support staff. In many cases, the people you first have to talk to aren’t even in the same country as the company they’re doing the support work for. Many companies now outsource their customer hep crew, offshore. It’s cheap! Have you ever looked into hiring a customer support crew?
Persevere. Charm will only get you so far, but calm, polite, patient persistence will eventually get you what you want. Have you ever gotten mad with someone from support? That didn’t end well, did it? Tell us about it in the comments below… maybe it can be a good example of a bad idea!
Don’t feel bad if you blew up once. It can be pretty frustrating dealing with customer support, especially when your business is hanging on the line. You know the feeling, don’t you?
Eventually, sometimes after a truly ridiculous amount of time, if you have a real problem that the regular support crew can’t solve, they will refer you to a Customer Support Manager. This is usually a person who really does work directly for the company, often in the same country and even the same building as the company headquarters. This is the person who has the authority to fix whatever it is you’re dealing with.
This is your new best friend! Be very nice! Be on your best behavior!
It might take a long, long time. The problem I have been whittling away at with this one company for months has finally been referred to a Customer Support Manager. This is the person who actually has the power to tell the right people to do whatever it takes to really solve my problem. That’s solve, not salve, which is what they’ve done until today. Are you feeling my pain?
This problem has not shut me down – the company would never have let that slide – but it has been a real nuisance.
Advise: Stay calm and carry on… Can you handle it?
Never, never, never, ever get mad
Okay, then… considering the massive amount of wasted time I’ve endured, why haven’t I gotten mad, blown my stack, blasted support, etc., etc.? I will confess I’ve been pretty steamed, but I didn’t take it out on support.
Here’s an absolute rule when dealing with customer support. Don’t take it out on them! Just as you don’t take out your frustration on the people preparing and serving your food in a restaurant, because they can hurt you, don’t ever make the mistake of taking out your frustrations on the people who work in support. They have a tough enough time already.
They may take a very long time to solve your problem, but a long time is infinitely better than never… Right?
This problem of mine has taken months, but it is now in the hands of a customer support manager, who is fully convinced that my problem is on their side, even though they haven’t figured it out. Now that I no longer have to convince general support staff enough to stop using canned answers, I can relax and let the right people do their jobs.
I’m very confident they will. That’s just how it works.
What are your thoughts and experiences? Have any customer support horror stories or hints? Let’s talk about it, below!