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§§ Table of Contents − − − − − − − − −
Ultimate Guide to Difficult
Conversations
1. Introduction 2. When you don’t know the answer 3. When you have to transfer a customer to someone else 4. When a customer requests a feature or product 5. When a customer asks you for a favor that you cannot do 6. When there’s something wrong with the delivered product 7. When you close the conversation 8. When a customer is angry 9. When a customer is unwilling to pay 10. When a crisis occurs 11. When you have a frequently complaining customer 12. When customers complain on social media 13. When you have legal issues 14. When you have to deliver bad news 15. When you have an abusive customer 16. When customers cross boundaries 17. When the customer speaks a different language 18. When a customer asks a vague question 19. When customers ask when something is going to be available 20. When you or your fellow agents made a mistake 21. When a customer wants to speak with a manager 22. When you can’t resolve the issue right away 23. When you need to let a customer know that it was their mistake 24. When a customer reaches you by mistake 25. When a customer asks how your product is different from others 26. When a customer is worried about how secure your service is 27. When a customer says that they forgot their password 28. When you want to point a customer to your documentation 29. When a customer violated your terms of service 30. When a customer is not tech-savvy 31. When a customer is right, but your policy is not 32. When a customer sounds like a bigot 33. You’ve got this!

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30.

When a customer is not tech-savvy

Whenever I think about explaining something to a customer, I first think about explaining it to my father. He doesn’t have a solid grasp of technology, and calls  me frequently about how to do things like set up Outlook on his computer or troubleshoot something happening with a file on his desktop. It is especially difficult to troubleshoot on the phone without the assistance of screenshots or video.

Luckily, with your customers that aren’t super tech-savvy, it’s likely that you’ll have at least some technology at your fingertips that can help you make your explanation helpful and clear. There are a number of different types of questions that you might have to answer in this scenario, so instead of an example, here are some guidelines on how to make an interaction with a less-than-then-savvy customer easier:

First, provide screenshots and tutorials. Point the customer to the crucial areas that you think are going to help them most — for example documentation or long-standing resources like webinars. If chat and email don’t seem to be working or the customer is growing more agitated, turn to the phone, which allows for more detailed explanations, but less visual representation.

Second, adopt the mindset of a total beginner and rephrase your explanation without technical jargon. Use the ELI5 technique (explain it like I’m five years old) and guide the user through your fix in little, comprehensible steps without using any jargon. This is especially good if you can break it down into smaller steps, which they can read bit by bit. These should be maybe a sentence or two in length.

Third, if your product allows for it, ask the customer for permission to log into their account and do the changes for them. This is the last resort as, likely, you will need to continue doing this in the future if they run into the problem again. Only do this if you are sure that, otherwise, the interaction will take up much more of your and the customer’s time.

If you’ve followed these three guidelines and still are having trouble with the customer, it’s possible that you may need to express to them that they should get outside help, because what they’re asking for is outside the scope of your support team’s role. If you are open to escalating to a manager, now might be the best time.

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29.
When a customer violated
your terms of service
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31.
When a customer is right,
but your policy is not
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