All language subtitles for 1_Intro to Soft Skills

Customer service is a
critical skill in IT support.

I can't emphasize that enough.

The techniques we'll discuss in

these videos won't only
help you with your users,

they help you work
better with your peers,

your managers, and

maybe even your own
personal relationships.

Keep in mind, these techniques

don't work in all situations.

The reality is that no matter

how great your customer service,

some situations don't
have a good resolution,

plus everyone is different.

You need to tweak your style
when working with users.

But the techniques we'll
cover are intended to make

your IT interactions
more successful.

In IT support,

you work with users to fix

technology and improve
how people use it.

To accomplish this,
you need to develop

a trust between
you and the user.

Lots of employers believe that

good customer service also
builds brand loyalty,

which is a key to success.

These lessons are meant to give

you the foundational skills

and techniques of how to
deliver great customer service.

Customer service practices can

differ from company to company.

We'll cover the key concepts of

customer service in
any IT support role.

It's important to talk
with your employer to

understand the company's
customer service approach.

This will also give
you an idea of

how much freedom or restrictions

you might have in the role.

Spoiler alert.

Great customer service
requires exhibiting empathy,

being conscious of your tone,

acknowledging the person
you're talking to,

and developing trust
with the user.

If you remember nothing
else from this lesson,

remember those four things.

The most important of
all of these is empathy.

What's the difference between
sympathy and empathy?

People will say things like

sympathy is saying you're sorry.

Empathy is feeling sorry.

That doesn't really explain it.

So let's use an example
to drive this home.

If someone fell
into a dark, damp,

dirty hole and you leaned

over with a sad
expression and said,

that must be a really
tough situation.

Then you are
expressing sympathy.

You're sharing their feelings,

but you aren't experiencing
those feelings.

If you crawl down
into that dark, damp,

dirty hole with the
person who fell and said,

this is a really
tough situation,

then you're expressing empathy.

You're able to see
something from

someone else's perspective and
understand their feelings.

The word choice between
the two situation

is very similar.

But the action you

take by looking at it
from their perspective,

is what empathy is all about.

Some days it's
hard to empathize.

I know from experience.

Maybe you've had
an argument with a

loved one before work.

Then by the end of the day,

you find yourself getting
annoyed or upset with users.

That's the moment when empathy

becomes the most important.

Because anyone can showcase
empathy when it's easy.

But someone who persistently

displays empathy will stand out

as a kinder human and

a more professional and
effective employee.

Once you have empathy down,

you should think of your tone.

Tone is historically thought of

as how you speak out loud.

In this technological age,

when many of our
interactions over texts

and IT support is
increasingly done remotely,

tone isn't just
about how you come

off during an in
person conversation.

It's expanded into
how you write,

punctuate, and even spell.

If your tone is short or blunt,

then the user will feel
brush off and devalued.

But if your tone is
friendly and curious,

the user's much
more likely to have

a positive experience
working with you.

Be careful not to go overboard

with the friendliness though,

it could be disingenuous.

Communicating a good tone
is delicate balance.

How you ask a
question and how you

respond to user's
question matters.

Let's say you tell
a user in an email,

turn your computer
off and on again,

and it will start working.

They'll probably never respond

and your company may have lost

a customer because the tone is

just too short and
pretty unfriendly.

Well, it gets to the point.

It doesn't leave the door
open to conversation.

What if instead you wrote,

please try turning your
computer off and back on again.

This should update the change we

made and fix the problem.

If that doesn't work,
just let me know.

It's a little wordier,

but it has a better tone
of asking versus telling.

Inviting them back
to connect with

you in case the issue
isn't resolved,

leaves the lines of
communication open.

Tone can be especially
difficult when you're

supporting someone in a
different region or country.

Make sure to familiarize
yourself with the local style

whether that's more
conversational or direct,

and adjust your style
depending on the audience.

In this day and age
of text and email,

it's easy to ignore
what someone says.

If a comment seems like a dig

or it's just too much
information provided,

we tend to shy away
from responding.

It's also really common
to forget to tell

the user what you're doing
while you're troubleshooting.

That might leave the user
waiting in an awkward silence.

Whenever possible,
acknowledge the user.

This reduces the tension that
might build and helps you

understand how you're
working toward a solution.

Let's say you're chatting
back and forth with the user.

You're asking a lot
of questions to

better troubleshoot the issue.

The user is answering them,

but also makes
comments like geez,

I already answered
this in my last email.

Or I just want to know
what's causing my problem.

You choose to ignore this and

continue on with your
troubleshooting.

You think you're
close to solving

the problem and
these side comments

are just a distraction.

But then the user stops
fully engaging with you

and only gives you half
answers to your questions.

Now you're not able to
solve the issue at all.

The user's unhappy,
you're unhappy,

and the company's unhappy.

It's a bad situation.

Instead of ignoring the
user in that situation,

you could have said, I'm

sorry for asking
these questions.

Sometimes repeating them will

help new information and pop up.

Or you could have said sorry
for the repeat questions,

I don't want to give
you a superficial

cause when we could

fix the root issue and you

won't have to chat
with us again.

This helps them to understand

your method and become
part of the solution.

It's important to acknowledge

your own actions
if you think they

might otherwise
confuse the user,

let's say user contacts
you to fix something.

After collecting
some information,

you go radio silent.

What's user to do?

Would they ask if
you're still there?

Will they wait awkwardly until
you came back on the line,

how long would they
wait before ending

the call or saying something?

How would they feel about
their interaction with you?

Pretty awkward.

But what if he said,

I need to do some
research on this issue.

Would you mind waiting
about five minutes

or less while I do that?

They'd probably say sure,

and keep themselves
occupied while they wait.

They'd also feel
more confident in

your ability to
resolve the issue.

This leads to the
most important thing

to remember when working with

people and that's
developing trust.

This is easy to do if
you have repeat users,

they see you every workday.

One bad day isn't going to stop

them from trusting that you
know what you're doing.

But in a transactional
user base for

the user only contacts the
company once or twice.

How you interact with each user,

each time, is going to
break or build that trust.

Why is trust so important?

Without it, the user could
be difficult to work

with and could even ignore
your advice completely.

Empathy and acknowledgment are

big part of building trust.

Without these, you'll find it

difficult to connect with user.

By seeing things from
the user's perspective,

you're more likely to find

the solution that will
help them specifically.

This lets them know
that you care and

they'll be more likely to be
engaged in the interaction.

It's also important to follow

through on your
commitments and promises.

If you tell someone
you're going to

follow up in one hour,

then be sure to make it happen.

If you don't, acknowledge
the oversight and apologize,

be sure that any claims
you make can be backed up.

Don't make something up to

a user because you think it
will help in the moment.

Be honest with the user,

even if you think they
won't be happy about it and

never be afraid to admit
when you're wrong.

This might be the hardest
thing to do with the user,

but you'll find that
your interactions

are more successful this way.

Being specific and empathetic

with your apologies will
give it more meaning.

Remember, no one wakes up
in the morning thinking,

I'm going to be a jerk today.

Well, you shouldn't
sacrifice your self respect.

Do your best to give the user

the benefit of the doubt
whenever possible.