Customer Service troubleshooting success using the funneling technique
by Mountain Computers Inc, Publication Date: Saturday, December 2, 2023
View Count: 360, Keywords: Troubleshooting 101, Customer Service, Funneling technique, Hashtags: #Troubleshooting101 #CustomerService #Funnelingtechnique
I was asked once how and why I can isolate a problem so quickly to the root cause. Easy answer; use the funneling technique. To me it's old school yet it works!
In years past, I have shared this wisdom with others. IT professionals know that if a problem exists, within 20 minutes or less, progress should be made. If not, then a simple phone call or email to colleagues will help. It does not take days or weeks to address and resolve an issue, yet it should be fewer than 3 days if not hours. That is success in customer service and technical support.
Bringing your A game is essential to competitive success in IT support and customer service. Be the winner and avoid mediocrity in your teams and organization. Have examples, and be the example.
Also, update the client at the beginning, middle and end, and follow-ups are always nice.
For me, my success is based on the funneling technique in troubleshooting problems in customer service or any situation, do the following:
Ask Open ended questions
Ask Close ended questions
Within minutes, 20 or less, the answer should be evident.
What are open ended questions?
Those that reply with answers to questions like; who, what, why, where, when, and how.
What are closed ended questions?
Those that reply with the answer of yes, no, true or false, or exactness like 5, 10, 2:30-3:00PM, 9:00-9:30PM
In most cases, between open to close ended questions and answers, the Fish bone diagram to root cause analysis is worthy of attention. Pareto analysis as well, and even Venn diagrams, the 4Ms (now 6Ms), 80/20 rules, 95/5 rule (my epiphany and idea from long ago), and more.
Yet these are the basics. There is more to this like gap analysis, swot(t) analysis and more..
Be a great customer service and technical support person using the Funneling technique and realize the benefits of doing so. I learned this in my Microsoft product support training days back in 1991.
more to come...
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