Most businesses these days rely on stable internet connections and complex computer systems to handle their daily operations. So when something goes haywire in your network or device, who you gonna call?

Your amazing tech support team (nope, not the Ghostbusters)!

These trained professionals are your front liners against a multitude of issues. From network connectivity problems to DDoS attacks, your tech specialists can help you get back to work in no time and safeguard your business’ best interests.

But sometimes, conversations with your tech support team don’t go the way you expect it to. The same narrative happens when support reps chat with customers. This can be frustrating since it can create inefficiencies within the company that incur additional costs.

When Tech Support Goes Wrong

Tech support professionals are people, too, and they make mistakes just like any regular joe. Problems arise, and things go wrong—that’s part of the business. But there are ways to prevent and correct these mishaps. Take a look at these chat support blunders and see how each one should have been resolved.

• Over-automated responses

Canned responses make operations easier for businesses and assure customers that their inquiry is acknowledged. But it doesn’t resolve customer problems right away.  Customers want personal conversations. Automated responses just won’t cut it.

Solution: Using chatbots is more common nowadays, but it would have been more effective if the bot redirected the customer to a real person after the initial greeting. This would’ve solved the problem faster and given the customer a smooth experience.

• Failing to inform customers you need time to resolve their issue

Tech support specialists aren’t always available to address a problem right away. Maybe they’re on break or dealing with internal tasks. But this shouldn’t be an excuse to leave your customer hanging.

Solution: If the tech support needs time to look into the issue, a response like “I need a few moments to resolve this issue. Do you mind holding on while I look into it? Really sorry for this inconvenience, [customer’s name]!” You can also ask the customer to leave their contact information followed by: “If you’re in a hurry, I’d be more than willing to email you with an answer.”

• Not letting go of customers

It’s sad to see your customers go. But when they’ve made the firm decision to end the contract or unsubscribe from your services, the best approach would be to provide them a great service until the very end. Below you’ll see a clingy representative who refuses to give up on the customer.

Solution: When a customer decides to discontinue their relationship with your company, it’s best to give them what they want. You’d want to keep the conversation professional yet friendly enough to comply with their request and bid them goodbye. Because the last thing you want to do is make them feel like they’re being taken hostage.

• Taking complaints personally

You can’t please everyone. That’s the hard truth. You get compliments and complaints. If a customer didn’t like your service and takes their frustration to social media, respond professionally.

Here, you’ll see a brand taking a blow personally: @mentioning the complainant along with a defensive and incompetent message—on a social media channel—where things like these go viral quickly.

Solution: No matter how unsightly and unpolished the complaint is, it’s best not to stoop down to that level. There are cases where it’s better to stay silent than say anything at all. And if you’re ever going to respond, remember to always keep your words chewy and sweet, in case you have to eat it afterward.

• A customer mistakes you for another company

Customers make mistakes, too. This isn’t that big of a deal and when it does happen, see it as an opportunity to win their service.

Solution: Instead of snubbing the customer or simply saying “Sorry, wrong company!”, be a good Samaritan and point them to the right direction.

For example, if someone contacted us, a software development company, thinking we’re a kindergarten school or a learning school (for some reason), we would respond like this:

“Hi, [customer;s name]! We’re afraid you reached out to the wrong company! We’re a software development company based in Delaware helping companies streamline their ideas. You can find [Intended Company] here: [link]. Let us know how we can help you in the future!”

• Undertrained support representatives

Some bad tech support experiences stem from undertrained support representatives. If the negative experience causes the customer to share it online, like what happened to Amazon a few years back, this can hurt the brand.

Solution: The best prevention to this is dealing with it early in the process. Make sure that you hire a reputable outsourced tech support team that are trained in their field. Also, encourage your support team to regularly exercise their knowledge about your brand, services, and products. Enlighten them about their responsibilities as well as the functions of other departments. So, if they encounter an inquiry beyond their capacity, they know who to coordinate with.

• Lack of empathy

Empathy is a soft skill that is difficult to teach. When a customer reaches out to you asking for help after some kind of tragedy struck them, the least you want to do is stress them even more.

Solution: You want to treat your customers with compassion. For cases such as this, you may offer to review suspicious activities from their account and provide them with the best help you can.

• Asking the customer to switch channels

You may have different channels where customers can contact you. But if one decided to reach out via your website’s live chat, and you ask them to send an email instead, then you’re on the running for bad customer service.

Solution: If a customer reaches out via phone or however method they choose, respect that decision. It’s their personal preference. If the issue can be resolved through that channel, then walk them through it via that same platform. 

• Irrelevant upselling attempts

Customers get turned off at the sight and sound of inappropriate attempts at selling them other products or services.

Solution: They already contacted you due to service interest or request, which means your brand already got their attention. You obtained a new customer! So answer their inquiry directly. Is your monthly subscription plan a fixed price? Yes, or no?

• Making the customer feel stupid

You should never make your customer feel stupid or at fault. That’s a recipe for disaster.

In such cases where the customer is at fault or simply not looking hard enough to find solutions to their problems, go for an empathic and friendly approach.

Solution: Instead of going the passive route like the example above, try resolving the issue at hand like this:

“Hi, [customer’s name]!

Thanks for raising this to our attention. The new interface got me confused, too, at first, so no worries! On the upside, I’ve found the way around it by [explain the solution].

I hope this helps! Don’t hesitate to reach out for further questions.

Cheers,

Angel – Support Rep”

Wrapping Up

Not all customers are created equal. Which makes excellent customer support a vital facet of your company. It’s the one aspect that reaches out to your customers; it’s the voice of your brand.

Outsourced technical support not only helps your business cut back on IT costs but also saves you valuable time while improving customer experience. You can focus all your attention on growing your company, and your tech experts will handle streamlining your operations and keeping your customers satisfied. That’s what having a great tech support team is all about!

Learn more about the future of technical support outsourcing or send us an inquiry today!