5 Effective Help Desk Practices for Better Customer Service

Help desk services are important because they are the lifeline of any customer who does not know how to get a problem solved and therefore can’t continue with their tasks. Customer relations involve balancing responsiveness and operational efficiency. In this post, we’ll talk about five effective help desk practices for better customer service.

1) Use the Right Help Desk Software

Given the right skills and the right methods, help desk staff cannot function well and provide quality work without the usage of the right help desk software. Simply relying on a workbook or a “first aid kit” to resolve user problems may extend the time it takes to retrieve the necessary information. Companies should invest in software that will empower the staff to reach information fast.

2) Employ a Knowledge Base

Related to the help desk software, this technical solution may help solve problems not only of the external customers, but also of the help desk team. Giving the knowledge to users and giving them the access to refer to the solution themselves with a knowledge database, there will be fewer calls expected as simple issues can be solved. Help desk staff  must be able to develop this base to prevent the same problems from recurring and eventually reduce the number of  incidents piling up. This will allow the help desk team to focus on solving more challenging issues.

3) Assess Regularly

Potential for improvement would not be realized without the constant monitoring of the management of the help desk staff. With regular assessment and feedback with regard to performance, the help desk team—like any other back end office operations—will be prompted to utilize the best possible strategies. They can be trained and given certification programs to upgrade their skill sets to have greater proficiency in their jobs.

4) Break Down into Smaller Teams

A help desk team made up of a small number of people will allow for greater efficiency. For instance, twenty people in a team might be too much, especially when only half are considered high-performers. This is the perfect time then to select those who need improvement and team them up with those with greater abilities to enable coaching. Everyone should feel accountable for everyone else, and by helping one another, the team can achieve more.

5) Perform Customer Satisfaction Surveys Regularly

At the end of the call there must be short customer surveys, which are performed to determine the satisfaction level of the customer or client. These results must be reported to a manager who can give feedback to the help desk representative on how to provide better service. Survey reports should be analyzed regularly as well, as not to impede with daily operations.

Help desk team leaders and management must check on the most effective practices and learn about everyone’s competencies, strengths, and weaknesses. This will also provide a platform for discussion of potential areas of improvement.

About the author:

Mishka Tolentino is a business student at University of Westminster. She is a professional writer for SPi Global’s Helpdesk Services. She spends her free time listening to classical music and taking creative snapshots. Follow her on twitter @mishkatolentino.

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