Technical support plays a crucial role in a company’s operations, bridging the gap between product functionality and customer satisfaction. It seems like every interaction brings an opportunity for learning and growth. One tool that can help to facilitate this growth is the ‘After Action Report’ (AAR).
An AAR is a review process, traditionally used by the military, aimed at identifying lessons learnt from a project, task, or event. In the realm of technical support, it is an effective tool to improve team performance and customer satisfaction.
The Scenario: A Missing Feature
Imagine a situation where a customer expects a specific feature in a product. It turns out that this feature does not exist, and the technical support team conveys this to the customer. Despite this clarification, the issue escalates to the business side of the company. It is a challenging situation, which seems like a customer expectation mismatch. But it is also a valuable learning opportunity if we analyse it using an AAR.
Constructing an After-Action Report
An AAR of this situation might break down the incident into different segments – what was expected, what happened, why it happened and how it can be prevented in the future.
- What Was Expected: The customer was under the impression that the product had a specific feature.
- What Happened: The feature was not present, leading to a disappointed customer and subsequent escalation.
- Why It Happened: This could be due to a miscommunication during the sales process or unclear product descriptions leading to false customer expectations.
- How to Prevent It: Based on the analysis, it looks like clearer product descriptions or better communication during the sales process could have prevented this misunderstanding.
Turning Analysis into Action
An AAR is only as good as the actions that it drives. In this case, the AAR might inspire actions such as revising product descriptions, training sales staff to set accurate expectations or even considering whether the missing feature should be added in a future product update.
In conclusion, an AAR is a powerful tool to facilitate continuous improvement in technical support. By examining what happened and why, organisations can identify and implement changes that enhance customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
