I spent some time today thinking. I have been told by numerous sources how I am good in front of customers. They tend to like me, request that I do things, and overall I improve the relationship between people. Now I'm sure I'm not the only one doing this in my current company, but I wanted to share some things as an engineer that I think are what contributes to my success so far. I know this isn't voice related but it is professional related to any field out there. The more you use the foundation of being a human being and professional the better the results. Remember, integrity, ethics, courteousness, and knowledge!
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Customer
Service Done Correctly
Over
the last twelve years I have experienced much and if it is one thing I have
learned, the more humanly you treat people, the better the results. This thought process didn't radiate at first
with me. When I was in my adult teens
and early to twenties I felt like I had something to prove. I think that might be a stage that everyone
goes through; I just went through it quicker.
If it's one thing the military does, it is get you into a mature state
of mind earlier. Having seen the world
and the plights of different cultures, one thing has remained a constant,
treating people like human beings. You
would be surprised at how well people with completely different beliefs or
thought processes can get along.
Since
my exit from the military due to medical issues, I have gained insight as to
how to handle customers, even when they are upset. The mindset I keep can turn a relatively
rocky start into a blooming relationship in which a customer may request you to
perform a service you might not be qualified for. The reason behind the request is that they
are both comfortable with you and know your ethics and standards. Every professional in any field should have a
high level of both of those areas, ethics for doing the right thing despite the
consequences and standards for getting something done correctly and efficiently
while maintaining proper records of everything for later.
When it
comes to servicing requests from customers, everyone involved should always be
one-hundred percent informed. Even if it
was something as simple as a ticket already completed by someone else, someone
should know. When someone knows, someone
can act properly in the event something else occurs. If someone already removed a phone
description and replaced it with something else that was requested, record that
it was already done, follow up with the customer and move on to the next
task. Every time you inform someone that
something is done, the concept of work is being done is felt. With that feeling, a relationship begins to
form. Continuing on that relationship is
entirely up to you and how you handle future encounters.
That
brings me to the next idea that has popped off since talking about customer
service. The more detailed and well-presented
information, the more likely you are going to give the customer, co-workers,
and manager the warm and fuzzy. Keep
things presentable and neat as well as well documented. If you start annotating times you did things,
great, keep at it but remember to only get as detailed as you can within the allotted
time. My way of documenting and
reporting may be completely different from the way you do it but as long as it
is presented well and detailed everything should flow. A good example of what not to do when
handling documentation is to be vague or brief such as the following:
·
"Fixed
the directory number."
·
"Added
phone"
·
"Created
new dial plan for end user to accommodate request"
The
above examples are worthless as anyone can write those sentences. Again, you need to be detailed and well presented. Different circumstances will force different
documentation. For instance, putting
information in a spreadsheet and sent in an email is fantastic but might not
work so well in a service ticket unless you attach the file. You may need to make a bulleted list of the
things you did. Instead of doing what I
showed in the examples above, you should be getting more detailed like such:
·
"Removed
directory number xxx-xxxx as it was the wrong DN assigned and in the wrong
partition"
·
"Assigned
a new DN (xxx-xxxx) to the device and placed it in the correct partition of
'PT-Blah'"
·
"Added
one Cisco 7965 with a MAC of AAAA.AAAA.AAAA and a DN of xxx-xxxx"
·
"Called
customer to confirm everything is as it should be, (customer name) confirmed
that everything is functioning properly, closing ticket"
The
above example is everything I would normally put into one ticket if it was
pertaining to an IP Phone configuration problem or add/change/remove. When you get that detailed, people will know
what happened, why it happened, and how to fix it in the future if you are not
around. Furthermore, that level of
detail shows time, care, and knowledge.
If you took the time to write detailed information, you probably care
about the issue and want to make sure that the customer is taken care of. Additionally, making that final call to the
customer for confirmation will make them happy, even in the worst of days. I had one customer that was absolutely irritated
at the world when I was assigned a ticket that involved rebuilding a call
server. I got it all completed, updated
them, and showed them screenshots of me fixing everything every step of the
way. I called them to let them know it
was fixed and even invited them into a WebEx Meeting (online screen sharing,
video, and audio meeting) to show them that everything is the status quo. The next thing I know, I am going out to that
very location to do a review of what was done on an entirely different project
not even related to my profession.
When
presented with a problem, go out and tackle it head first. If you mess something up, let the customer
know and reassure them that you are taking the proper corrective actions to
remedy the situation. No one ever grows
and gets better by staying idle in their small corner that they are comfortable
with. No one is perfect in this world,
we all make mistakes. Some may say that
is easy to say but hard to deal with and I disagree. The more you learn and try, the better you
become. I once deleted a directory
number in a server that wiped out 20 phones.
I could have sworn it wasn't me as I wouldn't make a mistake like
that. I went back and checked and ultimately
found out I did, despite not remembering.
Either I was really tired that day or slammed with tickets. I went back into my ticket log, found my
actions and referenced that with the audit log of changes and sure enough I
screwed up. I informed the correct
people and the issue was resolved. Don't
have fear of screwing up and don't have fear of telling someone the truth, the
more you do it, the easier it gets. This
doesn't mean that you should go busting up servers then telling people, just be
honest and in return you will learn and be treated well.
All
of this leads back to treating people like a human being. Despite some peoples’ bad behavior or
attitudes, you are there to do a job and get it done correctly. Being courteous, efficient and detailed,
people will calm down and start talking.
I do understand that some people won't fit this bill, some are just
downright rude, but you still have to try and you still must be courteous,
efficient, and detailed. If someone is
being hard to deal with and you still get the job done, they will probably come
back assuming everything is understood and aren’t misled or misinformed as to
what occurred during the entire job.
Those that are disrespectful, you can simply choose to not do business
with them again. The smile, candor, and
professionalism should always be present; you owe it to the customer because
they are paying your bills for both yourself and the company that you
represent.
