The service industry has been in a steady decline since the
introduction of “help lines”. If people only needed to hear the solutions to
their problems versus having a physical person help resolve that issue with them,
then the idea of needing physical contact can be challenged. But of course,
this is not the case. While little attention is paid to this idea, our need for
help lines and customer support increases.
The secret to navigating help lines are to only call when
you absolutely have no other choice. A consumer’s best friend is and always
will be another consumer. But how and where do we find those consumers?
Overall, you have three major types of consumers that can aid you through an
issue. There is a beginner, intermediate, and advanced level of consumer to
look out for.
A consumer at the beginner level is
probably the person that influenced you into purchasing whatever it is that is
giving you difficulty now. They also do not have any technical knowledge that
can help. While they may not sound like a great source of good information,
please recognize that more than likely that person might have experienced the
same issue or know someone that has.
The intermediate level consumer may or may not have technical
knowledge, but has a higher purchasing power which equates to more experience
with consumer issues. This experience will have aid you in figuring out what
the next step should be. The intermediate consumer will also have some
resources that will help as well.
The advanced level consumer is by far the best choice for
information. This level of consumer is typically found on discussion forums,
blogs, and other online platforms that feature the problematic product.
Negotiating these websites is another issue all together, but as long as you
target one of these three consumers before calling that help line, there will
be a difference in your customer serv-us/ technical sub-par experience.
