Delivering exceptional customer experiences means being ready to resolve technical concerns efficiently—and that requires a well-structured tech support system.
Building an effective tech support team goes beyond simply answering questions. It involves categorizing concerns by complexity and assigning them to the right support level. Here’s how that works.
What is tech support?
Technical support or tech support refers to services provided by a company in handling technical concerns. It is usually provided for hardware and software products such as smartphones, laptops, and online tools.
Tech support can be given to either customers or internal teams that need it. Instead of providing training, it seeks to give basic and complex troubleshooting on any issue a customer encounters.
3 levels of handling tech support concerns
Your customers cannot always find answers through self-help or instructional materials. Depending on their complexity, you would need an additional layer of response to address their issues and maintain their satisfaction.
At the same time, having tiered tech support helps you organize your issues accordingly. A single employee cannot just answer all concerns at all times.
You can place young employees to answer the lightest concerns, while the experts and more senior employees will handle the most complicated questions.
You can handle your tech support on three levels.
Level 1
This is the first line of defense—handling common, simple issues like password resets or account setup questions. These agents are usually newer employees with fundamental training.
Level 2
When a problem can’t be resolved by Level 1, it moves to Level 2. These support reps have more experience and deeper technical training. They analyze past tickets, ask clarifying questions, and offer more advanced solutions.
Level 3
For the most complex or unresolved issues—often related to bugs or product design flaws—Level 3 support involves engineers or developers who can thoroughly investigate the root cause. This may include code fixes, hardware replacements, or escalations to product teams.
What about issues handled beyond level 3?
In some cases, two additional levels apply in the tech support services of a company. These are:
- Level 0. This deals more with self-help in operating and troubleshooting. Level zero includes consulting a manual of instructions in the packaging or on the web.
- Level 4. Level-four concerns are external support for problems not covered by the business. This is most common with vendors that handle products and software provided by another vendor.
Challenges in handling tech support
Especially for tech companies, the demand for tech support usually spikes depending on the product. Once you realize it, your team and resources won’t be able to keep up easily.
Poor handling of tech support could cost you your customers. They are more likely to leave if you don’t make your support services quick and efficient. This is why you should immediately fix the following tech support challenges as they arise.
A rapid change in technology
Rapid changes are not just applied to your products. Tech support services also change the tools used for their customers. Your staff should continuously upskill and learn the latest trends in support services to keep up.
Multiple requests to handle
Tech support is costly, especially when handling a high volume of calls and tickets. Without proper processes, your team would find it difficult to answer all concerns ahead. This could result in quickly flooded queues and longer resolution times, which could affect your performance.
Recurring issues
Instances could occur when your customers would encounter recurring issues left unresolved. Without proper recordkeeping and data analysis, your team would miss out on repeating issues easily until more customers experience them.
Repetitive work
Lastly, repetitive work could wear out your employees easily without proper task organization and tools. Take password reset, which takes up 20% to 50% of tech support calls. This is why you should automate some of your workloads.
How outsourcing makes handling customer concerns better
Outsourcing tech support is still the best way to handle your support services today. With the right workforce, resources, tools, and expertise to build a support team, you are likely to see a growth in your revenue and customer experience. What more if you expand them?
At least when you delegate your services to a team offshore, you can guarantee a better experience for your buyers as well as the following benefits. This efficient approach can provide a sense of reassurance to your team and customers.
- Best set of experts. One of the costliest aspects of tech support is hiring experts such as engineers and technicians. Through outsourcing, you can employ the best set of experts at a cost-effective rate.
- Access to the latest tools. Outsourcing partners provide all-in-one solutions that include the tools and devices your team will use. This gives you access to the newest technology in tech support possible.
- Flexibility and scalability. Not only that, but outsourcing helps you become more flexible in managing your team. You can scale up or down depending on the volume of calls you need to attend to in a specific period.
