Chapter 1: Achieving High Customer Satisfaction A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk...

Chapter 1:Achieving High Customer

Satisfaction

A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional

Second Edition

A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e 2

Objectives

• Describe the role the help desk plays in delivering quality technical customer support

• Explain how to manage, meet, and exceed customer expectations

• Describe the mix of skills needed to have a career in technical customer support


Achieving High Customer Satisfaction

Help desk - a single point of contact within a company for managing customer problems and requests, and for providing solution-oriented support services


Achieving High Customer Satisfaction (continued)

To work a help desk, you need:• A mix of skills including business,

technical, soft, and self-management skills• To understand the characteristics of

quality customer service and technical support

• To understand that how you interact with each customer influences that customer’s perception of your company


Delivering Quality Technical Customer Support

• A person may turn to any number of help desks for support

• A person may contact a computer manufacturer or a company that produces a software package

• A help desk analyst may contact a vendor’s help desk for assistance in diagnosing a hardware, software, or network problem


Customer Support and the Help Desk Role

• Today’s help desk serves as a key part of any technical support organization

• Technical support - A wide range of services that enable people and companies to continuously use computing technology


Customer Support and the Help Desk Role (continued)

Technical support services include:

• Installing hardware, software, network, and application components

• Keeping the system in good repair

• Upgrading hardware and software

• Providing customer support



• Customer support - Services that help a customer understand and benefit from a product’s capabilities by answering questions, solving problems, and providing training

• Customer - A person who buys products or services or with whom one must deal



• Customer service and support organizations come in all shapes and sizes and deliver a wide range of services.

• Types of organizations include:– Call center– Contact center– Help desk– Support center



• Multi-level support model - A common structure where the help desk refers problems it cannot resolve to the appropriate internal group, external vendor, or subject matter expert

• Subject matter expert (SME) - A person who has a high level of experience or knowledge about a particular subject

• Support center - A help desk with a broader scope of responsibility and with the goals of providing faster service and improving customer satisfaction


Multi-level Support Model


Components of a Successful Help Desk

• People-front-line service providers

• Processes

Processes• Problem management• Request management • Service level

management

People• Front-line service

providers• Help desk

management• Supporting roles


Components of a Successful Help Desk (continued)

• People-front-line service providers

• Processes

Information• Customer data• Incident data• Status data• Resolution data

Technology• Incident tracking and

problem management systems

• Knowledge management systems

• Telephone systems• Web-based systems



• Customer expectations - Results that customers consider reasonable or due

• Customers have expectations about what a product can do and also what the company can do to enable them to fully use that product

• Excellent service meets or exceeds customer expectations

• Competitive edge equals excellent service and a great product



• The more technical (high tech) the world becomes, the more people desire on-to-one personalized (high touch) service and support

• High touch service can be very costly

• Low touch services that meet and exceed customers expectations include:– Self-services offered via the Web

– Online forms

– Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week


Benefits of Quality Customer Support

• Return business and the positive word-of-mouth that leads to new business

• Higher sales and profits

• Industry recognition

• World class – A company has achieved, and is able to sustain, high levels of customer satisfaction


Benefits of Quality Customer Support (continued)

• Customer loyalty

• Customer feedback (complaints)

• Happy customers and happy employees

• Reward and opportunity

• Pride and satisfaction


Trends Influencing the Help Desk

• 24 x 7 support – Help desk provides service twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week

• Creates positions for help desk analysts, team leaders, and supervisors

• Companies may offer flexible schedules

• Help desks may transfer callers to analysts at home

• Help desks direct customers to their Web site

• Support may be provided by a service agency


Trends Influencing the Help Desk (continued)

• Fee-Based Support – Customers pay for support services based upon usage

• Cost center – The budget items required to run the help desk are considered a cost (or expense) to the company



• Internal help desk – A help desk that responds to questions, distributes information, and handles problems and service requests for its company’s employees

• External help desk – A help desk that supports customers who buy its company’s products and services



• Pre-sales support – The help desk answers questions for people who have not yet purchased a company’s products or services

• Post-sales support – The help desk helps people who have purchased a company’s products or services



Help desks are under increasing pressure to:

• Analyze and control their costs• Market the value of their services • Charge a premium for “customized”

services



• A company’s policy on fee-based support:– Greatly influences how analysts account

for their time and effort– How they interact with customers

• Help desk is a “business within a business”



