How to deal with unrealistc client , suggestions ?

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1101

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#247875 28-Feb-2019 09:48

Hi.
Any good advice on how to deal with an unrealistic client, too impatient for a PC .

In general, this company accepts most recommendations and doesnt try & cheap out on unnecessary maintenance & upgrades so is a good client.
But one person in upper management is unrealistic re PC speed and startup times.

Basically , they will not wait the 5 minutes or so after a windowsupdate restart . They will just turn the PC off & on & that makes things much worse
This is Windows7, when they move to Windows10 and its even longer windowsupate delays this will become a nightmare (for me )

This user also expects everything to be instant, click the button & expect instant response (eg with a large email attachment)
They will need to move to 365 for email next year, again that may introduce some lag that this person is going to complain about.

Any suggestions ?

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#2188639 28-Feb-2019 09:50

New Job lol??

Are they of the older generation?

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robjg63

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#2188641 28-Feb-2019 09:52

Investigate migrating to an SSD drive - though that is not ideal with Win 7.

Windows 10 and SSD is a pretty speedy combo.

Set the updates to install over night and make sure they leave their PC switched on.

If the user is an A grade idiot there isnt a lot you can do though - you have my sympathy.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

networkn

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#2188642 28-Feb-2019 09:53

Have you sat down with them and had a good listen to their concerns? Is there any money that can be spent to speed things up? i7 Processor, more memory and SSD that will help? I am guessing W7, aged machine, won't help.

I have found with customers with unrelalistic expectations, regular communication is key. Show willingness to try and fix the issues, but politely let them know the things that won't be faster no matter what.

Try putting them on a patch management plan and patch their machines overnight, perhaps set the bios to start their machine up in the morning etc.

gehenna

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#2188643 28-Feb-2019 09:53

Schedule the updates for times when that person is not wanting to use the PC. And educate them at the same time about the realities of how these things work. I've always found those sorts of people are fine once they understand that they're creating more problems than solving by behaving the way they do. They also seem to be more respectful when you confront them and sound like you know what you're talking about. Trying to work around them or pussy foot around the topic is no good with management people, they want easy to digest, quick and to the point info.

cyril7

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#2188652 28-Feb-2019 10:06

Does this user hold power, or just a whinging minon, if the latter, just ignore and advise his manager that he is being unrealistic and you will not be dealing with future complaints on issues x,y,z

Sounds a tuff stance, but its not your issue assuming efforts to speed things up (ie spend money on new faster kit) is contrained by power holders.

If the user is a power holder, then thats another story.

Cyril

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#2188654 28-Feb-2019 10:10

Sometimes with these types of issues, taking the person aside when they are not talking about an issue, can be the best way to see some sunlight.

Let them know that you want to help them and then get them to list out ALL the things they don't like currently. Then have them articulate which one is the biggest issue for them. As suggested, the implementation of updates could be done in a different way, so they are non-impacted.

Large attachments -> understand what they are and if relatively lightweight (Word Docs, PDFs), then O365 could be quicker. If they are spreadsheets or heavier, perhaps they should be saved locally and a link provided by the sender. Let the person know that you could draft the comms for them to send out in this regard to get the change happening.

Be proactive. Go and see them to find ways to look forward, not to deal with cr@p as a result of issues.

They are more likely to be negotiable/amenable as a result.

Good luck!

networkn

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#2188657 28-Feb-2019 10:12

doublek:

Sometimes with these types of issues, taking the person aside when they are not talking about an issue, can be the best way to see some sunlight.

Let them know that you want to help them and then get them to list out ALL the things they don't like currently. Then have them articulate which one is the biggest issue for them. As suggested, the implementation of updates could be done in a different way, so they are non-impacted.

Large attachments -> understand what they are and if relatively lightweight (Word Docs, PDFs), then O365 could be quicker. If they are spreadsheets or heavier, perhaps they should be saved locally and a link provided by the sender. Let the person know that you could draft the comms for them to send out in this regard to get the change happening.

