I do hope that we are all prepared for any sort of technology based issue that may come down the pike. For just a second, let us assume that a seemingly young man contact MinuteFix and says that his MP3 players is having issues buffering a song to play it in its entirety. He assures us he is using Windows XP and iTunes as an interface. What he fails to leave out is that the computer processor is also serving as a brain for a highly amplified radio system that boasts some 3000 watts of heavy hitting subwoofer sound…..and all this jury rigged on a bicycle.

Ok, so maybe that is a bit fantastical. But if this movie is any indication of the future, you better start reading some audio magazines now!

Living in the land of mass transit I am constantly reminded of the need for personal entertainment. Our society cannot just be expected to sit in silence or engage strangers in small talk. Rather we travel the ‘city of strangers’ with tunes blaring from our ear buds, our fingers constantly on the dog ear of the latest non-fiction or our minds fully engaged in an otherwise boring game of cell phone Tetris. If there is one thing I can count on though it is the amount of people dressed in their corporate uniform staring intently at the morning headlines in the Times or the Post or even the Journal (depending on their social status and obvious need for a sports page). But that may soon be about to change.

Not too long ago Amazon released the Amazon Kindle (retail $399) - an electronic reader that uses electronic ink to do for literature what the iPod did for CDs and their accompanying jewel cases.

The unit itself displays enormous potential and is even easy to read. I know, I checked one out yesterday. It has a sort of ambient light rather than a projecting light. The immediate problem is that it is thereby limited to nothing brighter than a dingy grey; not the bright, vivid colors we have come to expect from our gadgets. But I am not here to review the product. Rather, I am here to ask a few questions about what this means for us as humans and as Technicians.

Eco-friendly attitudes notwithstanding, where do devices like the Kindle leave the book industry? I personally love the smell of ink on never-before read pages as well as that crisp, cutting sound that comes from breaking the spine of a new hardback. I like the weathered look of a favorite paperback and the sense of accomplishment I get knowing I have plowed through its literary offerings. If the manuscript of old is replaced by electronic readers will the print media industry fall apart? Everyone from typesetters to pressman (yes, these jobs do still exist) right down to the graphic designers that are constantly working on new, more legible typefaces will be effected. And my gosh! As technicians, if we are asked to help someone fix their computer because they cannot get it to turn on, how in the world can we expect them to read the manual. The manual will now be on another, separate electronic device that they may not be able to work correctly.

It really just seems to open up a can of worms and I am interested to know if I am the only one who has thought about this or the only one who even cares. In the meantime, I am going to go hug my first edition “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance“ one more time.

In my life I have always found that I learn best from the mistakes of others as well as mistakes I personally have made. To this day when I find customer service to be deplorable or lacking in some way I google the experiences of others to see what their potential issues were. From that I find out all sorts of things that annoy mankind about customer service. But why do I bring this up?

Lately I have been having a lot of trouble with IKEA in regards to a sofa I purchased for my new place. I purchased the couch right at a month ago and issued my first complaint two days later. And so now on week four I am left with a couch that is still unfinished and two separate case numbers still being “processed” with IKEA. This whole situation has me googling all over to hear if I am alone in this situation. Apparently NOT.

You can see by this blog that others feel as passionate about IKEA as I. (warning: NSFW language on the post). I would love to hear your experiences with companies or what you have learned or how you deal with the frustration.

I do not own a Dell. I have never owned a Dell. I have, however, worked for companies that exclusively run Dell computers and have had to contact customer support on one too many occasions. Each one of those help sessions was, without a doubt, less than pleasurable. In fact, out of the six calls I remember, five of them were downright painful. Between the language barrier between myself and the tech, the lack of basic computer knowledge and the infinite collection of ‘hold muzak’, I would rather buy a new computer than deal with their customer support. Apparently I am not the only one. I gleaned this info from the interweb just today.

Dell is actually hoping that customers will pay more money to speak to an American about their tech problems.

The computer maker recently put out a press release announcing “new premium support service.” The plan is this: For a fee, people get the right to talk to “the same dedicated team each time they have an issue” with a Dell product. The kicker: The service will be provided by “an advanced support team in North America.” Sounds like Dell is going to tap into MinuteFix anyday now!

So the question begs to be asked. Is Dell finally admitting that their regular, FREE customer service is lack luster? And furthermore is a sad excuse to tap into American sentiment and patriotism in order to sell a product?

According to a Dell spokesman, “We try to do the best we can for all of our customers all the time. That said, we want to be able to provide options for customers.”

It will be interesting to see the adoption rate of this pay-for-service and even more interesting to see the people that choose alternative companies such as MinuteFix.

This is a completely random link and may have nothing at all to do with customer service or tech support or the like. In fact, I may be asked to take it down. However, I think it is exciting to know that the tech dreams of MC Hammer have finally come true and how his Silicon Valley based DanceJam “YouTube for dance videos” is launching at long last. So, if you have no idea what I am talking about or you think you are hiding away a video completely worth posting, check out this article on the one, the only DanceJam.

