Mad Geek
Thursday, October 28, 2004
This would all go much faster if you'd shut up!
We humans are an interesting object. To a certain extent, we believe that we know everything. Not just as a collective; us, ourselves, individually. To the greater extent, we either shy away from people's help or rely so heavily on it that we can't problem solve on our own.
As I have already stated, I work for an IT Helpdesk. This mean problem solving and a load of it. Most of the people who call us have made it to the point where they realize that they do not have the answers and need our help. This is good. However, at some level they still think they can figure it out if only they talk enough! I guess the idea here is, if they can keep talking to me and describing the problem in as many ways possible, than either it will fix itself or the answer will suddenly come to them.
The root of the problem really isn't so much that people are over-confident, but that they don't listen. Case in point:
"Thank you for calling. My name is Zuke."
"Hi Mark, I have a problem."
[yes, and the first is my name]"Alright. Are you calling on behalf of yourself or for someone else."
"I'm calling on behalf of my printer [was not an option I gave, nor is it a person]."
This sounds like a simple case of someone in a hurry, but it happens nearly every time! I've tried modifying my script to make it easier for people to grasp, but it doesn't work. In the end, I think I could be speaking German and the caller wouldn't care so long as I didn't sound like a recording.
"Betätigen Sie ein, um einen Frosch auf Ihren Kopf zu nageln.
Presse zwei zum Hören eines Entequack."
This lack of listening is usually what leads to my biggest pet peeve while on a call: "Sorry, I'm not very computer-smart." You don't NEED to be; I'm giving you letter by letter instructions and if you would just follow them, and not jump ahead, or think you know what you're doing, we'd be fine!
So, in closing; open your ears, shut your mouth, accept someone else may know more than you, and please PLEASE get my name right!
As I have already stated, I work for an IT Helpdesk. This mean problem solving and a load of it. Most of the people who call us have made it to the point where they realize that they do not have the answers and need our help. This is good. However, at some level they still think they can figure it out if only they talk enough! I guess the idea here is, if they can keep talking to me and describing the problem in as many ways possible, than either it will fix itself or the answer will suddenly come to them.
The root of the problem really isn't so much that people are over-confident, but that they don't listen. Case in point:
"Thank you for calling. My name is Zuke."
"Hi Mark, I have a problem."
[yes, and the first is my name]"Alright. Are you calling on behalf of yourself or for someone else."
"I'm calling on behalf of my printer [was not an option I gave, nor is it a person]."
This sounds like a simple case of someone in a hurry, but it happens nearly every time! I've tried modifying my script to make it easier for people to grasp, but it doesn't work. In the end, I think I could be speaking German and the caller wouldn't care so long as I didn't sound like a recording.
"Betätigen Sie ein, um einen Frosch auf Ihren Kopf zu nageln.
Presse zwei zum Hören eines Entequack."
This lack of listening is usually what leads to my biggest pet peeve while on a call: "Sorry, I'm not very computer-smart." You don't NEED to be; I'm giving you letter by letter instructions and if you would just follow them, and not jump ahead, or think you know what you're doing, we'd be fine!
So, in closing; open your ears, shut your mouth, accept someone else may know more than you, and please PLEASE get my name right!
:: posted by Zuke, 8:32 AM
2 Comments:
When I used to work in CS I would get the same:
"Hello, my name is Andrew. How can I help you?"
"Hi. Uh...Ralph. I have a problem."
The laziness and arrogance of people astound me regularly.
"Hello, my name is Andrew. How can I help you?"
"Hi. Uh...Ralph. I have a problem."
The laziness and arrogance of people astound me regularly.
You know, I'm sort of astonished that Jeff didn't bother to comment on my German!
