Good IT techs love a good puzzle. They like problem solving. Having a good memory, being able to apply lessons learned, and mad Google skills, are all traits of good IT techs.
Great IT techs know the secret that every great service professional knows; customer service.
My background is in IT and a lot of my jobs were as application administrators working with someone on the business end of enterprise applications. That would be a non-technical user usually. More often than not, someone like a 47 year old mother of two who works for the sales department or is writing policy for the HR department. The understanding of this person of what they do everyday is usually a well documented routine and they only called for help when the routine didn't work. The description of the problem is something like, "The go button on the website won't work....". Working with end users can be tough, I totally get that.
If you want to make a difference to the business you work for and the user who is in trouble, this is where it happens. Communicate with the customer.
So, what do you do?
If you want to be a good, reliable, and sought after technician, you do something that we as a group have avoided at all costs; use your customer service skills. I know it sounds crazy, but if you try your best to understand what is frustrating the customer,personalize your communications (Use their name and words like "Hello" and "Good Morning") , and try to explain things so they don't feel like they are wasting your time, something good will happen. Your customer will; get their job done, feel good about the interaction you provided and if they fill out a survey, score you and your group at a higher level. You might even get recognized. It really isn't much harder than this.
This customer service idea gets planted a lot of different ways. Every one of us has been through the voodoo sessions with corporate cheerleaders trying to create company moral and synergy. IT people are extremely cynical, so generally we think of those things as "a bunch of crap."
But here is the bottom line for anyone trying to cobble together a serious career in a technical field; most of management would rather train someone in a technology who can effectively communicate than try to train someone to communicate who may be outstanding technically.
The things you can do to stay employed, stay relevant, and be one of the best in your job are all those simple things. The following list is in no real order, but they are all important and you've heard them all;
1. Listen. Find out what your customer wants. It's not just what they say, sometimes it's how they say it. Maybe they aren't sure what is happening, they just know they can't their job done. Or maybe they are more advanced user. If you listen with an open mind, you will figure out what you need to do next.
2. Respect your customer. Do I really have to say this to anyone? But we all have been on the other side of a phone call to the network trying to figure out a problem when you get that "I know more than you...." attitude from a tech spewing acronyms. You are left with the feeling that your problem is not important and that you are stupid for even asking. You don't want that to be what people think of you.
3. Don't be afraid to say "I don't know..." This one catches many techs. They are afraid to say "I don't know the answer, but let me see what I can find and get back to you...." This is a very powerful tool. This one will get you into a lot of good graces. The customer will know you are telling the truth, and it reinforces the honesty of the interaction. Just remember to get back to them, even if you don't have the answer yet. Let them know you are still working for them.
4. Creativity. This is something that can make you a hero. Let me give you an example from my own history; A development team asked for root access to a Unix box. The guy who worked the ticket before me closed it because they weren't allowed to log in to the server, much less access to the superuser. The manager of the group swore they couldn't do the job until we gave it to them. It turned into a turf war that lasted a month until the department directors had a meeting. They argued with each other while all the technical people sat quietly and watched. Finally, I asked one of the developers what he needed that access for in the first place. They needed to look at a log written into an administrator owned folder. They didn't even need to see it real time, just see it so they can document application behavior. The lady who needed the info didn't know how to log into a Unix server anyway. So, we solved the problem by creating an ftp job to bring her the file she needed. Everyone was happy. I was singled out as an effective problem solver, and it meant something when the economy went south. (Heck, that wasn't even all that creative.)
5. Accept and participate in all the training you can get your hands on, technical or not. Really, do everything. And put your back into it when you are It looks good on to the people who came up with the plan and you may really learn something. The bosses notice who is really trying.
It's not that hard to be customer oriented and still be a tech star.
Every time someone leaves a customer feeling bad about the service they received, it reflects badly on the whole of the IT department. If you are adding service to every call, then your company will more likely think of you as a strategic resource, instead of a commodity. In the commodity world, there is always someone cheaper.