[HN Gopher] How to keep a support contract: Make the user think ... ___________________________________________________________________ How to keep a support contract: Make the user think they solved the problem Author : sohkamyung Score : 62 points Date : 2021-10-22 08:33 UTC (2 days ago) (HTM) web link (www.theregister.com) (TXT) w3m dump (www.theregister.com) | aviditas wrote: | That story reminds me of working in business support and getting | a call from the on-site tech who was ordering a new modem for the | customer. The equipment closet was on the outside of the building | and the very sweet business owner was concerned about the modem | getting too cold with the winter weather and had wrapped it in a | blanket. The technician explained to her that the modem needed to | be cold and she was very apologetic for overheating it. If my | memory serves me right, the manager that day was so amused by the | situation that he comped the visit and equipment replacement | since the biz owner was educated on the issue. It was a good | thing all around as the story was used as a way to explain to | techs that a bit of kindness and education goes a long way to | keep customers happy and their service healthy. | samhw wrote: | > the very sweet business owner was concerned about the modem | getting too cold with the winter weather and had wrapped it in | a blanket | | That's adorable. Thanks for sharing it :) | Baeocystin wrote: | Eh... My experience disagrees with title, but not the actual | content. What really happened was that the tech made the customer | feel like part of the problem-solving team, and that they both | worked together to solve the issue. | | This is an important distinction. Make the client feel like they | alone solved it, and you will wind up talking yourself out of a | job. | geofft wrote: | Yeah, I think what specifically happened here is that they made | the user realize (correctly) that they were breaking it through | their own fault, and therefore culpability was not on the | vendor. Which is a great trick if you can do it, but with most | complex systems, it's very hard. | axus wrote: | In my case the customer actually is coming up with good ideas | about the cause of the problem, a significant number of times. It | balances out the times I figure out the issue in other companies | products. | soared wrote: | This only works if the user is invested. I work in a a technical | support role (not IT) where the customer is my coworkers. Most of | them simply want task x completed, and have no interest in | anything else. Even fixing the core issue doesn't matter, as many | people just glide on autopilot through the workday. | | I've found it's maybe 1 in 10 people who would even be willing to | think about the cause of the issue and be willing to move any | distance past "just fix it". | savant_penguin wrote: | I would certainly not want to be 'invested' into fixing | something in the car when you pay for a mechanic. | | I'd much rather have the mechanic fix it and move on. | | People don't want to deal with things that they don't care | learning about, they just want it done ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2021-10-24 23:00 UTC)