One task that no one wants to do is to have to call customer service when they’re having an issue. But if you’ve done your best to figure things out on your own but still can’t get the answers or solutions that you’re needing, sometimes reaching out to the company is the best option. However, to really ensure that you’re able to get the assistance you need, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

To show you just what these things are, here are three ways to get the help you need when communicating with customer service.

Make A Call Your Last Resort

With today’s technology, you can get in contact with customer service in far better ways than making a phone call. And because sitting on the phone can take up a lot of your time—and be rather annoying—you should try to think about making an actual phone call as your last resort.

Rather, you should first try things like live chat, or even reaching out through social media. Many companies put far more resources into these forms of customer service, so getting the answers you need in this way may be a much better bet for you. And with many customer service departments including things like AI service desks, you may be able to get responses to your questions far faster.

Be Ready With The Necessary Information

Once you’ve decided how you want to reach out to customer service, the best thing that you can do to ensure that you’re able to get the help and answers that you’re seeking is to prepare yourself beforehand.

Depending on what your issue is, you’ll want to have things like your account number, your banking information, model information for the thing you’re having problems with, dates or ticket numbers, and any other relevant information on-hand. By being ready beforehand, you can save yourself and the customer service agent a lot of time and patience so that you can get back to your days.

Try To Stay Cordial

While you might feel stressed and your nerves might be fried by the time you actually reach a customer service person and get your issue worked on, it’s going to be in your best interest to stay as cordial as you can when speaking with customer service reps. In many cases, being kind will encourage customer service people to be more willing to help you and help you quickly. And since they’ve likely been dealing with angry people all day, they might even go above and beyond when interacting with someone who’s nice for a change.

If you’ve had a hard time dealing with customer service agents in the past, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you have better experiences in the future.