Tech support
Technical Support (Tech Support)
Technical support (tech support) is a service that helps end-users resolve issues that are interfering with their ability to use a mechanical or electronic device, software application, or cloud service, like website hosting. The goal of technical support is to guide the user through the steps required to fix a specific issue. Technical support can be provided through a variety of communication channels including website FAQs, community forums, video conferencing apps, chatbots, phone calls, text messages, email messages, and in-person visits.
Tech Support vs. Customer Service Roles
Technical support is a subset of customer service. While both technical support and customer support services are concerned with helping end users, they each have different objectives. The objective of customer service is to provide customers with a positive customer experience (CX). Daily tasks may involve answering questions, addressing complaints, processing orders, and providing product or service information. Customer service success can be measured with customer service retention rates, repeat purchase rates, customer lifetime value (CLV) metrics, or net promoter scores. In contrast, the objective of tech support is to get a product, app, or cloud service functioning correctly. Daily tasks typically include troubleshooting issues, identifying root causes and functional dependencies, and guiding users through step-by-step fixes. Success can be measured by issue resolution rates and quality assurance (QA) scores that assess an agent’s ability to determine the root cause of a technical issue and help the user resolve it quickly. Technical Support Customer Service Focus: Diagnose and resolve specific technical problems Scope: Technical issues Skills Required: Technical knowledge; troubleshooting skills Primary Success Metric: Successful problem resolution