As vendors go, Adobe is pretty customer friendly. They want to make you happy. They have a lot of support channels, one of which is Customer Care. This is Adobe’s help desk.
It's tempting to think of customer service interactions as simply one-way transactions. Instead, you want to see Customer Care as your ally. You want to help them help you. When working with Customer Care (or any customer service) here are three things that I think will support your interaction with them:
- Do your homework.
- Ask clear questions.
- Be patient.
Please chime in with your own thoughts.
Do Your Homework
Gather all the information you will need to work with Customer Care. This will make your interaction with Customer Care go a lot more smoothly. Remember, Customer Care does not know your data architecture or your specific implementation. The information you provide will help Customer Care with the context and detail needed to answer your question.
Before engaging Customer Care, try to answer the question yourself. For example:
- Run some test visits to see how the tool is working or when an issue reveals itself under various conditions.
- Check the Adobe documentation.
- Search Experience League.
- Use Google to see if there’s an answer out there.
At the least, the investigation will provide you with debug information you can, in turn, provide to Customer Care.
Ask Clear Questions
When submitting a ticket, don’t ask vague questions. Figure out beforehand exactly what it is you want. Be able to explain it fully. If you don’t know exactly what you need, or if you can’t clearly say how Customer Care can help you, it is likely you will spend a lot more time going back-and-forth with Customer Care or end up with disappointing or vague answers.
Do not use vague words (e.g., “engagement”). Do not use company specific jargon or buzzwords. If you need to, go to the Internet and figure out the industry standard, plain-meaning words for what you are trying to say. Do not rely on implied meanings. Say what you mean directly.
Again, Customer Care does not know your corporate culture, your data architecture, or your specific implementation. They do know how their tool works, but otherwise don’t make assumptions about what they know or do not know.
Stay focused on the question at hand. Try to avoid bringing up “but also” questions. These can complicate the conversation with Customer Care. If you have other questions or concerns, it is probably better to raise them in a separate ticket.
Provide specific steps for Customer Care to reproduce the issue or situation. If they can’t see the problem, they may not be able to help. When asking your question, provide examples.
- Provide screenshots or error messages.
- You can provide a link to a commented Workspace specifically created to display the issue.
- You can make a video.
Providing this information helps Customer Care provide a good answer in a timely manner.
In some cases, you will need to arrange a call (usually a video call) to clarify the issue. Or Customer Care will request such a call. Be prepared to clearly demonstrate the issue. Make your call in an environment where you can focus. For example:
- Don't call from a place where you could be interrupted by colleges or bosses or children.
- Don't call while you are driving or hop on the call while you’re walking around a busy street.
- Don’t multi-task.
Prioritize your attention. Respond quickly when Customer Care has asked a question of its own. Letting a few days go by makes it more difficult for both you and Customer Care to focus on and resolve the question.
Be Patient
A Customer Care ticket is typically not a place where you can throw a question over the wall and expect it to be answered without your further involvement. Once you submit your ticket, the Customer Care representative may ask for further clarification or provide an answer that indicates they did not understand the question. It’s just a process of communication, even if you’ve done a good job of phrasing the question and providing context. Communication takes work. Be prepared for that interaction time.
Understand that, depending on the complexity of your question or the complexity of the answer, it can take longer than you would like to get the “answer”.
Understand the limits of what Customer Care representatives can do. They know how the tool works (or can find out for you), but they are neither your dev team nor your implementation consultant. The line gets blurry at the edges but at some point, Customer Care may refer you to Adobe Consulting.
Understand that a Customer Care agent cannot spend unlimited hours dealing with your question.
Even if your issue is very frustrating, remember Customer Care wants to help you. The Customer Care representative isn't personally responsible for the problem you're asking them about. Be nice.
