Wildbit: Uncertainty has no home in support

December 28, 2017

An article, by myself on the Wildbit blog.

The words used when helping someone are so powerful. Worded properly a bad situation can be turned into a good customer experience. I wrote how providing clear answers helps create the good experience.

With all this in mind, when you don’t have the answer, let the customer know. It’s okay not to know. Troubleshooting often involves best-effort and guesses. In these situations, be the light in the dark alley. Be transparent on what you’re doing to resolve the issue. By letting the customer know if you’re researching the issue or have a hypothesis it lets them know your thinking without introducing doubt.

When you aren’t sure of the answer, phrase suggestions as questions. Providing many paths to a resolution in your reply helps if you need someone to test a solution. For example, “Can you try to reset your browser cache? If that doesn’t work, please try private browsing mode.”