Help Desk Introduction Guide

QuickSmart

Help Desk Introduction Guide

Breeding Solutions

Juggling too Many Issues to Meet

Your Your Customer Service Commitments?

QuickSmart Help Desk Introduction Guide

______

WHAT IS A HELP DESK? 4

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF A HELP DESK? 6

DO I NEED A HELP DESK? 7

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO FIND OR ESTABLISH A HELP DESK? 8

Market Trends and Sourcing Options 8

Outsource? 9

Insource? 10

HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY BUSINESS TODAY BY STARTING A HELP DESK TOMORROW? 12

What Have I Learned From Reading This Material? 14

WHAT IS A HELP DESK?

The phrase help desk is a universal term, associated with the concept of having a single point of entry within a company setting to handle customer service requests. In essence, the help desk is the communications and knowledge transfer center of any business. The primary responsibility is being the first contact voice that responds immediately to customers worldwide, both internal and external. Help desk staff control the service experience and level of satisfaction of a given situation with the goal to accomplish the following:

· Customer satisfaction / customer retention

· Personal relations

· Technology guidance

· Business posturing

Service delivery is central within the framework of the total enterprise environment. Regardless of the location, the help desk is the portal through which customers form opinions about an entire organization. The image that is created by the help desk reflects who you are and how well you deliver your products and services.

From our perspective, the integrated relationship between the help desk and supporting functions is also critical to achieving ultimate performance in the area of customer service.

The following graphic depicts the processes and functions that are integral to service delivery.

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF A HELP DESK?

A help desk reveals its total net worth based upon diverse, hidden intangible benefits that are difficult to measure, but can be realized. Intangibles are tied to business continuity associated with customer loyalty, business influx, employee / customer retention, and operational flexibility. Value is primarily measured in customer satisfaction and can be quantified in productivity gains and efficiencies such as:

· Increased sales to repeat customers as a result of providing quick, efficient customer service

· Increased sales to new customers as a result of information dissemination and up-selling of products and services

· Changes in product design as a result of input of new ideas from the help desk channeled in through customers

· Reduction of internal stress factors derived from customer feedback that converts to improved operational processes

· Minimize customer productivity interruptions by allowing the help desk staff to handle the technical issues

DO I NEED A HELP DESK?

Most businesses need a help desk of some magnitude. The size and characteristics of a help desk are determined by measuring the level of customer service demands and complaints. Ask yourself these questions:

· What impact does customer service have on the health and financial success of the organization?

· If you had a help desk, would the services they provide increase the effectiveness of your business?

· If you had a help desk, would it improve your customer’s perception of your products and / or services?

In an external customer support environment it is easier to see the role that customer service plays. You have a customer who purchases products and services. If they do not receive adequate support, they are no longer customers. That business and any associated profit margin is lost. It’s been proven over and over that cultivating a new customer relationship is more costly than retaining an existing one.

When we are talking about internal employees of an organization as customers, the positive financial rewards are less visible. What happens if a proposal fails to meet the deadline for distribution, a contract is not signed and delivered on time, or a piece of equipment becomes inoperative? These events certainly affect the bottom line although this productivity loss is not usually formally tracked. It is the responsibility of the help desk to ensure that productivity through the use of technology is maintained at the highest levels possible.

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO FIND OR ESTABLISH A HELP DESK?

Market Trends and Sourcing Options

Outsourcing is a term that means to contract with a service provider who specializes in help desk design, implementation and managed services. Insourcing means the opposite; the help desk function is established within a business structure and is usually a department within the IT function.

According to META Group, Inc. a well-known industry advisory group, help desk outsourcing will continue to grow more than 30% annually. Throughout 2002 more than 65% of corporate help desks will use outsourcing to supplement or replace existing staff, due to outsourcer experience, increased leverage and the use of automation tools.

On the other hand, over 75% of customers are dissatisfied with their current outsourcing arrangement. Research suggests a high number of help desk outsourcing customers “re-insourcing” this function because of dissatisfaction with their outsourcing provider. However, by 2003, it is estimated that more than half of these “re-insourced” help desks will be turned back over to an outsourcer.

From our perspective, the consolidated help desk model encompasses all of the above-mentioned points, with concentration and emphasis in the following areas:

· A customer service infrastructure that offers a single point of contact with a managed and integrated suite of support technologies.

· Revamping the help desk based on customer needs and service objectives.

· Internal or external providers must meet stringent success metrics to have credibility, reduce response time, expedite call resolution time, distribute knowledge and enable customers to resolve their own problems.

· Customer support can only be effectively when delivered in a coordinated manner.

· An effective help desk implementation will be a critical success factor in reducing costs and improving effectiveness.

Outsource?

High turnover rates and increasing demand for help desk services complicate the decision-making process for establishing a service delivery organization. How can you be sure that the current composition of your help desk is positively affecting the service being delivered to your customers?

Do your research and determine the feasibility of advantages / disadvantages to providing internal vs. external customer support. Consider the following:

· Determine what your critical success factors are and ensure that they will be met.

· Ensure that any outsourcing agreement contains very specific results-oriented metrics that are measurable and quantitative.

· Ensure that fundamental items like customer response time and call duration are included.

