Technical skill isn't that important for front line staff. Most IT shops will have a bunch of $10/hr types handling "how do I fix this excel formula?" questions. And they have a phone number for the big guns when they need it. Please don't interrogate people who probably know they are relatively unskilled. It's like talking about weightloss to someone who already knows they are fat.
The $150/hr techs you will rarely see are super nice, and would absolutely love a problem they haven't seen before. Your best bet is to try and shorten the path to them.
"The $150/hr techs you will rarely see are super nice, and would absolutely love a problem they haven't seen before" This is kind of what I was trying to get at. The guys who know their shit, relish a challenge.
You have a point there, as long as you define a challenge as teaching someone to remember their own password. Or maybe explaining to people that they should put a customer's ID into the ID field (as opposed to the surname, address or date of birth fields). Or is the challenge explaining to the same people the exact same things for the 20th time, without screaming maniacally?
The $150/hr techs you will rarely see are super nice, and would absolutely love a problem they haven't seen before. Your best bet is to try and shorten the path to them.