Cause and Effect

Introduction

For every action there is a reaction. The reason that we need to discuss cause and effect is because a customer is going to do something to cause a problem and then call us. If we fix the problem but never address what caused the problem it will more than likely happen again, generating another call. If the customer has to call repeatedly they may start to believe that there is a problem with the system. They might also begin to believe that the system they bought isn’t worth what they paid for it. This is why we need to help the customer understand what caused the problem.

Educating the Customer

Education of the customer is vital so a customer can avoid future problems with their computer. Consider the following example: A customer calls up with their computer running slowly. You assist the customer in removing unneeded applications from the automatic startup group, then the system is rebooted and it begins running faster. Two months later several more programs have been installed, all of which have placed themselves in the automatic startup group. This will result in the customer having to make another phone call to us for their system running slowly. If this pattern continues throughout the lifetime of the computer the customer is going to believe they bought a faulty product. We can help the customer avoid future phone calls by educating them on what the startup group is and how to avoid getting it full in the future. Explaining to the customer to be aware that programs can place themselves in startup upon installing is a good way to prevent this problem in the future. Another way of handling the situation would be to tell the customer if it should happen in the future, write down the steps we are having them perform so they can do it at a later time without the need to call us. Remember this only works if the customer understands that the issue is with the software they are installing and not with the system.

Good computer practices should always be explained to the customer. A wide scale virus called “Blaster or MSBLAST” caused millions of computers to start crashing. Approximately one month before the virus infected all of those systems a patch was released by Microsoft that could have prevented it. For all those customers who called in with this virus we should have informed them to prevent such problems in the future it would be wise to download Windows updates at least once every 3-4 weeks. Teaching a customer will make them feel empowered because they will feel like they have some control over what is happening with their computer and as an added benefit it will help reduce call volume.