The 5 Principles of IT Customer Service

Successful solutions providers, help desks, and internal IT departments build a culture of service based on five principles of customer service. Everything we teach and do at Compassionate Geek is also based on those same five principles. If you run your business, your department, or your career based on these five principles, you will most likely be successful.

What is Compassionate Customer Service?

Compassionate customer service is essential in the day-to-day operations of a business. It involves taking an active interest in the issues that customers are facing and treating everyone with respect and dignity. Compassionate customer service should be a must-have rather than just a should-have. Companies must work to ensure that their employees can empathize with customers, understand their changing emotions, and be willing to go above and beyond to help solve their problems. Here are the Five Principles of IT Customer Service:

Technical Competence: IT Customer Service Principle #1

The principle of technical competence seems obvious. If you work in a technical position, such as a support engineer, network administrator, or coder, you must have sufficient technical competence to meet the requirements of your job description. Similarly, if you run a technical business such as an MSP, ISP, or an internal IT department, your business or department must have sufficient technical competence to fulfill your promises to your end-users and other customers. Service reps will improve relationships with customers when they resolve complex issues in a timely manner.

Compassion: IT Customer Service Principle #2

Compassion is caring and understanding. It’s noticing someone who is hurting, frustrated, or angry and wanting to help. You demonstrate compassion by trying to alleviate the suffering of an end-user struggling to work with a new system. You can show compassion by finding ways to simplify technology for a non-technical user. A compassionate person provides excellent customer service when they realize that many people try to hide their pain and frustration and that no one fully knows another person’s story. Compassionate people try to give others grace and not take things personally.

Empathy: IT Customer Service Principle #3

If compassion is knowing, empathy is feeling. When you’re empathetic as an IT professional, you put yourself in the other person’s position. You try to imagine what you would want if you were them. Think about a time when you took your car to a mechanic and you were at their mercy. You didn’t understand automotive mechanics. You didn’t want a detailed explanation. You simply wanted your car to work properly so you could get on with your life. Remember that no one is an expert on everything. Your customers and coworkers count on customer service reps like you to be experts on the systems you support so they don’t have to be.

Good Listening Skills: IT Customer Service Principle #4

One of the most common reasons customers give for enrolling their teams CIOs and MSPs enroll customer service teams in our courses is something related to listening skills. Your listening skills can make or break your career. Good listeners use active listening techniques where they engage with the customer (or coworker) by asking relevant questions and giving body language cues that they’re listening, such as nodding their heads and leaning in to the conversation. Good listeners never interrupt the person who’s speaking, nor do they ever talk over the other person. Think about how annoying it is to you when someone interrupts you, talks over you, or finishes sentences for you. Good listeners make the speaker feel heard, dignified, and respected.

Respect: IT Customer Service Principle #5

There are two aspects to respect. One is how you feel about the other person. People earn your respect by their words and actions. This principle, however, is about the other aspect; your behavior toward other people. It’s about how you choose to act around others. You see, you don’t need to feel respect for another person to act in a dignified and respectful manner around them. This is about holding yourself to a higher standard, not allowing yourself to get dragged down into the mud, mire, and muck of someone else’s degrading, thoughtless, or disrespectful behavior.

Customer Service Statements that Convey Compassion

IT customer service representatives have an important role in representing a company. By taking a few minutes to use the principles listed above, you can create an excellent customer experience and help improve customer loyalty. Here are empathy phrases that will improve customer satisfaction.

Don’t read these verbatim to your customer. Use these eight statements as a guide. Use your own words when dealing with another person.

1. Thank you for sharing that with me. I can understand how frustrating that is. Here’s how I can help.
2. I have experienced a similar situation, so I understand how disappointing it is. Let me see what I can do for you.
3. Thank you for your honesty. I’m going to do everything in my power to help.
4. Please know that you are a customer we value very much. Here’s how I can help.
5. Thank you for sharing that. I’m so sorry you had that experience. Let me see what I can do for you.
6. How can I make this better for you?
7. I’m so happy that you reached out so that I can fix this for you!
8. I’m going to make sure we resolve this for you as fast as possible.

Focus on including positive language as a priority throughout your customer interactions to build trust with customers.

Next Level IT Customer Service Training

Enroll your team now in Compassionate Geek IT online customer service training so they can work together, get things done, and take care of customers.

Next Level IT Customer Service Training

Enroll your team now in Compassionate Geek IT online customer service training so they can work together, get things done, and take care of customers.