Be proactive. Go and see them to find ways to look forward, not to deal with cr@p as a result of issues.

They are more likely to be negotiable/amenable as a result.

Good luck!

Yes, this is a much better approach in my opinion than that of @cyril7

Even minions can cause relationship rifts. Treat their issue seriously, fix what you can fix, stay in communication with them and the manager and put your most professional foot forward.

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1101

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#2188661 28-Feb-2019 10:17

This person is one of the owners , so I need to be very carefull with what I say & how I approach their expectations with tech.

The PC is high enough spec , I5, SSD, plenty of RAM. PC speed isnt the issue. Its by far the fastest PC in that office, the other office staff will wait after updates.
The PC is allways on .

The issue is 100% impatience on this users part. We are only talking a 5 minute wait , turning into 1/2 an hour with all the power on/off they do and Win trying to cope with that.
This user has made it 100% clear that they consider this unacceptable .

The only way I can see around this is me remoting in after hours to do Windowsupdates , with remote restarts afterwards .
Windows10 will become a real issue with this person, as 10 updates cannot be as easily managed and major build updates can take some time to download & install.

In general
how do I best manage this persons unrealistic expectations .
Unrealistic expecatations with other issues in the past, eg when offsite & cant get remote access due to poor
internet where they were : I get the ph call wanting that fixed , urgently .
Unrealistic as to bugs in software & that affecting other software . eg an outlook addon causing issues , they want a fix when there is none (except remove that addon)

networkn

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#2188662 28-Feb-2019 10:21

Communication as per the above.

I assuming you are contracted IT, perhaps look into optitune or one of the PC management tools (RMMs). Windows 10 Updates can be managed.

cyril7

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#2188663 28-Feb-2019 10:22

I guess my approach has assumed some reasonable attempt at helping already occurred based on the OPs comments, so if you're still not getting anywhere then I still stand by my approach.

In past jobs where I have provided IT support I to have always attempted to be approachable and provide inclusive discussions with all users to mitigate the akward ones taking the p1ss, but there are some that will try and try, but not help themselves these to me become the irrelevant minons who I will leave to there superior s to sort, it's not the IT guys job to mentor them on attitude in the work space.

Cyril

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#2188665 28-Feb-2019 10:23

Put a price tag on it. Yes we can make this problem go away by doing ___ and it will cost you ___ for this level of service. If you offer a solution, and they don't take it up, that generally reduces the grumbling in my experience.

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networkn

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#2188667 28-Feb-2019 10:25

Dynamic:

Put a price tag on it. Yes we can make this problem go away by doing ___ and it will cost you ___ for this level of service. If you offer a solution, and they don't take it up, that generally reduces the grumbling in my experience.

That as well.

robjg63

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#2188669 28-Feb-2019 10:27

I guess the other side is explaining to them that what they are doing (powering off) has the potential to brick the PC and would require a reinstall which could take ??? (half a day at best case scenario).

Stupid people are hard to deal with though!

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

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#2188673 28-Feb-2019 10:30

I don't see his expectations as that unrealistic. He's probably seen others running speedy systems.

+1 for @networkn and @doublek because it is usually worth resolving such issues for "one person in upper management". You can't tell when they might be able to hinder, or even veto, one of your future proposals. I've seen large companies switch suppliers simply to satisfy one senior manager's "demands".

So imagine countering a sales pitch from a competing supplier. I'd probably do what they would do and demo a speedy system. Then tell them how much this would cost. That also includes what else needs to be done, e.g. organisation migrates to Windows 10 and Office 365.

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#2188682 28-Feb-2019 10:38

Dynamic:

Put a price tag on it. Yes we can make this problem go away by doing ___ and it will cost you ___ for this level of service. If you offer a solution, and they don't take it up, that generally reduces the grumbling in my experience.

The only problem with this is that you have to be damn sure that your solution will definitely fix the problem (not just improve the problem, eg updates go from 5 minutes to 2 minutes), otherwise they'll still whine AND they'll also complain that you're ripping them off by charging for solutions that don't fix the problem.

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