Update: A customer's simple comment about my diagnostic process changed my whole approach

A regular client told me last week, 'You ask me what's wrong, but you never ask me what I was doing when it broke.' I realized I was just jumping to the tech stuff and ignoring the human context. Now I start every ticket by asking that exact question, and it's saved me hours already. Has anyone else found a simple question that cuts right to the problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

laura_black311mo ago

My dad was a mechanic and he always said the car tells you the story if you listen. He'd ask people what radio station was on when the weird noise started, because sometimes that vibration frequency was the clue. We get so focused on the broken part in front of us, we forget the whole machine was in motion. It's like trying to solve a puzzle with half the pieces still in the box. That question forces you to see the whole picture, not just the snapped piece.

andrew_palmer991mo ago

That radio station thing from @laura_black31 is wild. Makes you wonder what other weird details we're trained to ignore. Do you ever get answers that seem totally unrelated but actually point right to the fix? Like someone saying they were making toast when the computer crashed.

patb121mo ago

Totally get that. It's crazy how the right question can cut through all the noise. Makes you want to listen better.