working phone support with social anxiety

Right now I am training for a tech support job over the phone and I am really starting to have some doubts about succeeding in this type of work. I have really bad social anxiety and I don't have a problem with being on the phone with people now and then but doing it for almost 100% during my work day worries me and I can already feel the stress. I have never had a job like this before and ultimately I would like to do more hands on but I understand it's much easier to get a phone job providing support for your first IT gig.

I'm just worried that I will freeze talking to a customer and won't be able to think about how to solve a problem.. Or perhaps im in the processing of fixing an issue and its taking longer than expected.. what do I say to them to pass time while fixing the issue?

Has anyone worked a help desk/phone support job that suffers from social anxiety? How did you do and what worked for you to overcome it?

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Comments

nelson8403

Sometimes it's as easy as getting the first call out of the way. If you have the ability to fix a computer in person, you should be able to perform phone support. Think of it like you're there and even though you can't see the machine (or maybe you can remotely) and try to visualize everything in your head. Usually there is no passing time, you can always place them on a brief hold and wait until it's done, or say this can take a few minutes would you mind letting me know when it's done. You don't have to small talk the customer, unless you want to.

powdered toast man

The job is more in a call center environment for this service provider and a technology that I am not too familiar with.. It's not a typical help desk job for internal employees. We are actually required to not keep silent for a long period of time while troubleshooting the customers problem

Mutata

This may sound like terrible advice, but I've been there. What really did it for me, was the first client completely raging at me over the phone about something completely random.

Realized it wasn't that bad, and kept rolling forward.

techfiend

Your first few days might be difficult but it'll get easier. I have agoraphobia and was tasked with going to 30 workstations my first day of work in the field. It was terrible at first, much worse than phone support would have been, but halfway through I was cruising along. I was much more comfortable going to work the next day.

A lot of tech support remain silent on the phone while working with issues, that in itself may seem uncomfortable, it get's easier. Just face it head on and conquer it, it's all about advancing in the IT field.

aderon

I think you're experiencing new job anxiety

I know how you feel though. My first job was in ISP tech support and I felt the same way; a bit underprepared, nervous about not knowing answers immediately, unsure of whether my performance will be up to par, maybe even a bit unsure of how I even got hired haha.

Let me just say that it takes time. Don't expect to come out the gates knowing how to solve every issue. You won't be able to and you're also not expected to. Also, I'm not going to lie and say it's all unicorns and dandelions, it will be rough for the first few months, but eventually as your familiarity with your product/hardware/service/etc increases, you'll find that the majority of your calls become routine.

As far as customers and anxiety are concerned: The majority of customers are understanding. As long as you can speak confidently to customers and assure them that you're committed to their problem, they're not going to tear you apart. Even if you can't solve a problem, by going the extra mile you'll find a lot of customers are appreciative of the effort regardless of the end result. Occasionally, you'll get the demanding customer who can't be pleased and wants everything done quick, quick, quick. Realize that no matter your skill level, you can't please everyone and you'll need to brush those calls off. Number one rule of phone support: Don't let a call get to you. Once you're off the call, everything resets.

Also, making friends with your coworkers can help reduce some work related stress you might encounter. Sometimes the difference between letting a call "get to you" versus shrugging it off, is having the ability to vent a bit with someone. I'm not saying complain about everything all the time (That's a bad mindset), but your coworkers take the same calls and can relate. It's nice to not feel "alone" when you're in a one-on-one conversation with a heated customer.

Overall, you're going to be fine. This feeling is something you'll come across multiple times throughout your career in IT. Just stick with it, put in your time, and I promise it's all uphill. Good luck man and give us an update in 3-4 months!

Note: Also, this might be bad advice, but I'm 100% serious when I say the people who make rules about hold times, average call times, constantly checking up exactly every two minutes, etc do not know what they're talking about. Customers are not robots that all react the same way. There's a personal element to phone support that stats and rules can't measure or predict. Focus on pleasing the customer and get good reviews/feedback/reports from them and no one can question your work.

vaguemedia

I have never had a help desk role, I mostly do desktop support work. But I find I can fix a lot of issues remotely over the phone. I find it hard to keep making small talk with the customer while troubleshooting/looking through notes..ect.
So, if I can't fix the issue right away, I'll ask them if I can call them back while staying logged in remotely to troubleshoot. Most of the time the customer appreciates that they don't have to sit on the phone watching you do whatever it is to fix their issue.
I'm sure most of your calls are going to be resetting passwords, and you may not need to make a lot of conversation with the customer.

Nightflier101BL

I know exactly how you feel. I have the same issue. I currently work with internal employees and take phone calls from time to time to troubleshoot issues and I still get anxiety when I hear it ring. I don't have any problem working face to face with someone. I just try to be up front and honest with them if I'm not exactly sure what the problem is. Tell them that I'll investigate further and call them back while I consult with my teammates. I found that putting them on speaker phone helped a lot. It feels more like they're in the room with me and it relaxes me.

Before I started in IT I was a 911 dispatcher for about 3 months. Let me tell you, that was the worst work environment of my life. The phone would ring and ring all day long on my 12 hour shift, sometimes I couldn't even get up to go the bathroom. There were a few times when my brain just completely stopped. Seriously, I got to point were I couldn't even function and just sat there and didn't know what to do. I quit very shortly after. Personally, I can't imagine a worse job than this for someone with social anxiety. I was traumatized lol. Oddly enough, now I support a 911 center and get flash backs from my time at that job. When I hear those phones ring I get chills.

I always try to remember this time when I'm feeling anxious at my current place. It could always be worse.