• Global support - Support for customers anywhere in the world

• Companies must address:– Culture– Language– Legal issues



• Regional, in country help desks – Provide localized support– Each help desk may produce a standard set of

metrics (performance measures)• Follow the sun – Companies establish several

help desks (typically three); each on a different continent– As one help desk closes, another opens and

begins supporting customers • One global support desk – one physical help

desk provides 24 X 7 support



Help desk as a profession:• Historically - Help desk was considered a

stepping stone to other professions• Today - Help desk has been elevated to a

profession in and of itself



• Individual and site certifications are increasingly being used

• Technical certifications - Vendor specific • Help desk certifications - Vendor neutral – Enable individuals to demonstrate industry

knowledge and soft skills– Enable help desks to benchmark their

practices against industry best practices



Increased dependence on technology:• Constant barrage of new technologies• Creates job opportunities• Requires people in support positions to

continuously update their skills• Ubiquitous computing - an environment

where people have access to their information and computing systems from public shared access points



Mobile workforce support – Challenges include:

• Variety of mobile and wireless devices and applications

• Speed at which individuals are adopting• Lack of standards



Multi-channel support:• Channel – A route of communication to

and from the help desk• Historically – Telephone was “official”

channel• Today – Customers are increasingly using

alternative channels– Expect help desks to respond in real-time– Pick up the telephone when they need

additional or immediate help



Help desks must:• Capture the data needed to manage various

support channels• Determine how best to integrate the tools

needed to capture data• Produce meaningful metrics relative to each

channel• Bear the cost of maintaining their Web sites• Understand that telephone contacts will

increasingly cost more



• Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) - A set of best practices for IT service management

• Best practice - An innovative process or concept that moves a company or department to a position of improved performance

• Consists of a series of books that give guidance on IT service management topics

• The most widely accepted approach to IT service management in the world



• Outsourcing - companies have services provided by an outside supplier (service agency or outsourcer)

• Offshore outsourcing – services are provided by an outside supplier that is located or based in a foreign country

• “One size does not fit all”



Service agencies:• Offer a variety of services• Offer many job opportunities• Often base raises and bonuses on people’s

performance and ability to satisfy customers

• Offer flexible work hours and the ability to work on a contract basis



Web-based support:• Customers have come to expect• Does not eliminate the need for qualified

analysts• Does change the skills they must have• Does change the types of problems and

requests they resolve



Web-based support:• Does not eliminate the need for other support

channels• Creates a need for people to develop, maintain,

and support the help desk’s systems• Self-healing systems - Hardware devices and

software applications that have the ability to detect and correct problems on their own

• Mass-healing systems - Enable help desks to detect and repair problems across the entire enterprise


The Help Desk Analyst’s Roles in the Service Delivery Chain

• Two types of help desks (internal, external)• Two types of help desk customers:– Internal customer - A person who works at

a company and at times relies on other employees

– External customer - A person or company that buys another company’s products and services


The Help Desk Analyst’s Roles in the Service Delivery Chain (continued)

If you are not supporting the external customers of your company, you are

supporting someone who is!



Customer service delivery chain:• Shows the relationship that exists between

customers, internal service providers, and external service providers

• Feedback is used to communicate customer expectations

• Illustrates that all of the departments within a company are interdependent and must work together

• Every role adds value and must be respected and supported



One of the best ways to become an excellent service provider is to pay attention when

you are the customer!


Influencing Customer Perception

• Customer satisfaction - Reflects the difference between how a customer perceives he or she was treated, and how the customer expects to be treated

• Service Level Agreement (SLA) - A written document that spells out the services the help desk will provide, the customer’s responsibilities, and how service performance is measured


Influencing Customer Perception (continued)


Understanding Customer Needs and Managing Expectations

Responsiveness – The help desk’s ability to (1) be available when customers need help, and (2) make it easy for customers to obtain help

Be there!


Understanding Customer Needs and Managing Expectations (continued)

Responsiveness:• Involves answering the telephone promptly or

responding to voice mail and e-mail inquiries within the time frame promised

• Involves anticipating customers’ support needs and providing self-services via the Web

• Help desk has hours during which customers are most likely to need support

• Help desk sets up technology in a way that is easy and adds value



A caring attitude – The help desk’s ability to communicate that it wants to satisfy its customers’ needs

• Caring, positive, helpful

Be Willing!

There is always something

the help desk can do!



Skill - The help desk’s ability to quickly and correctly resolve customer problems and requests

Be able!



