The IT Professional

The IT Professional

1. Communicating and troubleshooting

   • Customer Support
     • Etiquette
     • Actions and advice
       • Links to Do's and Dont's

2. Determining the problem

   • List all probable causes.
     • Establish a theory of probable causes.
   • Ask what's wrong with the customers PC.

3. The Do's and Don'ts of troubleshooting and customer service

   • Do
     • Be Polite, Efficient and Professional
       • CPR
         • Courtesy
         • Professionalism
         • Respect
     • Allow the customer to speak their point, then give advice to them
       • Advice can range from:
         • Simple technical advice
           • Restarting a PC
           • Replacing a wire
           • Re-setting a switch
         • Extensive troubleshooting process
           • Clearing cache
           • Installing a firewall
           • Updating a program
         • Having to take the computer back to the manufacturer
           • Motherboard short circuits
           • Extensive damage to a non-field serviceable part
           • Power pack/battery faults
   • Do Not
     • Interrupt the customer when they're speaking, UNLESS they're the talkative customer type
     • Transfer calls from your station to another without telling the customer

4. Types of Customers

   • Knowledgeable customer
     • Knows more about the problem than the IT Technician
     • Very annoying to the customer service people
   • Talkative Customer
     • Usually goes off-topic
     • Hard to retrieve any relevant information
       • Can relate to the rude customer if they're not careful about what they say
     • Usually needs to be told to get back on track, or has to be asked a question multiple times
   • Rude Customer
     • They're annoyed by the problem
     • Impatient; expect you to be able to fix it right away
     • May often insult you and speak without thinking