12 Tips to Prepare Your Tech Support for the Millennials IT Era

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12 Tips to Prepare Your Tech Support for the Millennials IT Era

Millennials IT is a term that has become crucial for how businesses interact with a young generation of consumers. A typical young adult can independently navigate the digital world when it comes to online shopping, communicating, working and the many other ways technology is used in their daily lives.

That is why Millennials feel so powerless and frustrated when they lose access to their technology. Unfortunately, as advanced as technology is, there will always be something that can go wrong.

Millennials have a unique way of dealing with malfunctioning technology. A baby boomer will dial “1-800” before they check to see if their powerless computer is plugged in. Whereas, it is second nature for a Millennial to restart, reinstall, and relaunch any electronic device or software. To them, it’s as easy as tying their shoes.

So if a problem arises for a Millennial, and technology support is needed, it usually means there is a real problem.

Understanding the Millennials’ IT habits

For product and service providers this requires an adjustment. Their tech support operation needs to be able to relate to its consumer’s new behavior.

The first step is understanding Millennials’ technology norms and what they do when technology fails them.

Familiarity with technology and Google searches

The first thing a Millennial will do when they have an issue with technology is Google it. They will type into the search engine “Why did my cloud storage stop backing up my Android gallery.”

Being self-reliant, Millennials are trained at finding FAQ pages and video tutorials. They will follow the instructions they find and resolve their own issues.

In addition, being able to perform a productive internet search is part of their DNA. They know how to play around with a search term and find the most relevant information.

Millennials seek answers from social media platforms

If Google’s search results fail, the next thing a Millennial will do is post their question online. Either on mainstream social media (such as Facebook or Twitter) or on specialty forums (such as Quora and Reddit).

Social media is a main destination for unhappy Millennials looking for solutions to their tech problems. Make sure they find their answer through you. You don’t want them to find it through a third party or not at all. An unhappy Millennial may leave nasty customer reviews, which can be devastating to your brand.

Be online in real time, to proactively address any queries Millennials may have.

Millennials’ chat etiquette

Chat is the primary form of communication for Millennials, so this is how they will reach out if they think they need to directly interact with customer support. They will start a chat through social media or your own online support.

A Millennial wants a conversation short and to the point. Their online lingo includes acronyms, emoticons, and abbreviations. They will expect you to understand all of it.

They are fast typers and frequent multitaskers, who will expect everyone to move at their pace. If they feel they are waiting too long they will give up. Don’t make them give up.

Last resort – call customer support

If a Millennial is still determined to resolve their issue after having exhausted every other option, they will call your contact center. At this point they will be extremely frustrated. They’re patience will be short, which will make them difficult to deal with.

You want to make sure that your call center staff is well prepared.

12 Tips for Keeping Up with the Millennials’ IT Norms

Build a strong self-service support infrastructure

This means having regularly updated FAQ and troubleshooting pages, which should cover all of your customer’s tech support needs.

Make sure to include Visual support aids as part of your self service support

Guidance videos are often the first choice for Millennials being the visual creatures they are.

Optimize your SEO

If your page does not show up in Google’s first two or three search results, you’ve lost. Research queries and be aware of common product malfunctions. Then find bloggers and hackers that provide solutions to these. Your solutions should show up first in searches and must be better and clearer than theirs.

Keep up with new technology to aid you in self-service support

Find a good knowledge base platform, such as Helpjuice, and integrate a support chat bot such as Agentbot, which will help you provide better support online. Millennials and technology go hand in hand today, and they are much more likely to trust and interact with bots than previous generations.

Research, Research, Research

Nothing will benefit you more than figuring out where your customers congregate and look for solutions. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, or Quora. You need to be there. It will add “street cred” to your brand, as it shows that you understand Millennials and technology, and you care about Millennials’ needs.

Hire Millennials

No one understands Millennials IT challenges better than Millennials themselves.

Make sure your chat function is available on any device

Millennials will attempt to resolve their tech issues from anywhere: on their way to work, from bed, or at a restaurant. Millennials are “mobile first.” 86% of them use mobile as their primary access point to the world. Be mobile conscious and make sure that once they get to you they can chat.

Have 24/7 chat available

Millennials are up late. They invented the “digital nomad” lifestyle, where they can work remotely from anywhere in the world and are unbound by any one time zone.

Have a call back system in place

A Millennial will not hold. If you don’t have a call back system they will find a company that does.

Use an Augmented Visual Support platform, such as TechSee

Millennials are highly visual. They grew up with screens everywhere, and have been able to video chat for most of their lives. Augmented Visual Support is natural and intuitive for them.

Make sure your tech support agents have their act together

Millennials’ technology knowledge expectations are high and they will hang up the phone if they feel that they know more about your product than your customer service representative. So make sure your support agents are good at what they do and communicate clearly.

Stay up to date and use innovative technologies

Bots, Augmented Visual Support, and interactive guides are innovative technologies that are transforming the customer support environment. Millennials trust technology and value innovation. They understand that machines can be limited in some skills (conversation), but are far superior to humans in others (data processing). This understanding makes them more open to communicating with machines. In fact, they will get excited by it and your brand will earn prestige. So stay on top of what’s next for Millennials and technology, or get help from someone who does.

Catering to Millennials’ technology needs

At TechSee we are building a scalable cognitive system that is growing more intelligent each day. We are working to implement this future technology into our already technologically advanced customer service. Contact us to see how we can help you meet all of your customer support needs.

Hagai Shaham, Director of Strategic Accounts

Hagai Shaham, Director of Strategic Accounts

Hagai joined TechSee in its beginnings in 2016 and has profound knowledge of its solutions and the audience it caters to. He is currently serving as TechSee's Director of Strategic Accounts to ensure clients realize the full value from their solutions and partnerships.

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