EVERYTHING YOU NEED
TO KNOW ABOUT HIRING
A REMOTE TECHNICAL
SUPPORT REPRESENTATIVE

And this underscores the real importance of having good TSRs.

When a customer who’s neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with a purchase calls technical support, the TSR has the power to turn indifference into a positive experience. When a satisfied customer calls technical support, the TSR can further reinforce satisfaction. Finally, when a dissatisfied customer calls technical support, the TSR can lessen dissatisfaction (and even turn it into a positive experience) by providing excellent technical support issue resolution.

Excellent Technical Skills – what makes good TSRs “superhuman” is the ability to resolve technical support issues off-site. Sometimes, it is already problematic to solve onsite technical issues. TSRs are asked to perform issue detection and diagnosis as well as resolution and testing over the phone. That calls for true skill and patience.

Empathy – technical support representatives need to know how to put themselves in the customer’s proverbial shoes. It’s often not enough to say, “I understand…” but to actually do so from the customers’ standpoint.

Listening skills – the key to successful technical issue resolution is being able to listen closely to customers to be able to understand their true concerns and address them effectively and efficiently.

Critical thinking – a huge part of a TSR’s work is understanding the real problem and proving a solution that directly addresses the problem. This takes critical thinking especially in instances where the TSR is dealing with an emotional or irate customer.

Ability to adapt quickly – TSRs are usually asked to resolve customer issues speedily and this calls for adaptability and a deep understanding of the technologies behind the company’s products or services.

Being receptive to new things – like previously mentioned, sometimes technologies change without a moment’s notice and this can create nightmare scenarios for TSRs. Nevertheless, TSRs need to be receptive to such changes and be able to adjust how they handle things accordingly.

Ease of access and the ability to work with you personally – it’s always easier to work with someone face to face.

Less cultural and social adjustment needed – you’re most probably living in the same city as your TSR so you’re in the same time zone, speak the same language and share the same culture. This makes work so much smoother.

Better team-building opportunities – being in the same place physically creates plenty of opportunity to train, collaborate, build rapport, and get feedback.

Specific skill sets can be harder to find – if you’re limited to a particular geographical area, finding a rockstar will be challenging.

Overhead expenses – if you hire locally, you’ll be obligated to keep an office which means you have to pay rent, pay for supplies, pay for electricity and other utilities. If you already have an office, you’ll have to provide your new hire with a work space which translates to the same thing – increased overhead.

Access to a global pool of talents – you’re not limited to who’s available in your city and what they know. Hiring remotely gives you access to talented TSRs from different countries who may even charge relatively smaller fees than local recruits.

Little to no overhead – most remote workers work from home so you don’t need to worry about providing them with work spaces. However, for some full-time remote workers, you may be required to subsidize their internet connection, computer equipment etc. But these costs are still far less compared to local overhead expenses.

Less contractual obligation – you can initially hire TSRs on a per-project basis. If you like their work, continue to give them projects to work on. If you don’t, just don’t give them any more tasks to perform and that’s that.

Trial and error – you can’t really gauge the level of expertise, experience and even work ethic of the remote worker until you take a leap of faith and hire them. The good news is, if you don’t like their performance on the first project, you can just part ways right then and there.

Time constraints – if you hire a remote TSR, especially one that lives overseas, you need to understand right off the bat that you’re asking them to work in your time-zone which is usually opposite theirs. While more experienced remote TSRs are aware of this and find no issue with it, you may experience some issues when you’re dealing with newer TSRs.