What to say when you don't know the answer?

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by Juelz, Mar 6, 2016.

  1. Juelz

    Juelz Gigabyte Poster

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    Mar 6, 2016 #1
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    I'm not sure if any of you find yourselves in this situation but.. when you are at work and you get an issue you are unsure or simply dont know much about what do you say to the client? I had an issue I knew absolutely nothing about and well above my knowledge level, and the client knew this after about a minute of me trying to blag my way through and eventually fixed his own problem.. was very embarrassing tbh.
     
  2. Kitkatninja
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    Kitkatninja aka me, myself & I Moderator

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    For me, there's no one sentence that I use if/when I don't know something. It depends on the situation...

    I may say one or more of the following: "I'll look into this", "I'll research this", "I just have to confer with my colleagues", and sometimes I will actually say "I don't know".

    It all depends, sometimes I really don't know. Sometimes a variety of problems can cause (similar) issues and sometimes while it may be a technical issue it could also be a user issue. And on the odd occasion, it may be that what they are trying to achieve isn't possible...

    The thing is that no matter no long you've worked in IT, you will not know everything - the more you learn, the more you realise how much you don't know...
     
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  3. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Yeah - say you need to look into it if it is a problem you have never seen before. Cant expect to know everything when someone calls.
     
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  4. garycul

    garycul Nibble Poster

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    Mar 6, 2016 #4
    Sat round the lunch table at work a few years ago a colleague said to me "didn't you know that ?" in response to something techy.
    I replied "well if I knew everything I wouldn't be sat here talking to you would I ?".
    In short be honest, say you don't know and you'll find out.
     
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  5. Apexes

    Apexes Gigabyte Poster

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    Mar 7, 2016 #5
    I had a call recently with a vendor who we're looking to spend money with, and i had several questions - if they had replied to some of the questions trying to blag it and i figured that out - i'd re-think spending money with them. They were good though and a few they said openly they weren't sure, and got back to me later on that day once validating the info.
     
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  6. zxspectrum

    zxspectrum Terabyte Poster Forum Leader Gold Member

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    Mar 7, 2016 #6
    I find in this situation honesty goes a long way

    When I work on issues regarding photoshop with students, sure i understand what photoshop does but all the little intricacies where they layer pics etc, I will say to them, you need to puppy walk me through this etc, which comes as a shock as they expect you to know everything that is IT related, but seriously you cant. So i get them to teach me bits and bobs on the way, its a win win situation in my book

    I will throw the ill have to look into this for you line when I am well out of my depth mind

    Ed
     
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  7. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Mar 7, 2016 #7
    I have worked with people like that over the years - always makes me laugh :)
     
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    garycul likes this.
  8. Apexes

    Apexes Gigabyte Poster

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    Mar 8, 2016 #8
    Good method - i've found i used to get a ton more of respect from users when i used a similar method
     
    Certifications: 70-243 MCTS: ConfigMgr 2012 | MCSE: Private Cloud

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