Be successful at providing support to your users without even solving their issue

Active listening

When facing with end-users issues, some cases do not really require bringing a ‘technical’ or even a functional solution. Indeed, the key is often to let users talking and expressing their concern. Actually, they need to be listened by someone they consider as “expert”, and they need to be listened carefully.

The simple fact to describe their trouble actually solves a large part of the situation; sometimes it even solves at 100%. Because when users talk about trouble they are facing, they realize:

  • either they realize they know the solution, but they have requested for support too quickly. Typically, emergency obscures clear mind.
  • either they did not diagnose correctly the problem. Their explanations are a little bit confusing, so they rephrase, they ask (to themselves) new questions. Usually, this sudden brainstorming ends up with new insights that bring them the solution.

Providing support is as acting as a coach, it means having the attitude that helps users getting a solution on their own.

In a short, “active listening” is the key: listening carefullyasking relevant questions at the right moment will conduct users to solve an issue by themselves.

Credits: thanks to Rachel Jones for the infographic.

5 actions to make a delighted Customer Experience

A successful Customer Experience like an airflight

For some days I have been attending to the Inbound Marketing online course, delivered by HubSpot Academy.

With two or three chapters, they give insights about how to enhance Customer Experience, and it makes me think about how I try to deliver the best User Experience when I provide solution, guidance, short training and tips to end-users.

According to my experience and all the papers I have been reading, here are five elements that compose my “Customer experience Framework“:

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Weekly digital resources #27: Evernote, Google Drive, online courses

When two big firms of the Internet meet to make easier and faster users’ way of managing their content, it makes users… more lazy, true, but also it results to a bridge between Evernote and Google Drive. Content of the latter can now be embedded in any Evernote sheet.

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Use various channels to provide efficient and personalized support to customers

Providing support to customers

As I am responsible for providing support about web applications, WordPress blogs and Confluence wikis, I used to deal with several channels to interact with end users.

Here is a presentation of these channels, with their benefits and their drawbacks.

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Weekly digital resources #23: Customer Experience, EdTech and CSS

Although I propose my services to help improving Learning Experience, methods and good practices for User or Customer Experience feed also my curiosity. In its blog, Atlassian team points out the importance to strengthen link between the Support and Development teams in order to deliver the best solution to customers.

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How to write documentation that matters for your audience

man stay focused

Image source:
http://blog.invoiceberry.com/2012/07/how-to-stay-focused/

1) Write short, very short content

Even the shortest as possible, provided that it still delivers exact information. Indeed, users browse documentation when they look for solution or help. So, they are in a hurry to find it, and conversely they do not have time for reading, especially not for fun.

2) Provide screenshots, infographics, diagrams

or even mockups. There are plenty of studies showing that images retain attention and are far better memorized than plain text.

3) Make all its content searchable and provide a searchbar

Users barely read chapters or sections titles, but they first want to search for specific terms. So, make their search more convenient with a search function flexible and powerful enough to work with a large kind of queries.

4) Get some statistics

about which are the most read topics (of your documentation). Then, highlight them with a direct link on the homepage or other means of featuring. Users will thank you to make them earning time.

5) Invite users to send you feedback, question or comment

This is the most important, and you can do it by this simple way: on all pages, display a one-click button (or image, or link) that opens a form, where users enter address email and feedback. Only these two fields, this is quick and easy.

Support to users for digital tools: how to bring satisfying guidance?

When it comes to bring successful help to users about any issue on a software or website, listening attentively, trying to be in her/his shoes and providing clear and simple feedback are the basics.

How to do this in a concrete way? Here are some tips:

Continue reading Support to users for digital tools: how to bring satisfying guidance?