Overview

There are three realities all support centers should be built upon.

• One: At some point your customers will want to speak with a live human being to solve their problem.

• Two: Contacts come in two rough sizes, basic and expert (with variations in between).

• Three: When all else fails the issue ends up at the manufacturers'/ providers' doorsteps, i.e., engineering/product development, depot repair and field service and support.

They made it. They fix it. Or they face the rath of customers, customer advocates, their lawyers, and if the issue and/or vendor is big enough like software holes that computers viruses can infest and mutate in, by the press and politicians.

Support Levels

A support center can save a lot of money, and keep its expert, well-paid support reps happier in problem solving by having the basic calls answered by the lowest-trained-and-paid staff. A basic call is one where there is a simple problem that could be resolved with a simple, easily remembered solution like 'did you plug it in' or by looking the matter up on-line or in a manual. An expert call is one where the equipment is FUBARed ('fouled' up beyond all recognition) and the assistance of someone who really knows how it works is needed to fix it.

To help organize their customer support, companies usually divide their reps into formal levels or tiers, although there is no industry-wide agreement on how many levels there are or should be, or what they can...