Honesty and Tact

The most common type of question asked to a Tech Support rep begins with "How do I..."

Sometimes, the answer is, unfortunately, "You can't, not with this product."  It's a challenging situation - Sales reps will sometimes promise the customer that a product will do something which, to be frank, it can't do. Usually this is because the Sales rep isn't aware of the product's limitations.  However, once the sale has been made, and the customer gets the product, it's a Tech Support rep who will have to break the bad news to the customer.

In Tech Support, we need to give the customer accurate, truthful information about the product we support. This includes having the integrity to tell the customer truthfully that no, this product will not be able to do something.  The good news is that the "something" the customer is looking to do may not actually be the only way it can be achieved. Talk to your customer about the end result - What does the customer want to have happen? Once you know the desired result, it's likely you will be able to direct your customer to alternate methods or, at the very least, an alternate product.

Honesty is important. On the other hand, so is tact. There are ways to phrase things so you can be honest with a customer without saying negative things about your product, company, or the customer's own technical skills.  The more ways you can find to say things tactfully but honestly, the better a rapport you will have with your customers - and everyone else.