10 Things to Look for in a Remote Support Partner
Everyone needs help once in a while. What should you be looking for in a remote tech support partner?
The answer to this may at first seem obvious. You want someone who solves your problem when you contact them. But still, one statistic by NETCARE indicates that half of businesses are not happy with their current tech support provider.
The Nextiva blog, “The 10 Best Customer Service Examples for 2020,” the TechRepublic article, “12 qualities of successful support techs,” and the Consumer Affairs article “Find the Best Tech Support Services,” in January 2020, all listed characteristics that contribute to excellent customer service experiences. They include:
- Intelligence
- Experience
- Good work ethic (proactive)
- Respect
- Dedication to resolving customer’s problem
- Integrity/accountability
- Efficiency
- Accessibility
- Creative thinking
- Personalized assistance
Personalized
A software user’s problem can have a human basis or a technology basis or both. The technician will ask you proactive questions: what seems to be going wrong, how often it happens, what’s frustrating about it, why it’s a problematic workflow. The solution to a problem comes more quickly when the client and the tech work through it together, narrowing down the possibilities until the solution is discovered.
This type of collaboration has great potential in the construction industry. For a comprehensive look at collaboration, see the 2020 resource guide “Software Collaboration for Modern Projects.”
Dedication to resolving problems
As an example, the Applied Software techs are problem solvers – a bunch of former architects, engineers, project managers, designers, detailers, and creative thinkers – who connect with the customers they serve. As Michael Reuter of Applied Software describes it, “When you put a problem in front of them, they’re anxious to solve it. It’s what they do.” He adds, “Most of the technical phone calls or meetings that Applied technicians have are centered around respect: What’s wrong, and how can we help?”
Accessibility
Sometimes blog articles arise from customer problems that the techs encounter multiple times; recent cases are, “Proxygraphics vs. Object Enabler,” “New View User Management for Autodesk Licenses,” and “Missing Default Pipe Specs…”
Integrity
Aside from software operation, it may be that you’d like to learn more about the software tool(s) you’re using. A little time invested in an online class could save you days or weeks of struggling against your software. There are times when some online learning will even alleviate future problems.
For instance, if you’d like to learn more about designing in 3D, there are online LiveLab Learning classes on Revit, Civil 3D and Plant 3D. If you’d like to get stronger in your collaboration skills or view your files better in the field, there are tools like BIM 360 or PlanGrid to get you there.
Efficiency
A full-service support partner will help you implement software tools and get up to speed with a minimal hit to your productivity. If you’re looking to save time by automatically moving files from one place to another, a demo of 360 Sync might be in order. Or maybe the software you’re using isn’t working properly, which certainly happens, and you need support troubleshooting a bug.
Experience
With the depth of industry-trained specialists on staff, these are just a few illustrations of the situations Applied can help with and the types of solutions they work on with customers every day. To learn more about Applied Software serious support for any product and project, including options for any size company, contact Applied today.
