We can’t do this alone!
This is the most important idea that you should understand. Most computer technicians think that they have to do it alone when it comes to problem solving an issue. It is because no one can ever know how to fix every possible problems that may arise. Those are the times we should ask question and ask for help from other technicians. This will help you even more than you might imagine because some other technician might know how to solve the issue or problem that you are having. We might never really understand what someone else might know. This also includes customers, because what one customer might not know another one might.
Research is everything
Sometimes even other technicians might not know what is causing the problem. So use everything at your fingertips. Don’t underestimate the power of word search in Google, Bing, and Yahoo. It isn’t like one search engine is better than another. Each search engine has some information that some others might not have. Don’t just use one but should always use all of them. Sometimes one search engine will not have the answers, so I will always go and check out two or more search engines for a possible fix for the issues.
You will have angry customers!
No one tells you this but no matter how nice or good you are, you’ll have those angry customers. You should be prepared to deal with them. I say this with some experience, no matter what you’ll do for a customer there will always be those who know nothing about computers and then get mad at you for some reason or another. You’ll need to learn to be patient with an angry customer. Learn to come up with ways to alleviate the stress or anger from the customer. My go to phrase when a customer is angry or stressed is “Here’s what I can do for you . . . “. If you tell the customer that you can do something for the customer even if it is something small, it helps with making the customer feel like they are being heard. Also learn to active listen to the customer and make sure you hear what they say by repeating back to them the problems they are having. Also sometimes the customer is going to just need to vent and be angry. Technicians should learn to just be there for the customers.
Computers will break!
This is the next thing you will learn being a technician, that no matter how careful you are going to be with a computer, You’ll break a system just by doing something you’ve done a billion times. If it can be broken, it will be broken. Murphy just likes to make people’s life harder, and we will always have those days. I can say with certainty that no one will ever be perfect at solving problems or fixing the issues. I’ve seen motherboards break or CMOS fail at the most unusual times. So you should be prepared to always apologize to the customers or say your sorry and make it right, even if it’s not your fault. Sometimes customers will want to feel like they are important to you and that helps keeps the customers coming back.
No technical jargon
No matter how much you know or think you know, keep the technical jargon to a minimum with customers. Most of them aren’t even going to know what you are talking about if you don’t relate the problem to the customer. I can remember several times when I heard someone tell a customers about a command or hardware and the customers eyes just glaze over because they just don’t understand. Only tell the customer what they need to know, if it’s a customer error, teach the customer and try to prevent them from creating the problem again.
I’ve been in the computer world a long time and I am sure the old and new a like will agree that these are some valuable tips for those who might be interested in being a technician. Nothing I’ve said here will stop angry customers but it might help. What’s some things you’ve learned to help with customers not getting angry or make the customer happy? I’d love to here what helped you with customers and I am sure others will too.