Just put in your time and move on. Things will get better. Once you start building your knowledge and learning more things, you'll find that it becomes much much easier.

pinkydapimp

I commend you on going towards jobs that will help you to get over your social anxiety. I am exactly the same way. If you try to avoid situations, you will never get over it and will end up much worse. I have always seeked out jobs that force me to talk, or interact with people and while its tough, eventually you will be really glad you did.

Snow.bros

If you are technically skilled then I don't see any reason why you will not survive.

I also had the same problem when I first started out but my anxiety came from the idea of not giving the customer the help he/she wants at the end of the call, I am also not big on people skill but ever since I started this kind of job I have been forced to live out of my comfort zone and surprisingly I have benefited from that because now I feel like my people skills have improved and I can speak fluently in a professional manner where needs be.

It's not the caller that's the problem in that conversation, it's the system or the network and between the two of you you are the only one who knows the solution to that problem so you have to fix the problem through the caller.

NetworkNewb

I worked phone support for acouple years and I absolutely hate small talk. What I usually did was pretty much just say what I'm thinking about the problem and describe to them what I am doing, while I'm doing it. If I didn't know something, which will definitely happen to anyone, I would describe the process of what I'm doing to try and figure it out. And if I was having trouble figuring it out, I would tell the steps I was going to take to help them solve their problem. I always feel it was best to be honest and relaxed. People don't want to be lied to and if you're relaxed it will make them relaxed. They called in to get your help and as long as you make sure your convey to them that you are doing everything you can help them solve their problem they will most likely be happy. (not the case for some people, some people are just angry people or having a bad day. Don't let them get to you. It is what it is)

Another thing I like to do is use "we" alot when trying to fix a problem. Using the term "we" instead of "I" makes the person feel more involved and I promise you just using that will keep the person more interested and feel like your working "with them" to fix the problem.

This is just my opinion though. I worked at a call center for a Fortune 500 company and usually was at the top of our call center statistics in customer satisfaction surveys and calls taken each month.

ScrawnyRonnie

I do strictly phone support in my current role. I am horrible at small talk so I'll sometimes have moments of silence on the phone

It's hard to do that and think about the problem/solution at the same time. I sometimes think out loud and tell them what I'm thinking/doing, but a general user won't know what I'm talking about sometimes. It's just part of the gig I guess. The other person might feel awkward sometimes when I'm not talking, but I'm not phased by it because that is me... the quiet guy. People dial my direct extension sometimes, so at least I know I'm satisfying the client enough for them to be okay with calling the robot (my wife and coworkers have come to that conclusion on their own).

rj1790

Hey Justin, congrats on the job. I know it can be overwhelming at first but once you've got your butterflies out you will be great! I also suffer from social anxiety and the only way to beat it is this type of work or any customer interactions. You can do it Justin get that experience!

GreaterNinja

Whenever i had anxiety doing phone support I'd reach into my drawer and grab my flask of whiskey....oooh boy the good times. Just kidding the best way to get over it is to build experience by doing it repetitively.

Betrayal

IMO, the easiest way to get over a fear is to do what you are afraid of. You will never conquer a fear if you don't get comfortable doing what you're afraid to do.

Kai123

Betrayal wrote: »

IMO, the easiest way to get over a fear is to do what you are afraid of. You will never conquer a fear if you don't get comfortable doing what you're afraid to do.

I had bad phone and general work anxiety, but it gets easier over time. Sooner or later you will know what your talking about, learn how to deal with certain types of customers. Eventually the OP will start enjoying being right

NetworkingStudent

I don't get alot of incomming calls, but I do make some outbound calls time to time.
Here my tips:
You can say:
This will take 1 hour or less, unless there is a snag. if there is a snag, then it wil take alot longer.
I will give you a call when I'm done.
(say this if you know how to fix the problem)
It's ok to say I don't know
-you can say I don't know, but I will find out.
Always have your next step ready
Build a torubleshooting knowledge base
Talk ot other techs and see how they handle calls
I thought this article is pretty good:

The Public Speaker : Effective & Authentic Communication :: Quick and Dirty Tips
Why Do Effective Communication Skills Matter?

Be authentic:
From a very broad perspective, I think being authentic means being comfortable in your own skin and willing to risk being yourself--being real--in front others. I learned very early in my career that it isn't impossible to please everyone, so I might as well just be myself. (In fact, after my very class that I ever taught I was reading the evaluation forms. The very first one said, “Lisa was too serious and didn’t smile enough” and the very next evaluation read, “Lisa included too much humor in the classroom. She needed to be more serious.”)

So how can you be yourself? How can you communicate authentically?

Be sincere

Be naturally conversational and casual

Use short sentences

Be honest and direct

Use common vocabulary that you are comfortable with

Using appropriate humor

Be fun

Be specific and descriptive

Use I/me statements

Tell personal stories that provide glimpses into your life outside of work

Also, I would recommend subscribing to this public speaking podcast.

It has a lot of good communications tips:

The Public Speaker Podcast - Lisa B Marshall

Cyberscum

powdered toast man wrote: »

I'm just worried that I will freeze talking to a customer and won't be able to think about how to solve a problem.. Or perhaps im in the processing of fixing an issue and its taking longer than expected.. what do I say to them to pass time while fixing the issue?

You are looking way to far into the future my friend. You have no idea if this scenario will actually play out or even happen. Do not let overthinking beat you. It is a phantom and will never have any power over you and your life. Take it day by day and situation by situation.

As far as the job, no on can give you correct info on it because no one has had the job you have. Focus on what you know and only that; the rest will fall into place.

Good Luck!