Communication breakdown/ getting in shape with point of sale

I find it hard enough to explain technical things to my own wife.  Speaking with someone over the phone 3 timezones away is considerably more difficult.  Throw in the fact that a PC is still a foreign concept to many people in the world and things don’t get much easier.  So, when a customer calls in from a southern hair salon having issues with their point of sale software refusing to open and it takes 2 minutes to help them find the Start button in Windows XP, I normally reach for a drink and try to get comfortable because I know I’m going to spend the next two hours tethered to my phone.

I know as a customer too that this is not the most enjoyable way to spend a couple hours.  If I could have only spent half the time I have on the phone with support as a consumer I would have a huge Xbox Live gamerscore, about 10k more miles on my motorcycle and six pack abs (yep, time on the phone with support departments is the only thing holding me back in life).

So, in an effort to make sure all of our customers can have more fun and/or six pack abs we’re trying to cut down actual on-phone time by using cool programs like Gotoassist.  Anyone familiar with VNC, remote desktop, or gotomypc has a good idea of what this can allow us to do.  For those of you who aren’t, it basically turns my computer in to a big ol’ remote control for your computer.  I get to see everything on your computer (including that adorable desktop wallpaper pic of you little Mikie) and I get to use my mouse and keyboard to control your mouse and keyboard.  So with a brief phone call and a decent internet connection you could have a virtual technician sitting at your system solving all of your problems.  There are a few little extras thrown in like transferring files and some troubleshooting options but I’m sure you get the gist and it’s all at the extremely low price of absolutely nothing!

So, back to the hair salon.  Instead of that call taking 2 hours like it use to when I first started here, we can now figure out what the issue is, walk you through connecting to gotoassist (1-2 minutes) and let you run off to the gym while we work on fixing the problem.  We’ll give you a call when it’s all fixed and make sure you don’t need any more help and we’re both on our merry way.

Many customers prefer to hang out near the computer and impress their coworkers with their l337 telepathic troubleshooting skills and that’s cool, we’ll let you take all of the credit.  Some customers forget that we’re working on their PC and freak out when things start moving all by themselves.  Overall though people seem to love it.  With one notable exception, the software has been very safe (sorry for hitting you in the head with that cash drawer Jon in Iowa).

I know some customers might be sad because we don’t get to chat about the weather or how the kids are doing in school these days but they can always call in just to chat if they aren’t willing to part with their beer gut.

“Thank you for calling…

… My name is Randy.  How can I help you?”

I think that’s about the only way I can come up with to introduce myself.  Over the last 4 years of answering calls from frustrated customers I’ve forgotten most other socially acceptable ways of introducing myself.  So, if you’re calling POSGuys for anything other than purchasing a barcode scanner or paying that past due bill on your receipt printer, I’m probably going to be the one you’re speaking to (most likely indirectly through one of my many talented minions).

I’ll be the one making the final decisions to get your defective cash drawer replaced as quickly as UPS-ly possible and I’ll be there looking over the technician’s shoulder if they’re having issues getting new items to show up in your software’s new menu.  At the end of the day, if you called in and something was adequately memorable about our interaction, you’ll be able to come here and read about it while telling all of your friends that you’re internet-famous.  Even the calls that aren’t memorable can be memorable for just that reason.  I’m all for celebrating those monotonous yet fun milestones like the 100th call explaining how to add a tab to the end of a barcode scanner’s output (it never gets old for us!).