frederick
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 154
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ
I have this thing when I go on site, I'm going to think positive, act positive, and say positive things. When I see something that isn't right, I don't say "well that's wrong", I say "let's correct this real quick". It gives a more positive thing for the customer to think about. When customers ask me "well is it bad? Do I need to buckle down and get a 2nd mortgage?" Instead of saying yes to their questions, I like to think and say "I'm still tracing the problem down. I'm looking for green pastures, bunnies, rainbows and pink unicorns." It puts a smile on their face. Just because something is saying everything has gone to hell in a hand basket on a rocket ship, doesn't mean that. By trying to keep the mood positive, I get better responses out of people this way. To me, it isn't dead until I've pronounced it dead. I'm going to use yesterday as an example, because while stressful and long, it was positive to the end.
My first client called saying their CC processing machine wasn't working after we did a cable install over the weekend. They were switching over from POTS to VoIP. I showed up, thinking we might have missed a cable or two, no biggy, these things happen and it's on me to correct it, right? They were correct, the CC machine could not get a dial tone. I look underneath, the CC machine is plugged straight in to the splitter where the old phones were. I pull out my butt set, test the port, no dial tone. Phone company already turned off that line. The fax machine however is working, so I plug the CC machine in to that, and CC processing is restored. "What happened? What did you do?" I explained to them what had happened, said it was no biggy, no ones fault. Explained they can either do faxes or CC processing, not both at the same time. Her response "so just like when the phones were connected?" BAM! Dead on. I got an amazing compliment, and when I left, I knew they were happy.
My second client was for another install we did over the weekend. They two needed cable installs for the VoIP that was brought in. They said the whole day the internet had been down to a crawl, and they wanted to make sure they plugged in the new phones correctly because they have DSL and 1 line is specifically for internet, and the other specifically for phones. I roll up on in there, sure enough, everything is connected correctly. I told the manager she did an amazing job connecting the phones, not a single problem. Everything was where it needed to be. So I asked if I could see what her internet issues were all about then. She said their regular IT guy was on the way to check it out. I took a look, and the first thing I noticed is their server was gone. "Yeah, our IT guy said it was slow and that it needed to be moved to the cloud, so this weekend he moved it in to the cloud and we log on through here (Team Viewer [free] to a virtual workstation) and do all our work through here." I ask if they have connections droppings, they do. I ask what their speed is on DSL for internet, it is 12Mbps Down, 128kbps Up. I explain to her that her upload speed is slow, and that with 6 computers all trying to connect through this RDP, it's not gonna be a grand speed. I get her on the line with my sales guy with their ISP, and get them upgraded from 12/128 to 20/2. Instantly there is an improvement. They actually purchased a higher speed, but they need a new modem/router for that, and the tech has to place them on a different line to do it as well, so the temp fix until the tech gets their on Friday, is just bump their speeds for now to what their current line can handle. I said with the new line they are going to get, they can dump the connection specifically for phones, set up a QoS for them, and they'll have plenty of speed for both the RDP and their Phones to coexist on. Saves them money. Their IT guy never showed up...bummer...but I handled their issues and they were happy. I got an amazing compliment for this, and they want me there on Friday to handle the whole new internet thing.
My last call for the day, starting to feel exhausted as I always do around 5PM. I've slaughtered the bunnies and burned the green pastures at this point, my positive thinking is focused on rainbows, unicorns, food and sleep. Client says "One computer can't find any wireless internet, and no one can connect to the extenders." Oi...fixing the one computer was easy, reinstall the driver. DONE SON!!! The extenders on the other hand, very difficult. I had to look them up as I had never used this specific manufacturer before. What I found is that they are very very sensitive to configuration changes. And if the configuration does save correctly, you have to reset the whole device and start all over again. The client was asking me "do we need new ones?" I said no. Took me about 2 hours to finally get the configurations to just save and stay put on the extenders. They were up an going again. The whole way through "rainbows and unicorns, rainbows and unicorns..." When I got done, the customer informed me that 3 other techs (from different companies) had already been out. 1 told him to buy another computer, and that he didn't know anything about the extenders. The other 2 just couldn't figure it out. He said, and I'm paraphrasing here "I liked how if I had a question, you had a confident answer. And that you stayed confident and positive the whole way through, even though I could tell you were getting frustrated here and there, you didn't let it impact your interactions with me."
