Tag: Computer technician

4 ways to deal with difficult customers

Paul
Picture on Pixaby

Difficult customers

They are everywhere and nothing we can say sometimes will stop the difficult customer but that isn’t uncommon.   When a customer calls because of something that has happened, you would probably also be mad.   Either way, the probably is that you have to deal with them in one way or another and be able to listen to them and keep them calm.   Even in IT, we deal with difficult customers.   We all know  those customers and  they seem to always call when we least expect it.  I even know that companies are scrambling to find coverage of people to cover the gaping hole for IT support.   I guess this part, I am sure you’ve thought about.   I guess it times to say that I got hired and have been busy with dealing with those really difficult customers who want to get the help they are paying for.

How to deal with them

So you have them on the phone or they are right next to you.  Each technique can be used in any circumstance if you really think about it.   These are just what I’ve noticed and seems to help with me.   I know nothing I do or say sometimes will change how they will react or even deal with me but it does at least make it interesting to say the least.

  • Listen to them — This can be so difficult because of the way they customer is reacting to the situation.   If you sit back and listen to what they are saying and make them feel like you are actually listening then it could help alleviate the situation and make the  situation more bearable.
  • Tell them what you can do to help them — I’ve talked about this one but I will go back and talk about this.   You tell them what you can do to help them and try to help them resolve their issues will help create a rapport for the customer and the problem.   If you are there to help them they will make an effort to be more helpful to you.
  • Be Sincere — This one can seem almost like a given but you’d be surprised how people react to being sincere on the phone that you are trying to help them and be there for them.   Once this one is good they are very likely to listen and stop being so difficult but that one might take some time to learn or know how to be sincere with customers.
  • Be ready to Apologize and say sorry —  This is the best technique I could tell people because they really do want the company to apologize when the situation arises that even now.   With having to deal with customers and not having enough staff that can help keep the customer calm or maybe it will calm them down even more because they wanted to hear that from the company.

Understand the situation

Now since we have talked to the customer and tried to actively listen to the customer, we are more likely to want to understand the customer.   Have a script ready to ask the customers who are having a difficult time.   The script is always a good idea.  Here’s a good script that you can adopt:

  1. How can I help you?
  2. I am sorry for . . . 
  3. Let me create a ticket and schedule a time good for you to fix the issue!
  4. While I am at it, can we get more information on what you might need and what created the issue?
  5. Don’t forget to always thank the customer.  If they feel we value them and listen to them, they will come back even if we have a bad day.

Once you have the script down and know what to go to when there are customers who might be a very difficult person.  This can be a very interesting issue and can draw even more people into the bad day.   Understanding the situation and listening will help you evolve to be a better support specialist.  It just takes some time and know to be able to deal with those difficult customers.

Do you have a way to deal with them?  Why not leave a comment and tell me what you do and how you deal with them?  Is it something you’ve learned over the years or is it something you just learned last week?  Why not comment and tell me about it.

How to get that phone call for a potential computer technician job

Paul

Hiring now concept on bright office workspace background

How did I get a call for a Technical Support Specialist position?

I’ll tell you what I know and It might seem down right strange but it happened.   I applied to a company on Tuesday, the day after labor day.   Since this was labor day weekend, most places don’t work on Monday.   This job was put up on the local Indeed.com job boards, and they just put it up that morning.   I applied for the job and I kid you not, they called me like 30 minutes after I applied.   He even said I was the first one to apply.   We Talked for like 10 to 20 minutes and it seems really promising, and he said He’ll get back with my later on this week for a possible in person interview.   So How did I do it? What’s the secret?  I am sure people are curious to know what did I do to get him to pick up that phone to call me.

Cover Letters

The first thing I did was construct a cover letter, telling the potential employer why I was a good match for the job and give examples to that extent.   Indeed even has an example of a good cover letter to use as a template.   I did use that to at least get ideas on how to make my own cover letter, you can even find some good sample cover on the web for IT support.  Draw on what you have done, or what you have learned in the past to show how you can be a valuable employee to the company that you are applying to.