· The outsourcing company should be held accountable for the customer satisfaction their help desk services offer. This should be negotiated upfront.

Consider the following questions:

· What percentage of first contact resolution is achieved?

· What software is used for request management and problem resolution?

· Can reports be delivered via the Web?

· Are escalation procedures clearly defined?

· What type of performance reporting and frequency will be provided?

· How are the service provider staff trained and kept current in technology advancements?

The billing structure can be established using a variety of pricing models to include:

Per call, resolution, or incident
Per minute
Per end user, per month
Per help desk analyst or associate, per month.

Spikes in coverage, hours of coverage, changes in the environment, and new technology deployments all need to be considered and looked at closely.

One of the more popular methods is a per-seat or per-user pricing model. This pricing model is advantageous to both parties from a planning and cost-savings viewpoint and the service provider’s incentive is to receive fewer calls. The following can be achieved:

· Create a good working relationship between both parties

· Reduce telephone calls and promote self-help

· Promote the use of the “solutions” database by help desk analysts

· Analyze root cause and create new knowledge where possible

· Use web browser for reporting and ticket status

· Identify training opportunities for end customers.

Insource?

If your strategy is to establish an internal help desk model, make sure that company leaders have a thorough understanding of current help desk trends and business processes.

The help desk should have a multi-purpose alignment integrated with the strategic company direction—a defined subset of business goals and objectives relating directly to its services. This direction is often expressed in the form of a team charter. The charter states the help desk mission, vision, core processes, roles and responsibilities, and performance goals. Having the charter in place suggests that sufficient time has been devoted to understanding who the help desk’s customers are and what services should be provided.

A service level agreement (SLA) is a key component and is necessary in setting expectations. An SLA is a negotiated and agreed to contract between the help desk and it’s customers. It quantifies acceptable service levels and outlines when, what, and how services will be delivered.

There are many things to consider in establishing a new help desk or restructuring an existing one. Beginning with the fundamentals of help desk construction, some of the initial questions to be answered may include:

· What are the critical success factors of a help desk?

· What skills are necessary to manage the help desk effectively?

· What is the size and level of computing competence of the customer base?

· Is this type of service currently being provided elsewhere in the organization? If yes, what is the current perception of the service?

· What type of service do customers expect from the help desk? Should the help desk charge for its services?

· What products will be supported?

· How can a strategic help desk be established and its importance conveyed to company leaders?

· What are “best practices” in the help desk industry?

· What should be the core competencies of the help desk?

· How should the help desk be structured and aligned within the company?

· Will the help desk be centralized, decentralized, or virtual?

· How are staffing requirements determined?

· What is an appropriate market value salary structure for help desk analysts, based on level of responsibility or skill set?

· Should outsourcing be considered as a portion / all of help desk services?

· Will the proper funding be available to establish the help desk appropriately?

· Hardware and software standards are important--how can they be established?

· Who should be responsible for customer training?

· What computing platforms will be required for the analysts?

· What automation tools should be selected for service management and knowledge management?

· How can the success of the help desk be measured and monitored?

HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY BUSINESS TODAY BY STARTING A HELP DESK TOMORROW?

Just the fact that you are informing customers of your intent to establish a professional and structured customer support service tomorrow, you will increase your business opportunities today. Customers want to know that they have a voice into an organization that listens to them. With all of the technology available today, the simple reality is that customers still want to contact and communicate with human beings that can empathize and resolve their issues. The concept of a help desk always follows the need to improve customer support and a plan to accommodate that change in a positive manner.

The following case observation depicts an experience in making travel arrangements and is an example of how a help desk can influence customers and impact your business.

Busy professionals fully expect to reserve airline tickets, make restaurant reservations, rent cars, schedule vacations etc. through a pleasant online experience. Companies that do not provide a packaged buying experience that is easy, simple and adventurous online, are losing customers at an alarming rate.

In performing a simple, rental car customer retention analysis, company Web sites were researched and compared with their competitors. Our example is a “customer loss analysis” using minimal variables.

Cost is not necessarily the number one criteria in selecting a rental car company. Therefore, as a consumer, I would probably select a company that offered multiple services channels to obtain information with a quick, accurate response and solution to meet my travel needs.

Let’s make some assumptions and consider the potential loss of a customer to a company that does not provide customers email services as a method to gather pricing information, reserve a car, and complete the transaction:

Assumptions:

The average price of a car rental is $75.00 per day.

The average business traveler rents 6 cars a year.

The average rental time is 3 days.

The sales resistance quotient is 10. (I will tell 10 people that the Web site does not support online customer inquiries.)

Customer loss rejection factor is 50% (Out of the 10 people I tell about 50% will ignore my opinion.)

$75.00 * 3 days = $225.00 per rental experience

6 experiences * $225.00 = $1,350 per year, per customer

$1,350 per year x 10 potential customers = $13,500.00

$13,500.00 * .50 = $6,750.00

$6,750 in lost business by one dissatisfied customer per year

What Have I Learned From Reading This Material?

The goal of this guide is to provide an introduction to the help desk by sharing through our years of experience. We are hopeful that this information will increase your awareness of the strategic benefits of a help desk and have you thinking about your business and customer service needs in a new light.

______

Page 14