I get it, you are calling someone to help you with something you are incapable of fixing yourself. You want to make sure you called the right person. Don’t confuse “Feeling a person out” with relentlessly challenging a battle of wits with a person who just wants to get the job done so he can go to the next location. You have to keep it professional.
The I.T. guy is a person who does everything like a normal person. Eats lunch, even if your job is an emergency and the puppies in the back are slowly catching on fire. The I.T. guy needs to eat. Be respectful. Move the puppies elsewhere.
Here’s a couple topics to consider when you want to talk to the i.t. guy
When you are on the phone giving them an idea of what’s wrong with your computer:
If something is broke or doesn’t work, don’t say “Nothing is working”. because you now told him your computer is not worth repairing, or you sent him on a goose chase of wasted time trying to find the problem. If everything is broke then he has to check hardware, when in the end it could mean you hit the mute button and didn’t realize it. Totally different issues.
Don’t ever say “I don’t know… You’re the I.T. Guy”.
don’t say “It was working fine before you guys came out last time”. If it was working fine, then why did they come out? Is that normal that people just come out while on the clock and hang out with you and start digging into your computers?
When someone is working on your computer:
Don’t complain on and on about anything. No one wants to work around that. Yes you all complain.
Don’t start tacking on more problems you have while the technician is still trying to diagnose what you called him out for.
Don’t ever say “I tried that”. Ever. Man, I was just reaching for the mouse…
Don’t “quiz” the technician before,during, or after repair. If you’re qualified to quiz, fix it yourself. That’s how you get “Sorry I didn’t find anything wrong, here’s my bill for trip fee and diagnosis”. You called him for a reason, tell him what the reason was. Those quizzes can turn into completely un-technical content. So having a battle of wits with a computer guy is just dumb, he does not care how much you know about soil samples and he isn’t here to test if he knows more about it than you.
Don’t take control of the computer while the technician is still trying. It’s pretty creepy to have someone come up and slide their hand onto yours (reaching for the mouse) while you’re trying to work. Or sit in your lap for that matter.
While he is working and thinking and trying to come up with a solution, don’t start saying panic stuff like ‘OH MY GOD, DUDE!!!! WHOLY CRAP”. He is focused and you are blowing his attention.
Don’t ask him personal stuff unless you want to hear personal stuff.
Don’t rattle on and on about your problems. He is a computer guy, not a therapist.
No he can’t fix your microwave.
Don’t be over protective of your computer. He can’t work if you are constantly restricting him from doing things. Just as bad as tying a hand behind his back. Hide your selfies before he gets there if you have issues.
Give him space.
Don’t exaggerate.
Don’t pretend to understand, don’t ask for detail about something when you aren’t even listening anyway
Don’t tell him he is working on the wrong thing if your are the one who told him what the symptoms were during initial call.
Don’t bump any body parts on the guy while you are reading over his shoulder. In fact, don’t read over his shoulder. He’s not going to steal your company’s secret documents.
Don’t cough on his back,neck,top of his head while reading over his shoulder. Infact, GTF back and don’t breath on him.
The big one is the quiz game. Don’t quiz the i.t. guy.
I.t. guys have to deal with this stuff 100% of the time. Coworkers who think they can do his job and he is a waste of company money, other i.t. guys.
Anytime you hear someone talking about a problem and you want to just suggest something. You get treated like you told them their mom smells like fish and they should fix their computer with wet bologna.
It becomes tiresome that every time you go to a job you spend the first 15 minutes getting mentally felt up by the village idiot .
He got his job knowing his stuff. You don’t quiz your butcher, hair dresser, traffic cop, librarian, doctor, cab/taxi/uber driver, pilot or even your president. These are people YOU SHOULD quiz. Not the guy trying to fix your machine. Sure, you can question why he charged you for a hard drive and motherboard replacement when all he did was fix your icons. Yeah … question that for sure. but let the man start working. You’re just making it take longer
After the work is through, and you ask the the I.T. guy what the problem was, don’t follow up each answer he gives with “why”. You sound like a 5 year old.
When he says “So can you tell me what’s going on with the computer?”, replying with “You tell me, you’re the IT guy”, I promise he has a million and one comebacks that would lose a customer. So don’t. It’s not even humorous, to anyone.
Be truthful, and get to the point, then get out of the way.
If you’re an IT guy who got sent here, here’s a video to watch. I.t Guy vs Sales guy.