Have Relevant work experience

I don’t say this lightly, if you are going to try to go into technical support, then you will most likely have to something to show that you have experience working on computers or know how a computer works.   I’ve heard time and time again people applying to a job and not having the experience to back up the job.   They aren’t going to make you have all the requirements but they will want you to have some experience with customer service and even computers to do the job they might be looking for.   This guy I talked with today he’s had people who would apply and only put down they work for burger king or some other fast food restaurant and not show they know anything about technical support for the job they are looking to hire.   This might be a reason why they didn’t call back or consider your application.

 Be Honest on your Resume

Some people try to embellish there job skills but a hiring manager will know when they talk to you that you might not have the experience they are looking for.  You might not even get that job that you wanted because you wasn’t completely truthful on your resume.   I’m not saying it will stop you from getting that job or it might not even matter in the long run, it however will be hurdle if the hiring manager suspects you weren’t completely truthful on your application or resume.   So why not start off on the right foot and just be honest with them in the application process.

These are just a few things you can do to help get you that job you are looking for.   I’m sure these are nothing new to some of you but I thought I would at least talk about it as I go through the hurdles of getting hired and trying to find a job that I have always wanted to do.   It can be difficult to find that job and this might just help someone out that is looking into the job field.

More advice for new computer technicians

Paul
Photo by Dmitriy on Pixabay

Job Searching is outdated!

In My previous post, Some advice for computer technicians, I did talk about what a technician usually has to do to fix or repair a system.  He even has to deal with some very difficult customers.

Now with that said I wanted to change directions and talk about the job search area and what you should expect.  Being a computer technician that has the educational background but not the experience of actually being a computer technician, can be quite frustrating sometimes when it comes to job searching.  It can just make me scratch my head when they require a 1 to 2 or even 5 years of experience to even start doing the job we went to school to get the education to do the job.  How is any employer going to over a entry-level job and still require some sort of experience that shouldn’t even be a requirement to get the job.

This just seems like someone is not understanding what the word entry-level means and why it shouldn’t require much to get that job or position.

Don’t Apply for every job

This one just seems like it needs to be said.  Just because you have the education, don’t apply to all the jobs that you are interested in before doing a little research.  Figure out what you want to do and how much you are worth.   Use places like Glassdoor and indeed to make sure the company you are considering applying for has a good reputation or at least got some good reviews by previous employees.  You know you will have to deal with bad bosses from time to time, so you can figure out if you want to apply for a job that has a bad boss or if you might just hold of on taking that job or applying for that job.

You are worth more

This one is even better because some people will take these low paying jobs because they want to get their foot in the door or get the experience.   I say don’t do it, find an employer who will pay what you are worth.   I could go down the street and get paid to bag groceries than maybe an employer who only wants to pay me 12 or 13 dollars to start off on.   That just boggles me, that I went to get an education and still can get a job that pays more than what I got my education for.   If we stopped allowing them to do this by not applying or accepting those jobs, the pay will eventually go up but we must be able to say no.

Don’t expect that Dream job

I say this with some trepidation that we shouldn’t expect to find that dream job right away.   In fact, we will probably have to work at a dead end job for a year or two at the very least to be able to have the requirements to get that dream job.   In truthfulness, you could easily find that dream job right after getting your education but the chances on that are slim to none, I’d say.  This is something, I’ve seen time and time again that people loss hope right after getting their education to be stuck in a dead end job.   This is the time to keep looking for a better job and create notifications to help keep you looking for a  better job down the road.

Avoid Job text Bots

This one seems quite common.  You get the text that says you’d be a great fit or something along the lines and you ask a question in text and it says “Perfect . . . .“.  These are just bots that I have come across, this is how lazy recruiters are trying to recruit people for their job.  If anything, his means the job might not be all that it is worth and they are having people quite left and right and this is the easiest way to try to find people to fill the job position.   Seems kind of a catch 22 in my book, if they aren’t going to actually read my question and answer it then the job isn’t for me.  I’ve turned them off by texting stop when I find out it was bot that answered me or when I get the perfect or some other way to say we want to talk to you before they even read your text.

These are just what I’ve seen in the job market as of late and thought I would talk about some of these and others ways to find a job in the computer repair or a technician jobs.  You can even figure out how much a computer technician should make by using Glassdoor or even Indeed to find out the salary rages someone would be making in your area.

What are some things you’ve seen that makes you cringe when looking for a job as a computer technician?  Have you seen some of this?  Leave a comment below and tell me your experiences as a job seeker.  If this post has helped you consider using my affiliate links to say thank you for this great post.