Why does the ABC Electronics staff ask so many questions before sending a technician to my home?
We at ABC Electronics try to research problems before we dispatch a technician to your home. The more information we have, the more prepared we will be when we arrive at your home. Many times, because of the advance work we do in our research department, we can complete repairs quicker when we arrive at your home. In many cases, we can prevent a second trip to your home and complete the repair in one visit. We call this advance research “Technical Triage” or “Repair Triage”
Sometimes symptoms can be misleading. For example, when a customer says that the TV has no sound, he or she might assume that it is the fault of the TV. This may or may not be the case.
It is amazing how much information a technician can evaluate, asses, process and absorb in a just a few minutes in a customer’s home. There are over 50 observations and decisions to be processed or made, in order to identify the defective product in an average home theater system for a “No Sound, Picture OK” complaint. This is a common scenario, one that a well-trained technician, standing in front of the system, can evaluate in less than 5 minutes. Talking to someone over the phone, who did not hook the system up, or has no knowledge of modern hook ups, is a whole different challenge.
Merriam Webster offers this definition of the word “Triage”, which seems very appropriate for the way that our staff uses the word:
“The assigning of priority order to projects on the basis of where funds and other resources can be used, are most needed, or are most likely to achieve success.”
The benefits of performing “Triage”:
a) For our company: Increased productivity. Good triage programs will double the capacity of our in-home field service department’s.
b) For the customer: Increased customer satisfaction. Customers will be much happier when they get their TV repaired sooner.
A good “triage” program is a “Win – Win” for everyone involved
Remember that our goal is to try and save you time and money by avoiding unnecessary additional trips to your home. I have seen situations where one forgotten letter at the end of a model number will yield the wrong parts for a TV.
The following are some examples of what may transpire in our “Triage customer interview”:
1) We may ask you to double-check and verify the Model #, suffix code / version # and the serial number. We may ask you to get a flashlight, in order for you to better see the model # label and read it to us. We may also ask you to use the phonetic alphabet (such as A” as in alpha, “B” as in Bravo, etc.) when reading letters.
2) We will try to narrow the symptoms down to the defective product in the system.
3) If the symptoms lead to the display device, we will ask detailed questions about the symptoms. If we think it is appropriate, and if you have the capabilities, we may ask for you to take digital pictures and have them emailed to our staff.
4) Our staff will try to be very clear and probing when asking questions regarding the symptoms, we are trying to save you time and money. For example, if a customer says “I have a horizontal line on the screen”. We will follow that statement up with: “ok, so you have a line that goes left to right across the screen?” Believe it or not, some people confuse horizontal and vertical. If a customer is trying to describe a vertical line on the left side of the picture of a plasma TV, we may respond by saying “Ok, you have a line that goes from top to bottom on the left side of the screen as you face the TV”? The last thing we want to do is show up with a buffer board that is meant for the other side of the screen for a plasma TV.
5) Once we have finished with our “Triage interview” is when the real work begins. We will disseminate the information that we gathered in our interview and begin our groundwork. We will go on-line to the manufacturers service web-site and print schematics. We will check for bulletins for your specific model. We will ask questions about your symptoms to other staff members. We will check the main inventory stock location, to see if we might have some commonly used parts in inventory, for your specific model. We may elect to transfer those parts to the service truck that will be dispatched to your home, prior to the service call.
I hope this explanation gives you a better understanding of what is involved in providing good service for you.
Ben Fowler,
President
ABC Electronics Service Corp.
Certified Electronics Service Center