Using Google in front of the customer

[meClaudius]

I am curious if using Google in front of your customers has created any issues or lack of customer confidence. May be hard to avoid if you are using their WIFI. Has a customer ever said, "well I could have done that"? Are you discrete in any way when you are researching on the customer's time? If questioned about it, how do you respond?

I am certain that you develop a sense for what internet sourced answers you can trust and which ones are a guess or bad advice. Do you keep reference material on hand or do you Google everything?

If I were a paying customer I think I would feel differently if you accessed some proprietary source like MSDN or something I couldn't do myself. This only applies, of course to those customers so inclined.

 

[DanF]

Sometimes I do use a search engine for help when I get a nasty problem. Never had any complaints though and clients didn't seem to bother about it as long as you manage to tackle the problem. No technician is perfect and sometimes it is required to search, it's part of the job mate, don't worry about it.

EDIT: I doubt they would be able tackle the problem themselves by using a search engine. They wouldn't call you if they managed to tackle the problem using a search engine, so I don't see how and why they would tell you such a statement. I have a small folder with some material, like BIOS beeps. Yes, you can recognize some of the beeps of common BIOS, but it's impossible to remember all of them unless you've been doing this job for a really long time. I have also downloaded some type of guide, from Technibble I guess, which tells you some of the most used cmd commands. So yes, there's nothing wrong with making the job easier by having some reference material. It's not the first time we've had electricians installing an appliance at our place and spend a couple of minutes reading the manual, especially if it's a new appliance for their company... there's nothing wrong with that, actually I think it's a good thing to do.

 

[Methical]

Depending on what your googling really..
If a customer rings you for an on-site call, you get there and they say that there P4 system is running slow, could you optimize it for them; and you sit down @ there computer, open IE/FF and search google for "How to Speed Up XP", open the first link, and do everything in the guide, then yeah I would be ****** off too

But specific problems like error codes I have no problem googling in front of someone. It doesn't show lack of knowledge; we are only technicians after all lol.

 

[Daifne]

What I've told customers is that it's impossible to know everything about computers. The key is knowing where to look for a solution and how to apply it. They like that answer.

 

[14049752]

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone asks this question.....

 

[Resler]

Depending on what your googling really..
If a customer rings you for an on-site call, you get there and they say that there P4 system is running slow, could you optimize it for them; and you sit down @ there computer, open IE/FF and search google for "How to Speed Up XP", open the first link, and do everything in the guide, then yeah I would be ****** off too

But specific problems like error codes I have no problem googling in front of someone. It doesn't show lack of knowledge; we are only technicians after all lol.

I completely agree with you. Google is a useful tool and as long as your not searching for something that would show you were incompetent I wouldn't think a customer would question using Google. If a customer questioned you on it you could always tell them that you would be able to figure out the problem without Google, but by looking up the solution you can be 100% certain that you are doing the right thing AND that looking it up saves you a lot of time, and therefore saves the customer money.


I've also found that if you have a customer that screwed something up by trying to do things them self after they found the answer on Google, finding that article/web page with Google is the easiest way to correct the error because it will tell you exactly what the customer tried to do which sets you up to figuring out what they did wrong.

 

[dhrandy]

Doesn't a mechanic use a repair manual on things he hasn't fixed?

Google is our repair manual. Even if we have seen everything, that doesn't mean we can remember everything.

 

[purple_minion]

I find it rather ironic talking about search engines when the OP hasn't utilized the one for these forums. I remember this being a rather recent topic IIRC. If not recent at least it has been discussed before and this thread sounds EXACTLY like the old one.

 

[dhrandy]

I agree. I will say that if you use a search engine to do something which is very basic, then you shouldn't be charging, because it's obvious you are still learning. As far as hex error codes, and not so obvious application errors, sure, we cant remember everything, as mentioned.

I agree. I could imagine some noob Googling how to install a hard drive.

 

[Bankai179]

I agree. I could imagine some noob Googling how to install a hard drive.

Moost of the noobs go to best buy...I went to best buy to return item and a family ( who was in front of me) was telling Geek squad to fix their computer (it was runing slow) Geek squad charge them $150.... so i rather be the noob and learn how to install a hard drive (save 175 or whatever best buy charges for that)