Analysts must:

• Be efficient and knowledgeable

• Have the ability and authority to solve problems

• Know exactly how to get problems solved



• Peer-to-peer support – A practice where users bypass the formal support structure and seek assistance from coworkers or someone in an other department

• Help desk must convince customers that contacting the help desk is the fastest, cheapest, and best way to obtain a solution

Be there, be willing, be able!



• Help desks use data captured by tools and technology to produce the metrics

• They also use:– Customer satisfaction surveys - A series of

questions that ask customers to provide their perception of the support services being offered

– Monitoring – When a supervisor or team leader listens to a live or recorded call, monitors an analyst’s data entry and keystrokes during an e-mail or chat session, or sits beside an analyst to measure the quality of an analyst’s performance during a customer interaction


Demonstrating a Positive Can Do Attitude

Delivering high-quality customer support is incredibly challenging:

1. Customers are people whose feelings and expectations can change from minute-to-minute

2. Customers today are more sophisticated and demanding cheaper, faster, and better service

3. Technology is increasingly complex and changes very rapidly


Demonstrating a Positive Can Do Attitude (continued)

A can do attitude - Means that rather than

telling a customer what you cannot do,

you tell them what you can do

• Enables customers to perceive that they

have been helped

The customer may not always be right, but

they are always the customer!



• Analysts must learn to strike all negative

phrases from their vocabulary

What I can do…!



• Saying “No” is difficult

• Few companies have the resources to give

customers everything they want, when they want it

• Companies must:

– Maximize their resources

– Provide a high level of service, even if it means

limiting the scope of services



If the help desk tried to be all things to all

people, its resources would quickly be

stretched too thin and its level of service

would decline across the board!


Going the Extra Mile

Satisfied customers are not necessarily loyal


Going the Extra Mile (continued)

Companies must go beyond customer satisfaction to customer delight

• Go the extra mile

• Give a little extra

• Within the help desk’s boundaries or the cost will deplete the company’s profits


Going the Extra Mile (continued)

Two key ways to delight customers:

1. Save them time

2. Enhance their self-sufficiency


Developing the Right Mix of Skills

• Business skills – The skills people need to work in the business world. Includes:– The ability to understand and speak the language of

business (business knowledge)– The skills that are unique to the industry or profession

the help desk supports, such as accounting skills or banking skills (industry knowledge)

– The skills that are specific to the customer service and support industry, such as understanding the importance of meeting customer’s needs and knowing how to manage their expectations (service industry knowledge)


Developing the Right Mix of Skills (continued)

• Technical skills – The skills people need to use and support the specific products and technologies the help desk supports– Includes basic computer and software literacy

skills

• Soft skills – The skills and personality traits people need to deliver great service– Includes listening, verbal communication,

customer service, problem solving, writing, the ability to be a team player



• Self-management skills – The skills, such as stress and time management, that people need to complete their work effectively, feel job satisfaction, and avoid frustration or burnout– Includes the ability to get and stay organized

and to continuously learn new skills

Finding people that have the right mix of skills is one of the most difficult challenges

facing help desk managers today!



• Companies look for people:– With positive can do attitudes who genuinely enjoy

helping other people and solving problems– Who are team-oriented and enjoy working with other

people

• Companies are willing to provide technical training to individuals with good interpersonal skills and a customer service orientation

• Companies may hire people with very strong technical skills and provide extensive customer service training



• Smart companies let their customers’ needs and expectations driving their hiring decisions

• People who understand that all of these skill sets (business, technical, soft, and self-management) are important will create for themselves the greatest opportunity


Chapter Summary

• There is tremendous demand for technical customer support

• The help desk is the first point of contact for this support

• A successful help desk utilizes all of its assets: people, processes, technology, and information

– People are by far the most important component


Chapter Summary (continued)

• Numerous business trends are influencing the direction in which the help desk industry is heading– Each affects how help desks are run and the

opportunities they present

• The support industry is evolving and its dynamic nature represents a tremendous opportunity for people with the right mix of skills

• Skills needed include business, technical, soft and self-management


Chapter Summary (continued)

• The business skills and technical skills you may choose to develop are wide-ranging and diverse

• Soft skills and self-management skills are somewhat universal

Skills such as listening, communication, and stress-management skills are excellent “life” skills that

will serve you well regardless of your chosen profession!

Chapter 1: Achieving High Customer Satisfaction A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk...

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