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Winning higher customer satisfaction ratings for IT support

European “ Engineers Academy” helps multinational IT supplier towards ambitious user approval goals

Is ‘satisfied’ satisfactory? Not content with a 90%-plus approval rating one IT multinational decided to focus on the often crucial role played by its Support Engineers in the smooth running of information services in customer companies. It set a higher goal, and gave engineers tailor-made training to achieve it.

Success rested on understanding three crucial elements of an engineering support transaction :

• At the client end there is some level of need and stress –in the case of a business user this can be considerable, even amounting to a crisis.
• At the supplier end are highly qualified support engineers focused on providing rapid and correct solutions to complex technical problems.
• Between the two parties is the need for crystal clear communication and sympathetic management of the situation by the engineers.

As well as specialist knowledge and skills, support engineers optimally need sophisticated personal communication skills, telephone techniques, and time management insights. These generally do not come easily to technical experts.

So highly customised training was required, and Rhema Group won the contract and approached the task by creating an Engineers Academy to maximise those specific skills via small-group two-day courses.

The specialised Rhema training package is being delivered in English, French and German in various European locations by Rhema Director Sue Gilkes and consultants from Rhema’s international network of associated HR development practitioners. Course objectives are based on Customer Survey results which highlighted the need for strengthening the skills of engineers in awareness of customer satisfaction goals and the benefits of improved customer service; also the benefits and results for personal and job satisfaction.

Using ITNA (intelligent training needs analysis) which can cut costs by identifying the amount of training actually needed by individuals, the Academy training reinforces the importance of an engineer’s role, including setting and agreeing objectives, agreeing work parameters and giving feedback.

Sue Gilkes, who built the customised training courses and who personally runs all the English language sessions, points out: “Soft skills training is not often delivered to such specialist technical experts. Giving such training in the best and most appropriate way needs an empathetic and specialised approach as well as precisely formulated content.

“The training needs to be interactive, relevant and fast paced to fully engage the participants. It also needs to drive home the message that how they handle customers is as important as solving the technical problem. That was a challenge which we knew how to meet, and it is certainly being met. This training is winning its own very high customer satisfaction ratings”.