Testers are said to be advocates for the customer, but when do most testers come face to face with a real-life customer? I don’t mean internal stakeholders, but the people at the sharp end of things, the ones actually using the software. Rarely, I find. Which is why it can be a SHOCK! to be asked to participate in a customer support call. It’s an unusual situation, there’s pressure, the customer is watching, something needs fixing, and there’s a deadline ... of yesterday. Gulp. But don’t worry! You’re on the call because a colleague values your input. Perhaps you’re great at analysis, or lateral thinking, or problem-solving. Maybe you have deep knowledge of your product, or the whole ecosystem, or the historical angle. You could be there for questions, or answers, or honesty when you don’t have either. These kinds of tools from your testing toolbox are valuable on support calls and in this talk I’ll say how and why. I’ll also give an intro to customer support, talk about how to prepare for calls, what to do during and after them, and - importantly - what you can take away personally, for your product, and for your team. From SoftTest 2018, http://softtest.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/SoftTest_Programme_2018_20180829.pdf

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WHEN SUPPORT CALLS
James Thomas
Linguamatics

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James,
Will you be able to help with this one?
Sounds like a problem with installing and running.
The customer hasn't even started their project.

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WHEN SUPPORT CALLS

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Get reading material about support calls for
Dom.
October 2016

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Who are Tech Support?
The face of your company to your
customer when things are not working.
Needs investigative, technical, domain,
social, and management skills.
And a great deal of strength.

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What is a Call?
An interaction where the customer
has a question about the product
that needs answering.

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Why Have a Call?
• Can’t do something
• Results look wrong
• Taking too long
• Service down
• Data lost

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Why Ask a Tester?
• Knowledge
• Diagnostic skills
• Ideas
• Alternative perspectives
• Comfort zone

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• Unknowns
• Urgency
• Live performance
• Represent the company
• Comfort zone
Why Worry?

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Communication
Empathy
Problem solving
Customer focus
Pragmatism
Exploration
Critical thinking
Persistence

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James,
Will you be able to help with this one?
Sounds like a problem with installing and running.
The customer hasn't even started their project.

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James,
Will you be able to help with this one?
Sounds like a problem with installing and running.
The customer hasn't even started their project.

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CAN YOU AVOID THE CALL?
• Has this or any customer seen this issue before?
• Have we seen it ourselves?
• Have we missed anything so far?

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I found a bug ticket with similar symptoms …
… but did you send a new license file?
Ah James, you're a genius ...

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THOUGHT-PROVOKING QUESTIONS
• Can I describe the customer environment?
• Can I identify any questionable assumptions or inconsistencies?
• What might a solution look like?

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DETAIL-GATHERING QUESTIONS
• What was the customer doing?
• Why were they doing it?
• Are they angry now?

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AGENDA-ESTABLISHING QUESTIONS
• What is my role on the call?
• How can we signal to each other?
• What kinds of outcomes are acceptable?

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Product logs?
System logs?
Basic comparison to local?

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COMMUNICATE
• Listen to and inform the customer
• You are your company
• Tell the testing story

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Support Ticket
We did this …
We found …
Hypotheses are ...
Customer
conversation
Customer
conversation
Customer
conversation
Internal
conversation
Internal
conversation
Internal
conversation

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Corrupt license file?
Broken installation?
Locale?
I think it’s the build.

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SHARED UNDERSTANDING
• Speak the customer’s language
• Tell them what you are doing and why
• Let them know you are trying

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Our interest is secondary to your need.
… but could you archive the VM?
We’d actually like to run this project on a
different architecture.
I understand that this is a rare bug that
you'd like to isolate [but I just want it]
working ASAP.

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We’d actually like to run this project on a
different architecture.
I understand that this is a rare bug that
you'd like to isolate [but I just want it]
working ASAP.
You might want
to see this.
Yee-hah!

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LOOK & SEE. HEAR & LISTEN.
• Signal vs noise
• Emotion vs fact
• Perception vs desire

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A PROBLEM
The difference between things as desired and things as perceived

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LOOK & SEE. HEAR & LISTEN.
• Signal vs noise
• Emotion vs fact
• Perception vs desire

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By the way, here’s a horrible workaround.
Not likely!
Could we access your system directly?
Hmm. OK.

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TESTING SKILLS HELP …
• Understand the mission
• Be pragmatic
• Know your tools

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… BUT IT’S DIFFERENT TOO
• Know there’s an issue
• Workaround vs diagnosis
• Limited visibility

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I now have a working server … by
changing the license end date from 31st
October to 30th October.
I have no idea why.
Other things I tried included ...

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ENDING A CALL
• What is a resolution?
• Be careful about language: resolution for who?
• Fix? Workaround? Questions for their side?

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AFTER A CALL
• Retrospect
• Debrief to your team
• Remember that there is no the customer

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Here’s what it was …
Here’s what I’ve got
!!!?!?!!!
!!!!!!! Feckin’ thing !!!!!!
Yesssss!

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• Team
• Skills
• Learn

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Selected Credits
• https://pixabay.com/en/mail-message-email-send-message-1454734/
• https://www.playmobil.co.uk/cowboy-with-wanted-poster/9083.html
• https://www.playmobil.co.uk/western-family/6323.html
• https://www.playmobil.co.uk/leader-of-the-lion-knights/6380.html
• https://www.playmobil.co.uk/3-lion-knights/6379.html
• https://www.playmobil.co.uk/fitness-room/5578.html
• https://www.playmobil.co.uk/western-sheriff/6277.html
• https://stmed.net/wallpaper-188972
• http://www.tumbleweedhldgs.com/
• https://twitter.com/Josef_Jaud/status/856873536471826432
• https://www.kisspng.com/png-hot-price-fire-sticker-png-clipart-image-29951/download-png.html
• https://personalizedservicesinternational.com/home-based-travel-agent-program/conference-call/
• https://dejareviewer.com/2015/08/12/shall-we-play-a-game-lets-see-how-symmetrical-wargames-is/
• The Ministry of Testing