Tips for Computer Techs and IT people

Techs! In venturing into the world of being a computer technician, what I've found is that it's a lot more than just supporting, repairing and maintaining networks and PC's. I've discovered that being a "techie," and IT professional or a computer technician takes a great amount of people skills. In having people skills, when working with businesses, or home users that need a solution and may have unknowingly caused the problem, an IT professional or techie has to hold some basic knowledge about human beings. We're going to lay out some steps that can help all IT/tech support people to gain and then maintain great rapport with clients and customers!

1. Try to keep them calm. In many cases, people will have extreme anxiety as a result of a computer problem that they are having. They may be actually picturing things in their head, related to more problems, the machine never getting fixed or them messing it up! People do some extraordinary things in their heads at every moment of the day. Always convey and reinforce the message of control. That both you and them are working together and have the situation under control. Keeping your client feeling calm is one of your main missions, besides fixing the problem!

2. What if you keep them calm, but they still don't feel good about what's happening? A critical part of any person who does a service for another person or group of people is effective communication. Step number 2 is Make Them Feel Good! Engage in conversation with them about something they like. Get them talking about their children, their vacations coming up, the things they're interested in and other things that put them in great states. Try not to focus on the problem you are addressing to much. Become genuinely interested in what they are saying and reinforce step 1!

3. Talk in their language. Most IT people, or techies, make the mistake of talking tech language. I know this is nothing new and we all probably inherently know this, but talking to them in your language is like Russians talking to Americans in Russian, we don't know what the heck they're talking about! Try to explain things in a way that anyone, computer savvy or not, would understand! Your customers will subconsciously, and sometimes consciously notice this and inevitably appreciate it.

4. Don't make them feel like it's their fault! If they did something to cause the problem, they have enough of those feelings. You have to work to reverse that by adding light to the situation, by saying things like "I've done the same thing many times, it's common," and by iterating and reiterating that it's normal, it happens all of the time and by reinforcing steps 1-3!

5. Lastly, no matter how frustrated you get (we know this happens, a lot) don't let them see. Energy transfers in a heartbeat and they'll know what's happening in your head. If you start to become frustrated, they'll react to it. They may get a bit quiet, start feeling like it's their fault again, or something similar. This can be very challenging because you as a computer tech are technology savvy, and still run into problems that challenge the heck out of you. Stay cool, keep a smile on your face and control your reactions (no heavy breathing or rapid movements indicating frustration or anger)

Just these fundamentals alone can help you tremendously to build a great level of rapport with your clients. Just keeping these in your awareness, every time you service a network or a pc, will not only allow you to build great relationships with your clients, but it will make them feel comfortable with you, they will refer you to their friends, and you will have built an extraordinary level of trust with them and that my friends, is the key. Thanks for reading, this is Ryan Critchett with PC Doctor, Computer Repair and Network Support, Allentown Bethlehem Easton.