1. Diagnosing Issues Deal with a Customer's Misrepresentations
Determine the Customer’s Need
Troubleshoot the Customer’s Problem

2. Misrepresentation Definition
Misrepresentation is the presentation of information that is inaccurate, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

3. Video: Misrepresentation Example
NOTE: In order to see the video on this slide and others, please enter Slide Show mode.

4. Video: Misrepresentation Non-example

5. Discussion: Experiencing Misrepresentation
When have you misrepresented something? Why did you do it?
Have you dealt with a customer who was misrepresenting? Could you tell at first? How did you respond? Might there have been a better way to respond?

6. How to Deal with a Customer's Misrepresentations
Guidelines
Determine if information is being misrepresented.
Investigate the problem yourself. Believe your own observations; do not simply take the customer's word for it.
Remember that people do not like to be blamed or proved wrong, so the correct information should be presented in a way that does neither of these.
Maintain a non-judgmental attitude.
Keep in mind that your goal is not to prove the customer is lying, but rather to understand the real issue and help the customer do the same.

7. Video: How to Deal with a Customer's Misrepresentations

8. Dealing with a Customer's Misrepresentations
Role-play Activity
1. Did you notice Student 1 giving any obvious signs of misrepresentation?
2. How did the tech rep determine if the customer was misrepresenting information? Did he need to do anything beyond observing behavior?
3. Did Student 2's choice of words place blame on Student 1? How could responses have been phrased better?
4. If you were the customer in this situation, how would you feel after the discussion?

9. Customer Need Definition
A customer need is what the customer actually requires in order to resolve the issue, rather than a perceived need or desire.

10. Discussion: Analyzing a Customer's Need
1. Have you ever dealt with a customer who demanded something other than his real need? Describe the situation.
2. How did you handle it?
3. What would be a better way to handle it? Why?

11. How to Determine the Customer's Need
Guidelines
Assess the customer and the issue.
Compare what the customer is asking for with what they are trying to do.

12. Video: How to Determine the Customer's Need

13. Video: Determining the Customer's Need

14. Determining the Customer's Need
1. Did Ann properly connect her assessment of the customer with his perceived need?
2. Were Ann's questions and statements phrased in such a way as to avoid blaming or doubting the customer?
3. Did Ann confirm the customer's intended outcome?
4. What else did you notice about Ann while interacting with Jeff? What could she have done differently?

15. Symptoms
Definition
Symptoms are common signs or indications of the existence of the underlying problem.

16. Discussion: Investigating Symptoms
1. Think of a time when you had difficulty differentiating between a problem’s symptoms and the problem itself. What happened? Describe the situation.
2. How can you tell the difference between symptoms and the actual problem?
3. Is it always clear-cut?

17. Experimentation Definition
Experimentation is the process of determining the underlying cause of a problem and developing repeatable tests based on the symptoms of the problem.

18. How to Troubleshoot the Customer's Problem
Guidelines
Ask the customer to provide as much information as possible regarding the problem or its symptoms.
Keep in mind that you are still interacting first and foremost with a person, not the technology.
When the symptoms are familiar, you can be less formal in your experimentation.
If you have never seen the symptoms before, then you have to be more rigorous.
Make a checklist, either written or mental, if there are multiple symptoms or possible causes to check, or multiple steps to take.
After the underlying problem has been identified, the possible solutions may be obvious and experimentation can be informal. If solutions are not obvious, then be rigorous and write down the details for each test so that the possible solutions will be well documented.
Record the steps taken and the results of troubleshooting, for your own reference, and possibly for the customer as well.

19. Troubleshooting the Customer's Problem
Role-play Activity
1. How do the experimentation steps you devised fall into the experimentation process? Is there a single hypothesis to work from, or might the problem have different causes?
2. Did the student playing the technician properly interact with the customer while troubleshooting?
3. Were the symptoms of the problem familiar enough to make troubleshooting straightforward, or was some experimentation necessary?
4. Would a written checklist of steps be useful for this problem?

20. Reflective Questions
1. Think of the last time you had a customer who misrepresented the facts. How did you handle the situation? How might you have handled the situation differently?
2. How do you know if you are observing a symptom of a problem or the problem itself? Think of a specific example, and explain how you know.