9 Tips for the Development of the Technical Support Department

Rebecca Willis Rebecca Willis · 5 min read

Studies show that 45% of consumers are willing to pay more for a product if it is accompanied by quality services.

Technical support is the heart of the brand. This is one of the key common ground that business owners often lose sight of. You can offer the best product, an excellent price, receive hundreds of new customers daily. However, if your technical support is at least slightly behind, you will lose a lot.

Imagine the situation, you bought a phone and are infinitely happy to purchase. So much so that they wanted to supplement the purchase with new headphones from the same brand. But the model that you liked is available only in another region. You inspiredly decided to clarify this information with technical support, but you have not been answered for 3 weeks. After this, most likely your opinion about the company will deteriorate. One thing follows from this.

Weak technical support is a weak brand.

More than words, only numbers speak. According to studies, 97% of consumers say that service is an important factor in brand loyalty.

If you want to take service to a new level and win over customers, this article is for you. In it, you will find useful tips on developing a technical support department.

Go deep into the problem

Turning to technical support, the user wants to get answers to their questions and a solution to the situation. It is important here to listen carefully to the wishes and perplexity of the consumer. Only in this way you can satisfy his request and solve the problem. In technical support, employees often neglect this. Avoid this approach and be always responsive and friendly.

technical supportCreate a knowledge base

People do not like to wait and prefer to get instant solutions. You can reduce the response time by creating a kind of knowledge base. Allocate a separate section of the site that will perform this function. And by enabling commenting, users can also help each other.

If your business is at the start stage, then use the hypothesis method. In collaboration with the technical team, make a list of questions that users may have. Over time, this list may increase, filling up with real cases.
So you partially reduce the cost of technical support and give the opportunity to get the necessary answers in seconds.

For example, Facebook has a help center for this, where the user can independently find answers to the questions.technical support

technical supportSpeak in the user language

Do not use professional terminology. It will only confuse a person. He may begin to feel awkward and stupid. In the best case, the user will ask what you mean. At worst, it will stop contacting you. Studies show that 45% of consumers are willing to pay more for a product if it is accompanied by quality services.

Ideally, before giving advice, determine the level of knowledge of the user. Based on the information received, suggest the best solution.

Eliminate long waiting times.

The worst that could be is to leave the user unanswered or make him wait a long time. To avoid this, evenly distribute the load between the support and offer several communication channels. Think about which communication methods will be of interest to your target audience and connect them. Make sure everything is working properly and that technical support receives notifications without delay. Please note that 67% of consumers say they want answers to their questions within 24 hours.

If you want to provide users with instant answers, consider using online chat. Remember, writing in it, the visitor expects to receive the most prompt response.

You can integrate any convenient chat. For example, Facebook Messenger, as it was done in Zon Pages.

Quality control

Develop your own quality control system. To ensure customer satisfaction, you must constantly be in the know. Allow users to evaluate the support after receiving a consultation, periodically use the “mystery shopper” research method, and directly ask customers if they are satisfied with the service.

Also, keep an eye on the literacy of the consultants. Support must have excellent diction and a rich vocabulary. Correspondence with users is unacceptable in the presence of spelling and grammatical mistakes. To prevent them, it is better to give texts for proofreading to the Ivory Research. Or use tools like Grammarly, ProWritingAid, etc. So you can create the impression of an expert and inspire confidence among consumers.

Segment support

In the eyes of the consumer, technical support is a place where he can get detailed answers to questions of interest. If you have a large flow of calls, letters, and applications are diverse, then it is better to segment specialists depending on the specifics. For example, if your business operates in the B2B and B2C sectors, it would be wise to outsource technical support for users of these groups. So your clients will receive comprehensive advice because each employee has competence in a certain specialization. An implementation option is presented below, using the example of ManyChat.

technical support

esat questionsKeep a story of the interaction

The best way to show interest in a client is not just to provide instant support, but also to know what interests him before. Leave comments about each user interaction. The most convenient implementation option is to use CRM. It is enough to leave a comment in the application and next time you will own the entire history of appeals with a clear understanding of the client.

technical supportLook for talents

Your technical support should consist of people who like customer service. Pick up talented employees who are able to explain complex things simply and are burning your brand. Remember to encourage initiative and give space for independent decision making. This will increase intrinsic motivation and a desire to do a better job and reduce the response time for users.

Control the load

The human resource is not unlimited, so you need to monitor the performance indicators of the department in general. Even the most talented personnel are unable to provide quality service to customers above the norm. If you want to provide high-level service, you need to follow this. Has the load increased tremendously? Then most likely it is worth increasing the staff. You should also have reserve personnel during advertising activities and during the season.

Conclusion

Technical support is the face of your company, its mood, and attitude towards customers. Therefore, to develop a successful brand, it is impossible to do without a reliable team for working with consumers. Adhere to the above recommendations, continuously monitor the results, and evaluate customer satisfaction. This is the only way to ensure that this important point of contact becomes a powerful marketing tool.


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Rebecca Willis Rebecca Willis

Rebecca Willis is an HR manager, personal trainee in management, freelance writer, and active guest contributor.

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