TW and tech support

[Miki Magyar <MDM0857 -at- MCDATA -dot- COM>]

On Fri, 7 Nov., Jane Bergen asked how to get feedback from tech support. In a previous incarnation, I made up a checklist in a table format. The column headings included product ID, and a number of possible reasons for the call: info not in the book, in the book but incorrect, in the book but didn't read it, English not first language, incomplete info, needed clarification, and the last one was "customer is an idiot". The page was labeled as a log of support calls for the week of ____. So the only writing they had to do was enter the number of the product. After the first week I went in to see how it was going. Of course, none of them had used it. So I hung out and commiserated on the waste of time caused by stupid users, listened to their gripes, and hinted that if they helped me with the feedback, I might be able to cut down the number of calls. Next week they had all filled it in (mostly, when they thought of it). As it turned out, most of the calls were real requests for t!
echnical information beyond the scope of the manuals, or cases where they simply hadn't read the manual. Still, it was very helpful to get that kind of feedback, and it didn't cost them much effort to do it. If I ever do it again, I'll put the form on ugly pink paper so it doesn't get lost on the desk, like I do with review request forms.
Hope this helps. Regards,
Miki
mikim -at- mcdata -dot- com

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