Chapter 02

Question 1

Effective communication skills are important primarily to support agents who communicate ____.

via telephone

face-to-face

via email

any of these

Answer 1

any of these

Question 1

Which of these is not a primary strategy for a support organization that aims for customer service excellence?

Treat clients with respect.

Explain to clients what they can do for them.

Return calls to clients when promised.

Meet all of a client’s demands.

Question 2

Effective communication skills are based primarily on a support agent’s ability to ____.

listen and read effectively

understand a user’s problem

communicate solutions to a user

any of these

Question 3

“I can give you a workaround for this problem, then later we can diagnose the cause of the problem so you don’t encounter it again.” is an example of ____.

empathy

probing

sincere greeting

nonverbal communication

Question 4

A script to handle a support incident has ____.

a single sequence of questions and dialog from beginning to end

a sequence of questions with one decision point

several sequences of questions with multiple decision points or paths

None of the above

Question 5

Which type of nonverbal behavior is the least effective posture for support agents?

an open stance

face the user

establish eye contact

fold arms

Question 6

Inexperienced support agents tend to speak ____ when they experience stress in a conversation with a user.

too slow

about the right speed

too fast

none of these

Question 7

When a support agent does not know the answer to a question, a good incident management strategy is to tell the user ____.

you will research the question and get back to the user

you don’t know and nobody else does either

the question isn’t as important as other questions

to call back later when a different agent is available

Question 8

A support agent who feels that a user needs substantial assistance with the organization of files on their PC should ____.

indicate how upset they are with the user’s file organization

tell the user how to straighten out the user’s file organization

point the user to useful information about file organization

intimidate the user into changing their file organization

Question 9

Support websites that use Web 2.0 technologies differ from earlier support websites primarily in ____.

including frequently asked questions (FAQs)

the authoring language used to build and maintain the site

improved site navigation tools

an emphasis on collaboration and communication among users

Question 10

Posts to a user forum with commentary on a single topic, arranged in date order, are called _____.

Web 2.0

a thread

a blog

Web 3.0

Question 11

Incidents that involve complaints ____.

should be terminated as soon as possible

are likely from angry and frustrated users

are a valuable source of feedback and suggestions about products

should be escalated immediately to experienced support staff who know how to handle them

Question 12

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) measures ____.

customer service ethic

personality and work style preferences

nonverbal behavior

user self-reliance

Question 13

A website that contains large numbers of misspelled words and grammatical errors fails which of these general criteria ____.

content

organization

format

mechanics

Question 14

A feature of a website where discussions are posted by members of a user community is called a ____.

blog

user forum

chat room

twitter

Question 15

In a telephone communication, which of the following is the least likely telephone activity a support agents needs to develop?

a call greeting

a way to transfer a call

a way to hang up on abusive users

a dialog to put a call on hold

Question 16

Which of these is not a recommended incident management strategy for support agents?

Ask goal-directed diagnostic questions

Don’t admit that you’re wrong or don’t know

Say thanks

Teach user self-reliance

Question 17

Which of these is not one of the four goals of incident management?

Make the user more self-reliant

Complete the incident in the least amount of time possible

Manage stress levels for both user and support agent

Provide the user with the information he or she needs

Question 18

Which type of nonverbal behavior is suggested for effective voice quality?

use inflection to add interest

speak at a normal pitch

use a warm, upbeat tone of voice

all of these

Question 19

The most effective strategy for using a script is to ____.

read the script verbatim to the user

restate the script in your own words

memorize the script

use the script only when needed

Question 20

A user’s first impression of a support agent comes from the ____.

solution to the problem

incident script used

tone and style

incident greeting

Question 21

One measure of whether a support agent understands a problem is that they can express the user’s problem in ____.

the user’s words

the support agent’s own words

industry standard vocabulary

None of the above

Question 22

Analysis and evaluation of a user’s message is likely to occur during which type of listening?

discriminative

comprehensive

critical

relational

Question 23

Dissatisfied clients are more likely than satisfied clients to ____.

resolve support incidents quickly

contact the help desk repeatedly for assistance

resolve support incidents at a low tier

convey a positive business image to other users

Question 24

Incidents that involve complaints ____.

should be terminated as soon as possible

are likely from angry and frustrated users

are a valuable source of feedback and suggestions about products

should be escalated immediately to experienced support staff who know how to handle them