Nice to know I am appreciated
Well, work went … so and so I guess you would call it, but all in all, a positive day.
The random customers having problems to solve and I actually enjoyed myself in knowing that this
is what I do best. Solve technical problems for people so that they wont have to worry about
it all to much. I guess what my former boss said was true. He said ”You where born to do tech support”
and really, I am older then most people working with tech support but I still have not aqcuired that
distilled bitterness that seems to go into support workers after about 2 years. I can still smile
and see the funny side of things, and appreciate the fact that when you have solved a clients
problem, you will get a lot of good reputation for the company, and the better the company
does, the more secure I am in my job.
What is it that makes certain people so bitter with tech support you ask? Well, I have been
bitter at it, and bored to hell at it, but after some careful consideration I have figured out that
it was not the job in itself that drove me up the walls. It was the tools and rules I had to abide with.
Look at it this way.
I have a problem with standing up for something that I know is not working as good as promised.
I have an even bigger problem with being FORCED to sell the product as a common peddler when I know
that the product will be needing to be replaced, mended, patched and whatnot in a very short time because
I, as a representative for the company, will be blamed for the customers displeasure beacuse I was the
one that convinced the customer that he needed just that piece of equipment. Sheesh.
Second, I am not a salesman. I never will be. I can tell you my personal experience about certain
things, and in many cases recommend different things, but what if those things happens to be a competitors
things? Then I am forced to shut up big time.
Now, I really want to ramble on at my former work place, but personal ethics really stop me from
mentioning it all. But I know for a fact, that I could have made a vast amount of customers happier by
A: telling the truth
B: being allowed to make my own decisions regarding certain things
C: not being forced to sell products to people calling me for tech support.
Three simple things, that apparently, for some companies are too hard to understand.
Klokt skrivet.
Det är aldrig en bra idé att självmant bygga in intressekonflikter i en verksamhet. Att gömma sig bakom någon undersökning med otroligt riktade frågor (”Vill du få ett bra erbjudande när du ringer kundtjänst?” – ja, vad kan man svara på det?) ändrar inte det faktum att en säljare och en supporttekniker har fundamentalt olika uppgifter. Men så länge man gör vinst i slutändan kommer det ju finnas kvar. Att man sen troligtvis skulle göra ännu mer vinst, och bygga upp sitt varumärke ytterligare genom att vara ärlig, öppen och hjälpsam är ju en helt annan sak – det är ju en oprövad strategi och innebär ett i sammanhanget onödigt risktagande. Rent hypotetiskt alltså. Om det skulle finnas något företag som skulle ha en sån policy. Vilket jag inte uttalar mig om. Förstås.