Technical Services Fills in Gaps Between Product & Customer Knowledge

Technical services teams are at the forefront of customer inquiries, general product questions, and more often than not, complicated scenarios in which they must assist their patrons with codes or design information. These customer-serving technical experts are the bridge that gaps the disconnect between a complex product and someone’s ability to understand and successfully use that product.

Caleb Case, Senior Product Specialist, is one of Viking’s said technical experts, helping customers understand even the most byzantine scenarios. “We get quite an influx of product questions on a daily basis, so you really need to know a lot about as much as you can,” says Case, a technical services employee for 7 years now. “Luckily we have a strong team and everyone here is a really great resource. We help each other out and make sure our customers get a timely and accurate level of assistance.”

What sort of questions do Viking’s technical experts get the most frequently? Caleb gave us some insights as to what some of the most common inquiries are, and what his solutions might be for some of those scenarios. “We get asked a lot of specific product questions, but oftentimes, it’s customers calling to ask what part numbers they need. It’s our job to make sure they have every single component to complete their jobs.”

For instance, Caleb cites a frequent scenario: What part numbers are required to build a double interlock electric pneumatic preaction system? It’s the technical services team’s job to then request the customer quote, review all the materials and look through with a fine-tooth comb to ensure there isn’t anything missing. Quotes can be adjusted from there if something is missing or should be changed, and oftentimes, customers are able to utilize one of Viking’s digital tools to get a better understanding of what’s needed.

Caleb and his team assist customers with this, as well. “A lot of times it’s something that the customer actually has the power to do themselves. We’re always happy to walk customers through one of our relevant digital tools, step-by-step, so they have the confidence to use it down the road.”

Technical services members also receive forwarded social media requests from time-to-time, as well. “Sometimes the marketing department will be monitoring our social media channels, and someone sends in a question through a Facebook message or a comment on an Instagram post, and we need to be prepared to answer those, too,” notes Case. Oftentimes in these circumstances, customers are asking about specific products, and it’s typically related to a new, recently launched offering freshly appearing in a social media post. “You need to be on your ‘A-game’ so to speak – every new product that we launch usually comes with a large amount of customer questions wanting to know more about its technical information.”

Aside from part number questions and quote reviews (and excited calls asking for more information on a newly released product) Caleb notes that a lot of questions are related to design aspects or code concerns. “We get a lot of calls about how to protect certain storage arrangements, how many fire sprinklers need to be used for a specific job, what sort of fire sprinkler offerings we provide that allow for 50’ of box-in-box freezer storage protection, and other questions, like understanding the hydraulic design for special sprinklers.”

Whether it’s a detailed technical question about a valve or fire sprinkler design, a customer wondering how to find the best fire sprinkler for their job, or someone chatting in to ask about the most important facts regarding a new product, Viking’s technical services team members are there to field every request that comes through and ensure customers can get their jobs done accurately.

One significant component to the team, often overlooked, is that the tech experts aren’t just assisting customers – they also serve as an incredible resource to the internal Viking team, as well. From pricing to marketing, sales and everything in between, our organization knows that we can count on the technical experts to get us the information we need to assist our customer base in making the world a safer place.

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