|
How to Get Better Technical Support
Whenever you have a technical question that needs answering,
you want that answer as fast as possible, right? In the
instantaneous world of the internet, patience has become
a rare commodity, and the time you spend unable to send
or receive email or waiting for your website to come back
online can mean lost revenue. If you want to get a timely
response from your support technician, there are things
you can do as a customer to speed up the process:
# Define the problem as accurately as possible
The more detail you can provide, the more quickly the technician
can identify the source of the problem and correct it. Try
to determine the following information if possible:
* What were you doing when the error occurred?
* What program were you operating that produced the error?
Note the version of the program and the operating system
that you are running on your computer.
* If there is a specific error message, what does it say?
Be prepared to give this information to the technician by
phone, email or fax.
* What are the steps you take to reproduce the error?
* What time did you first notice the error?
* Did the error occur only once, consistently over a period
of time, or only when you do a certain thing?
* Can you reproduce the error on a separate computer?
# Know the priority status of your request
Support technicians get many requests during the course
of the day, often at the same time, with varying levels
of urgency, and these requests take time to resolve. If
a request cannot be resolved immediately, then it will be
assigned an appropriate priority level based on the type
of problem to be resolved as soon as possible.
* Outages - Always top priority. If your website or email
is down, any good technician should drop all other projects
until this is resolved.
* Breakages - If a critical part of your website becomes
inoperable due to a server error, such as a database for
a shopping cart, this should always be addressed with high
priority.
* Time Sensitive Operations - If you need something to
be done within a certain time frame, such as enabling or
disabling a feature of your account, then you should make
this clear to the technician. The operation should be performed
within the prescribed time frame as long as a higher priority
issue does not arise.
* Ongoing Problems - If a particular problem continues
to occur for an extended period of time, its priority should
be raised as necessary the longer the problem goes on.
* Non-Critical Operations - If your request does not adversely
affect the function of your services or contain a time-sensitive
element, it will receive the lowest priority, but it still
should be handled as soon as reasonably possible.
# Allow an appropriate response time
As stated previously, most technicians have more than one
problem to handle at once, so once you have an idea of the
priority level of your request, allow a reasonable amount
of time for it to be resolved. Server errors should be resolved
within hours to same day, depending on the circumstances.
Lower priority items which can be quickly resolved should
usually be handled by the next day. If a request will require
several hours of work to resolve, expect it to take longer.
A technician's job is to be constantly interrupted all day,
so such requests will usually be saved until time permits
or passed off to another available person to be completed.
Understand that any completion time estimate given to you
is assuming the absence of any higher priority requests
intervening in the process.
Most types of technical support requests should be answered
with an acknowledgement of completion. If you do not receive
one or are unable to determine on your own that your issue
has been resolved within a reasonable amount of time, then
you should contact the technician again to inquire about
the status of your request.
# Be a pest if you have to, but be courteous
If your request is taking an unreasonable amount of time
to be resolved, then there is some truth to the old adage
that "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." If the
technician can give you a reasonable explanation for the
extended time frame, such as resolving a higher priority
issue, then try to give them an appropriate extension to
resolve your request. If the explanation for the delay is
unsatisfactory and the problem continues to go unresolved,
you may need to ask for the assistance of another technician.
You should be assertive because you are paying for your
services, but do not be abusive. Technicians are human beings
too, and not all of them are going to respond well to your
unpleasant remarks. If the situation becomes bad enough
that you truly believe your anger is warranted, ask to speak
with somebody else, describe the unsatisfactory response
you received, and request that your issue be handled with
the highest priority possible. If this doesn't work, then
it's time to consider switching service providers.
# Know the technician's responsibilities
A support technician at a hosting company is not necessarily
responsible for every possible problem you can have on the
internet. He is only responsible for resolving problems
with the services that his company provides to you. If the
company only provides web hosting and domain registration
services, then they cannot be held responsible for problems
caused by website design flaws, internet connection service
outages, email addresses obtained through other providers,
or office network problems. Most good technicians are willing
to give you a limited amount of assistance with these types
of problems anyway, but it should not be expected of them
and you should know who else to call if the technician determines
that the problem is not within his realm of control.
# Don't be a hypochondriac
You should learn to help yourself whenever possible, because
it's almost always faster than asking somebody else for
help. If you are constantly asking for the same password
or asking the technician to perform the same task over and
over again when you can learn to do it yourself, you are
wasting the technician's time and preventing other people
from being helped quickly and efficiently. Learn from your
mistakes and try not to repeat them. If you are always making
the same mistakes and asking somebody else to fix them,
you will quickly find yourself at the bottom of anybody's
priority list. If the technician explains to you how to
do something, make sure that the procedure is recorded and
stored where you can find it again. It's worth your extra
time and his to do this if it saves you both time later
on a repetitive task.
Although every case is unique, we believe that by following
these guidelines you will consistently receive faster and
friendlier assistance on most of your technical support
requests.
Back
to Tips Page
|
