@Michael - I was working with an organization's internal user support. I am not a big fan of the call center type help desks where they do not care about the user and do not solve problems.  I am dealing with one of those right now in a cloud services organization and my simple issue has remained unaddressed for two weeks -- they keep e-mailing me questions which I answer -- but no help. Would never recommend anyone get service from these people!  I call those organizations the helpless desks and I have no use for them.

I suspect you have been working with tier two or tier three service desks or for fee help desks. As all other service is scripted and once off the book, they are lost. And they could care less as they are not getting paid that well.

@Alison - so glad that you appreciate good customer service.  It is the key to any successful business.  Providing top notch support has always helped my organizations.

@chayes - thanks, glad to see you did exactly what you were supposed to do with the opportunity.  You took yourself to the next levels.  Customers do not expect first level to know everything but they want a champion for their cause on the other side.  If they sense that you truly care and they can rely on you to passionately pursue a solution they will forgive what you do not know.  The idea is to make "raving fans" out of customers.  It is the same in any area that provides customer service. 

@Bolingbroke - thanks. When I was in user support, it was not scripted at all.  Tools for remote support were not available and most issues required a walk-in visit or an appointment for a one-on-one meeting.  When I ran my first help desk organization, I felt that user support was the way to ensure my customers were happy so I make sure everyone focused on providing top-notch support.  The entire IT organization is frequently judged by the quality of user support.  My first level people used experienced members to help them solve the problem - they could never relinquish the issue over to someone else -- being able to pass on the issue means first level has little incentive to actually solve the problem,  So in the current setup if first level is just following and script and not making any attempts to establish a relationship with the customer and to ensure that the customer's issue is resolved they will quickly get a bad reputation and that will reflect poorly on the entire organization.  These people will also not learn much.  The fun is being challenged with new puzzles that require you to learn the next level.

Following up on @Bolingbroke's question, I go out of my way to recognize whenever someone provides me with exceptional support (for example, the Brighthouse tech - Eric - who went above and beyond during a recent stop at my home). How can companies make sure they're finding the best and brightest within tech support, then mentoring and supporting these professionals into other aspects of their careers?

Mansur,

My first position in the IT field was as a technical support representative for a cable provider.  I worked in the online/VoIP area and then my next postion I was the chief technical support for the corporate headquarters of a franchise.  In both positions I learned to be patient, polite and professional.  There were many times that any one of those was difficult. 

I think many people feel that support staff are less knowledgable than others, but I found in the call center that many of us were just trying to get experience in the field.  There is a need for the people that work on the common issues and can fix them easily, but many times a more knowledgable and experienced person is needed.  This is where the first level of support is important, they vet the question and will know how to route the trouble ticket. 

I have often used the techniques I learned not only in other positions, but in my everyday interactions with others.

Thank you for the insightful topic.

Caryn

Mansur, an engaging topic and one not often discussed. From the contacts recently I've had with customer service I get the impression that increasingly it has become a very highly scripted process . If a query in anyway deviates from the most FAQ many a rep will be at a loss and will move the question along to someone hopefully more qualified.

So I am curious, Mansur, in your days at the customer service desk were things as nearly as scripted as they are now or were you given more latitude in tackling not the usual questions and ferreting out answers that were not always in your looseleaf binder.