An IT Question: HelpDesk Comments About Their Customers

Rather than just me spouting off all the time I thought that from time to time I'd try to get your input and start some discussion by asking you a question about a how you'd handle a hypothetical situation.  So for our first question:

You overhear one of your corporate HelpDesk technicians working with a user over the phone.  Based on the conversation it is obvious that the user is extremely computer illiterate.  At times you can sense the technician's frustration but they do act politely and professionally at all times and ultimately solve the user's problem.  After the call has ended the technician sits back, sighs and exclaims loudly to the group, "What an idiot!  People like that should never be allowed near a computer.  If they're given a tool why won't they ever read the manual or take some classes."  A few others in the group chuckle in agreement or make comments in support. 

Is this just some harmless "venting" or is it a sign of problem?  If you see a problem what should be done?

"Help" photo by Cobber99

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Comments

[Eric Brown]

I ran a technical support group for about 5 years and saw this behavior occasionally.

Keyword is occasionally....if the helpdesk staff started acting like this too often I'd have a chat with them. The occasional 'steam blowing' is fine...if the behavior occurs often, then perhaps the person needs a break from their job.

I implemented a rotation that allowed a member of the helpdesk to rotate off the phones for a week or two at a time. During this rotation, the person would work on small projects and initiatives and/or do attend some training. This break usually helped a persons attitude considerable.

[Craig]

I agree up to a point with Eric Brown. We're all human, and certainly dealing with someone with an insufficient technical skillset can be frustrating. However, this is part of the job, and my biggest concern would be that this attitude "leaks over" somehow either affecting this individual's work or someone else's.

I currently work in an environment where there is a wide range of user skills and a wide range of interaction with technology. As I remind our customer service techs, our job is to keep others effective in theirs, even when it isn't particularly easy or fun. When you put support in the context of helping others rather than just "fixing another problem," I've found that most respond positively.

We're also working to raise the level of PC skills, but that's a long, slow process and given our current spending constraints, one which doesn't get a great deal of priority.

[Kent Blumberg]

I would take a zero-tolerance approach to this sort of behavior. Like Craig, I would expect the thinking behind this behavior to impact the employee's effectiveness.

A statement like this signals a deeper problem - a help-desk employee who probably really does see most callers as "idiots," but manages to hold her tongue most of the time. Or perhaps it is a sign that I have done a poor job of helping folks see where they (IT help desk people) fit into the big picture, and how important their help is to overall success.

The bottom line is that callers are the reason the Help Desk exists. Love 'em and help 'em, or get a different job.

[Pam]

I agree with the "zero tolerance" approach to destructive attitudes/behaviors. This attitude will inevitably come through to customers and be contagious to other help desk staff. What we say becomes our truth. This IT staffer should have been counseled that he did a great job working with the client, but that he needs to rethink his approach. Rather than complaining, he should congratulate himself for helping someone "learn to read." He taught that customer the most basic information. Whether it's "remedial" or not is not the point. The point is he did what it took to help the customer.
This is a learning/teaching opportunity for the help desk staffer and for his/her supervisor. Praise good behavior, redirect bad behavior.

[Michael Schaffner]

Eric, Craig, Kent & Pam

Thanks for commenting. It looks like we are all in agreement that this outburst was a sympton and that we need to treat the real problem and we need to do it soon.

Eric - I like your idea of rotating people in and out. It can help prevent "burnout".

Craig, as you point out we need to work on not just fixing the immediate problem but also addressing the root cause.

Kent, Pam - excellent points about our job as managers to make sure people are properly trained and understand the reason for the job.

Mike

[Daniel Sweet]

I worked on the Apple Computer help desk when it first opened up. They offered free help to anyone who ever had any Apple product (that has since ended...)

The result was huge call volumes and the average hold time for an agent was 45mins to an hour. That set the stage for a potentially explosive environment where *every* customer was close to irate and started the call with, "Do you know how long I've been waiting!??!"

In that environment, there were many outbursts like this because the agents were frustrated. As it turns out, although some people had a permanent Sam's-size bottle of antacid at their desks, almost all of the agents were helpful on the phone.

The reason that they were venting about the customer is because it was the only safe thing to vent about. Away from the call center, they would talk about the company / manager policies that caused a lot of the confusion by the end users and actually kept the agents from fully helping the customers.

So, I go on the "symptom" side, but not of what might be most obvious.

Dan

[Maggie Lang]

I saw this often when I was managing the IT Help Desk team in a large organization as well. However, instead of preaching to the guys about customer service and tolerance, I tried to take the approach of: "Ok, you're a Sprint/T-Mobile/Cingular customer calling their tech support line because your cell phone is not working - what type of support or assistance would you expect?".

Usually this would help the team understand that even though they are experts at what THEY do, they are also customers in fields that they aren't as knowledgeable about, and as such will ultimately at some point rely on another person's assistance. When you can relay the feeling of RELATING to your team (as a manager), I think half the issue is solved. It sure seemed to make a difference in our customer service.

Maggie Lang
http://corprockstar.blogspot.com

[Michael Schaffner]

Dan,

Excellent point. Sometimes the behavior is the real problem, i.e, the tech is just a jerk. Sometimes it is a symptom of problem where we make people work in a situation that is not conducive to customer service. I guess that why as managers we get the "big bucks" to figure it out. Unfortunately sometimes as manager we may find that problem is the result of our own action or inaction.

Mike

[Michael Schaffner]

Maggie,

Excellent suggestion. Being able to relate is important to our customer service attitude. I remember hearing a story of an airline training person deliberately let his training class wait on him with no explanation. After about a half-hour he came and asked how they felt being kept waiting past the stated start time and not being given any information. It really does drive home the point of needing to relate to your customer.

Unfortunately based on the current state of the airline industry it seems like they ran that guy off - but that's a whole other story.

Mike

[Tom Fluker]

Mike,

That is an interesting one regarding the Help desk frustration and one I have witnessed several times especially in health care. I use to think it was just venting and let it go unchecked. I have changed that stance and response when I hear it now.

First, in order to disarm the frustration, I have sat with the staff handling the call (not just the one) and "agreed" with the comments but asked a few key questions. One is "How did you learn it?" Generally, the answer is that they either took a class or read up on it since they were interested. Basically, it is a hobby to them. So, being in Healthcare, I asked them this: "What do you think a doctor would read or study in off hours?" That got their attention since everyone wants their health care professional to be up on the latest information.

The purpose of the exercise is to remind the staff on perspective both their own and their customer. From that, it is an easy step into what "we" can do to help "them" understand the tools that are there. That changes the ownership of the problem of what "they" should do to what "we" can do to improve business for the company.

I have seen it work, but it takes some effort and understanding that handling the calls is one of the most challenging functions in IT.

Tom

[Mike]

Tom,

Thanks for commenting. That's a very good way to get people to understand the customer's perspective. I agree it will take some effort but it will be worth it in the long run.

Mike

[James J]

Help desk software is vital to the success of your help desk and customer support staff. Tracking and responding to help desk calls is faster and more ...Browser-based help desk software with large spectrum of features, including support ticketing, knowledge base, and trouble-shooter.
Just my opinion. Thanks