As most of us know, working with a software customer support department can be difficult.  We often feel like the support representative doesn’t understand our problem and is just there to get us off the line.  I believe this happens because we usually view the problem as something the company we’re working with has done wrong and they are responsible for fixing it.  While this may be true at times, the way we approach these issues can go a long way in our ultimate ability to get the issue resolved and continue on with our work.

Here are 4 tips that will go a long way in getting what you need out of a customer support department.

Understand that all support representatives are regular people.

We often view the person on the other end of the phone (or online system) as a machine that is supposed to fix my issues.  While customer support representatives are there to help, they also respond to positive attitudes and helpful responses, just like we do in our daily jobs.  When you call customer support, understand that the way you treat them goes a long way in the way they will treat you.

Do your homework before calling.

We are often calling customer support because something either isn’t working right or we just don’t understand how it is supposed to work.  Educating yourself on the topic at hand and investigating possible reasons for the issue are extremely helpful to customer support representatives.  Letting the representative at the beginning of the call know exactly why you’re having a certain problem and what you’ve done to investigate on your own will really help get that support representative on your side.  It’s amazing how far a support representative is willing to go for someone who really tries to help themself first.

Listen to and follow the suggestions of the representative.

I’ve often caught myself calling customer support and before the representative even starts to give me some suggestions I realize I’m thinking, "This guy can’t possibly know more than me.  I know what I’m doing and their system is just broken."  While this might be true for some people, following the representatives suggestions shows that you really just want to get the problem solved and aren’t worried about how you or the software looks in superficial terms.  This step will really get the representative invested in helping you as a person because you have shown your willingness to be helped.

Understand that all software has bugs and limitations.

Customer support representatives are not software developers and chances are that the person you are talking to didn’t actually create the software you are working with.  Every piece of software in the world has bugs and limitations and a support representative cannot change that.  Having that understanding and adhering to the points I’ve previously made will help you get a realistic and valuable representation of when you can expect a fix for the current issue.  Even when you are informed that you’ve come across a software defect, thank the representative for their time and ask for details such as "When can I expect to see a resolution of this?" or "Is there something else I can do to get my work done in the mean time?".  These types of questions, when posed with the right attitude, often generate very helpful tips and tricks from the support representative.  Berating a Representative for a software defect does not help any situation.

While I certainly understand the frustrations that can come with working with software customer support, I have learned that following this advice always helps the situation.  In the end, we all want to perform well at our jobs, and helping a customer support Representative help you is a good step to accomplishing that goal!