What a great day...and when I got home, my wife made her awesome amazing enchiladas that I just inhaled. So all in all, an amazing day.
My first client called saying their CC processing machine wasn't working after we did a cable install over the weekend. They were switching over from POTS to VoIP. I showed up, thinking we might have missed a cable or two, no biggy, these things happen and it's on me to correct it, right? They were correct, the CC machine could not get a dial tone. I look underneath, the CC machine is plugged straight in to the splitter where the old phones were. I pull out my butt set, test the port, no dial tone. Phone company already turned off that line. The fax machine however is working, so I plug the CC machine in to that, and CC processing is restored. "What happened? What did you do?" I explained to them what had happened, said it was no biggy, no ones fault. Explained they can either do faxes or CC processing, not both at the same time. Her response "so just like when the phones were connected?" BAM! Dead on. I got an amazing compliment, and when I left, I knew they were happy.
My second client was for another install we did over the weekend. They two needed cable installs for the VoIP that was brought in. They said the whole day the internet had been down to a crawl, and they wanted to make sure they plugged in the new phones correctly because they have DSL and 1 line is specifically for internet, and the other specifically for phones. I roll up on in there, sure enough, everything is connected correctly. I told the manager she did an amazing job connecting the phones, not a single problem. Everything was where it needed to be. So I asked if I could see what her internet issues were all about then. She said their regular IT guy was on the way to check it out. I took a look, and the first thing I noticed is their server was gone. "Yeah, our IT guy said it was slow and that it needed to be moved to the cloud, so this weekend he moved it in to the cloud and we log on through here (Team Viewer [free] to a virtual workstation) and do all our work through here." I ask if they have connections droppings, they do. I ask what their speed is on DSL for internet, it is 12Mbps Down, 128kbps Up. I explain to her that her upload speed is slow, and that with 6 computers all trying to connect through this RDP, it's not gonna be a grand speed. I get her on the line with my sales guy with their ISP, and get them upgraded from 12/128 to 20/2. Instantly there is an improvement. They actually purchased a higher speed, but they need a new modem/router for that, and the tech has to place them on a different line to do it as well, so the temp fix until the tech gets their on Friday, is just bump their speeds for now to what their current line can handle. I said with the new line they are going to get, they can dump the connection specifically for phones, set up a QoS for them, and they'll have plenty of speed for both the RDP and their Phones to coexist on. Saves them money. Their IT guy never showed up...bummer...but I handled their issues and they were happy. I got an amazing compliment for this, and they want me there on Friday to handle the whole new internet thing.
My last call for the day, starting to feel exhausted as I always do around 5PM. I've slaughtered the bunnies and burned the green pastures at this point, my positive thinking is focused on rainbows, unicorns, food and sleep. Client says "One computer can't find any wireless internet, and no one can connect to the extenders." Oi...fixing the one computer was easy, reinstall the driver. DONE SON!!! The extenders on the other hand, very difficult. I had to look them up as I had never used this specific manufacturer before. What I found is that they are very very sensitive to configuration changes. And if the configuration does save correctly, you have to reset the whole device and start all over again. The client was asking me "do we need new ones?" I said no. Took me about 2 hours to finally get the configurations to just save and stay put on the extenders. They were up an going again. The whole way through "rainbows and unicorns, rainbows and unicorns..." When I got done, the customer informed me that 3 other techs (from different companies) had already been out. 1 told him to buy another computer, and that he didn't know anything about the extenders. The other 2 just couldn't figure it out. He said, and I'm paraphrasing here "I liked how if I had a question, you had a confident answer. And that you stayed confident and positive the whole way through, even though I could tell you were getting frustrated here and there, you didn't let it impact your interactions with me."
What a great day...and when I got home, my wife made her awesome amazing enchiladas that I just inhaled. So all in all, an amazing day.
