Whatever products or services you offer, sooner or later the user will feel stuck and will need some form of help. No matter when you started your business and how many sales you have, it is worth making sure to offer technical support. You can do the latter in person as your business develops. The important thing is to have it.
Another important element is that no matter who performs the function, the way to reach technical support should be easy and clear.
Once they have managed to contact the technical support department, customers should not be left in the dark. Even if their case is not resolved after the time set by your employees, be sure to inform the user about what is happening, where you have reached with the resolution.
Silence is the enemy of good relationships.
1. Link to technical support
As we mentioned, access to technical support should be easy and obvious. Therefore, a link to the page (or chat) with the department should be obvious. There are several areas of the sites where such links are usually expected.
- Footer – the lowest part of any website, where all links that have not found their place in the main menu are placed, as well as those that already have a place above. In the footer we put information about the company, addresses, telephone numbers, contacts, etc. Of course, you can also place the contact information for technical support there.
- Error page – if you have created error pages, that is, pages that describe an error, this is a good place to place a link to/form for contacting technical support.
- Bottom right/Bottom left – in the lower corners of each page you could place a “bubble”, which when clicked will open a chat with your technical support staff. This is an extremely common practice.
- In the profile – sometimes, especially if your site is very large, the best place to place such contact forms is in the user’s profile.
Again, use clear text and easy-to-read icons that tell the user what will happen when they select a given option.
2. Contact methods
If you have a single contact option, of course, display it. However, if you maintain (which is recommended) multiple contact lines, each of them should be visible.
You could also explain which line should be used for which problems. This does not mean denying people service if they have chosen the “wrong” contact line. The only purpose of such a description is to filter as many people as possible from busy lines – especially phone and chat.
For example, chats should be aimed at complex but specific problems that need an immediate response. Of course, this means that your employees should be prepared for such cases.
On the other hand, the so-called F.A.Q., F.Z.V. or “Frequently Asked Questions”, should answer the most frequently asked questions, which are also easy to answer, and the cases that lie behind them – easy to resolve.
2.1 Technical Support and Chat Bots
It is increasingly common that when we try to contact technical support or otherwise talk to an employee of a company, we are redirected to a conversation with a bot.
Although it is not right to say so, my personal opinion is that chatbots (as of 2024) are not sufficiently prepared to replace humans. The only way you could benefit from their existence is to try to use them for a slightly more sophisticated search engine.
That is, the user opens the chat and is greeted. He is asked a question about how we can help. If in the next message(s) he sends, the bot can read something that corresponds to an article you have on your site (for example, in the FAQ section), then the user is offered links.
Otherwise, the bot asks him for patience and informs him about (approximately) how long he has to wait to be served.
In case you have a suitable answer, you provide the links, along with the option to simply wait, and he is again informed about the time it will take.
Do not manipulate users by lying to them about the time required, in the hope that they will be directed to one of the links, so that they do not also be directed to one of your competitors.
3. Provide relevant information
In communication, both interpersonal and business, relevance and clarity are key. Once the user has chosen a communication channel, inform them what comes next.
Can they reload the page or will that close their chat and they will have to wait and explain again? How long does it take until they can connect with your employee? What questions can they ask? Which department are they contacting? What is the average response time? Are there other, faster channels than the one they chose? Are there other, more appropriate channels for their question than theirs? What happens if you can’t respond right away? If you don’t manage to resolve the case, how long will it take you to contact them again?
The answers to these and other questions should be thought out, and their answers shared with your customers so that they don’t have the bitter feeling that “you took their money and you don’t care anymore”.