I wanted to share with you all the experience I felt only a few minutes ago when I just wrapped up my very first support session (I am certified in Windows, Office and General Proficiency). I just finished providing support to Samantha Colbert, who was having trouble with her video software from Pinnacle. The reason I wanted to blog about it is because there is no better learning experience than using one’s own product.

First of all, I must say, it was exhilarating. What an experience to work for such a long time on something, and finally see all the pieces fall into place for it to work. I had tested the system countless times by now, but this was the first time I actually had a real customer.

I found the chat rather easy to use. Samantha was very welcoming to the remote desktop support (I was very cautious to explain exactly what was going to happen, what she was going to see, and how she had to accept), and it was very fast and saved us tons of time in having to explain what to do. All I needed to do was download a file and install the update on her computer. I found that toggling back and forth once I was using remote desktop was a little cumbersome. I think this might improve when we have the “blinking” effect when a chat arrives.

The connection was rather fast, and although technology is my life, I will never cease to be amazed at how I can be sitting in Europe, connected remotely to a desktop in Tallahassee, Florida with such ease.

I was surprised by how positively Samantha reacted to my reassuring words. I let her know that we were here to help, and I would do anything it took to get her problem resolved. It seemed to me like she was confident that she had an expert (and I’d say I’m at the bottom of the pyramid when it comes to our tech team!) who was there to help, any time of the day. How simple and important words can be, especially when someone is seeking help.

I also found that once I was on Samantha’s computer, I was able to see many other services that she might need. I suggested to her that she should clean up her computer and remove some unused software. She liked the idea and even said she’d come back to us to get it done.

Overall, I was incredibly impressed how simple it was to use. And I sensed that she was too. I did feel like phone support would make the session much more enjoyable, save her money and allow me to deliver a better service. I’ve heard it coming from the community, and now I’ve finally experienced it myself.

So guys and gals, I’m rolling up my sleeves — expect phone support sooner rather than later.

I want to get one thing straight. When a company is based in Michigan one would think that English would be the language primarily used for all correspondence, right? WRONG! I contacted my web hosting company, Web Hosting with TotalChoice, only to get the following message:

Hi,

I am sorry, I didn’t understand what you mean - Are you need drewandbritt.org parked on anotherkindofdrew.com or anything else ?

Thank you.
—
Tina Garrison
Technical Support Team
TotalChoice Hosting

Two things tick me off about this. The first is that all I wanted to do was get rid of drewandbritt.org as my umbrella URL for my hosting package. The domain is dead and I no longer pay for the hosting of that site. I wanted to instead use anotherkindofdrew.com. The second is that for a person named Tina (a very Michigan name, I think) that is just pathetic grammar. If you don’t believe me just read her email to me one more time. Obvious, unapologetic outsourcing. Not to mention no sign of hospitality or real customer service. At this rate it shouldn’t be too hard for us to revolutionize this industry.

There will be times when customers will be upset. The MinuteFix Certified Technician community is highly trained, and from our conversations we are delighted to see the enthusiasm and professionalism coming from the community, I know we all have a love for technology and helping people, a requirement for providing great fixes for everything we can possibly fix. There will be times when customers will be frustrated by the technology problems they are facing, making them less productive.

As you know, great Customer Service is almost as (if not more) important than technology knowledge. MinuteFix will change the tech support market by not only providing on-demand support for any problem but also by bringing together the best, sincerest and happiest people together to provide its service. We must talk to our customers like they are our best friends, and keep in mind that they are coming to us when there is a problem, not when times are splendid. Being kind and understanding will make us big.
All MinuteFix Certified Technicians are provided with the MinuteFix Session Manual which talks extensively about providing great customer service. There, you will learn that there are ways to talk to a customer to help them feel better.

I was reminded of the importance of customer service only a few days ago. I recently flew to Europe with Air France. When I arrived I found that my suitcase had been broken in transit rendering it unusable. AirFrance was prompt to offer to pay for the damage but that wasn’t what stuck with me. I’m not writing this blog post to talk about an exchange of cash, but rather to talk about something more important: my feelings and how AirFrance cared about them. And it was as easy as a few words.

Let me show you what I mean. I received this letter in the mail yesterday from Marjorie Bucknor, Customer Relations Representative at AirFrance (I have highlighted any direct references to feelings):

Notice how Marjorie uses empathy to help ease the pain:

“I know this must have been extremely frustrating and disappointing for you.”

In the second paragraph, she uses empathy again:

“”…we realize how distressing such occurrences can be.”

In the last paragraph, she admits that they have broken our trust and their promise of providing me with a great travel experience, and she makes it clear that they are aware of it:

“”We value your business and look forward to future opportunities to server you and win back your confidence.”

Remember that delivering great customer service is about communicating well. It’s about treating the customer like you would a great friend, for being able to say “I’m sorry” even though you didn’t cause the problem. MinuteFix is building the next greatest tech support community and it will be treating our customers well, and it will be through words how we will make a difference.

We are here to help you deliver the world’s best customer service. We want to hear from you and are always available to talk. We’re very serious about customer service, and because of that, we are always available. By email, by chat and by phone.