Job Description
1. Diagnose and troubleshoot customer technical problems
Issues are often related to software, so it’s essential that customer support engineers have a solid grasp of computer systems. Often, customers may not know exactly where the issue lies. So, you’ll need to ask simple, targeted questions to efficiently understand the problem and get started with support.
Customers may come forward with a range of problems, from very simple to complex ones. It’s essential that as a customer support engineer, always remain calm and patient and recognize that everyone has a different technical background. The important thing is to carefully talk customers through their problems to help them find a solution as quickly as possible.
2. Resolve internal technical issues in software
Sometimes, a customer isn’t alone in the issues they are having. If we are getting lots of inquiries about the same problem, chances are it’s an internal issue. It is then the responsibility of the customer support engineer to let the appropriate teams know about unresolved internal issues and relay any necessary information learned from the customer interaction. A pro tip is to let customers know about the internal issue, apologize, and offer an updated version when available. After all, everyone makes mistakes — even companies. Keeping customers in the loops shows off how transparent and honest your company is.
3. Participate in training customers
Customers require a full training on how to be successful in using their new software. This training can often span several months. Assisting in the more technical aspects of training, as well as in answering customer questions is one of the key responsibilities.
4. Handle customer complaints and questions
A customer might be frustrated when trying to understand how to navigate their new software, exasperated when you can’t immediately solve their problem, or generally upset about the customer support process. It’s important that customer support engineers continue to do whatever they can to solve the customer’s problem. As said above, their primary goal is still to provide a satisfactory experience for customers. However, if a customer complaint gets out-of-hand, it’s acceptable to turn it over to a manager.
5. Prepare reports on customer issues
At the end of every customer interaction, customer support engineers need to document the entire conversation. This is important for a number of reasons.
First, this ensures that every customer is logged, so, if they have to contact the company again about another issue, the frontline worker can remember what their last problem was.
Second, if the problem ends up being an internal problem, it’s important to have a record of how many customers faced the issue and who requires an updated version.
Third, when customer support engineers document their conversations with customers, they can then follow up with customers in the future to ensure that their systems are properly functioning.
