Employers and people who’ve held the job of Technical Support Specialist consistently list communication skills, problem-solving skills, computer science knowledge, documenting and creative thinking as important qualifications.
Customer service skills are also critical because customers often feel frustrated and confused by their tech issues. Being able to empathize with them and listen patiently goes a long way in helping to alleviate their frustrations.
- Listening Skills
The ability to listen is a key quality of a great tech support expert. It's important to be able to fully understand the problem and communicate this clearly so that you can provide the right solution.
The best tech support experts are also able to recognize when they can’t help a customer and know how to quickly get them on the path to someone who can. This type of proactive communication can save a customer time and frustration.
Good listening skills include focusing on the speaker, being conscious of the emotions they express and assessing their body language. It also involves letting the speaker know you're listening by responding to them verbally and non-verbally. This can be as simple as nodding and smiling or asking a question to show you're engaged.
- Patience
While patience seems like a dated concept in today’s on-demand world, it still plays an important role. In fact, it’s a key quality in great tech support professionals. It allows them to stay calm while they help customers solve their problems. And it helps them deal with situations that push their own limits.
In a tech support role, patience means providing a range of solutions to fit every customer’s needs and learning how to help customers with their specific issues. This can take time, especially when a problem is complex. But it’s worth it in the long run. Research by Schnitker has linked patience to greater life satisfaction, self-esteem and a sense of personal control. She also found that people with interpersonal patience were more empathetic and kind to others.
- Interpersonal Skills
Technical skills are important in a tech support role, but you also need the right blend of soft skills to be a successful IT rock star. A great IT person knows how to work well with others and is able to build strong relationships in the workplace.
During their time in the support center, a good IT person will need to interact with frustrated customers and avoid returning that aggression to them. They must be able to calmly understand what the customer is experiencing, reproduce the issue and find a solution.
Fortunately, most people already possess many of the soft skills that are required in this type of job, including listening, collaborating, teamwork and empathy. However, it is important to be self-aware and be willing to learn from your mistakes if you want to improve these vital soft skills.
- Communication Skills
Tech support specialists have a unique position because they are the face of technology to people. They are tasked with translating complicated technical problems into solutions that laymen can understand, which requires excellent communication skills.
This includes being able to relay a customer’s concerns in ways they can understand and responding with grace and patience as they work to solve the problem. It also means being able to discern whether a customer’s issue can be solved with a quick fix, or if it will require more in-depth troubleshooting. Good technical support employees follow company processes but also seek to improve them. They are motivated by the idea of helping customers and strive to provide epic customer service. This is a rare combination of traits that is worth pursuing when hiring new talent.
- Creativity
Creativity is the ability to think of new ideas and solutions. It is important to be creative in tech support, especially when it comes to solving unique issues that may arise from time to time. It is also important to be able to take your ideas and bounce them off others, as they might provide a fresh perspective that could lead to the ultimate solution. After all, creativity is a collaborative process.
Another way to be creative is to create helpful self-support content that can help customers solve common, simple tech problems without having to contact the company. This can save both you and your customer a lot of time! It can also give the impression that you care about helping your customer, which is a great way to build trust.
