The original guidelines were written about 10 years ago. As of recent, do however you please. No need to treat adults like children.
Previously
Try to use these guidelines for when you are providing support or offering help for Bevry products. They are only suggestions/guidelines really, rather than rules, so take them or leave them, using your best judgement.
All of these guidelines mainly concentrate on one goal, which is to be as nice as possible. This is mainly because a lot of feeling is lost in text and it can be taken in a very bad way.
A simple example is the following sentence “You’re sick!”, it’s just an example but the person that wrote it meant it in a good way, however the person on the other end can take it very badly if he doesn’t know well enough to know you use the word “sick” in a good way on a daily basis. So just keep that in mind.
Apologize
Always make sure to apologize for whatever problem they’re having. Empathize/sympathize with the person first, before anything else.
An example of apologizing could be “Hi #{name}, I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble.” or something along those lines. That’s a little bit generic though so maybe make it more personal.
It is never their fault, always ours
Even if it may seem to be at the time, it’s our fault, and our responsibility. It is our fault for not providing clear enough documentation, or a smooth enough experience, in the first place, providing an environment for them where something can go wrong.
So point track down what caused the situation to occur, and point it out in a passive way, by simply stating what went wrong, rather than what someone did wrong.
This is because our self-esteem (in some places referred to as the “ego”) is quite sensitive. The simplest thing like “Oh you used the wrong command…” can affect the user negatively. So always make sure to point out what’s wrong, not what the user did wrong.
Suggest a solution
Now that you’ve mentioned what went wrong, now it’s time to tell the user what can be done to fix it.
At this point you have told them what has gone wrong so now tell them the instructions or options on how to fix the problem. Do it in as nice a way as possible. Don’t make it commands of what he should do but rather make it suggestions.
It’s much nicer to be told what could be done, rather than being told to do it.
Leave on a positive note
This step has two parts.
It is about letting the user know how the solution you offered before will help the user and also let the user know you actually care about his or her problem. This can be as simple as explaining why your solution will work.
And it is about letting the user know you care. This is a very simple step to take, something like “Hope that helps. :)” is more than enough for this but of course you can use whatever you prefer. 
Summary
- Sorry!
- Empathize/sympathize
- Explain what went wrong (not what they did wrong)
- Provide a suggestion of what to do
- Leave on something positive
- Reinforce how these steps will help them
- Reinforce you care