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Customer service is a critical element in business, and being able to provide customers with assistance when they need it is a key aspect of it. When a customer contacts your company for help, you need to ask yourself if customer service and help desk representatives can answer the customer’s question quickly and accurately.
Oftentimes, help desk representatives rely on spreadsheets and databases to access information about customers, their purchases, order histories, and contact information. When a customer calls in for assistance, a help desk representative might pull out his notebook and a pen to jot down the issue. Then, he will open a database that contains many details of the customer’s history, as well as a spreadsheet containing additional information. This process might take five minutes, especially if the system is running slowly. After accessing the customer’s information, the rep might find that he needs to call a different department to inquire further about the customer’s recent transactions. The customer is placed on hold while the rep makes the call. The customer has now been on the phone for 15 minutes with no answer. When the call center rep finally returns to the caller, he informs the caller he will have to investigate a little deeper and get back to her.
If this scenario sounds even remotely familiar, you might want to consider utilizing a help desk software application. When calling a help desk customers are seeking quick and efficient answers. It is not their intention to be put on hold for a lengthy period of time, only to find out that their questions cannot be answered immediately. This delay in service to the customer could potentially cost a company the customer, as the customer might become so frustrated she decides she would get better service elsewhere. Losing a customer is the last thing a company wants to happen when trying to deliver customer service.
Help desk software applications are designed to help customer service representatives answer customers’ questions with ease and haste. In addition, help desk software applications can reduce the number of help desk representatives needed, as many offer self-service options. Help desk applications can aid your business by providing call management, tracking, knowledge management, and problem resolution options.
Representatives can quickly pull up customer information that is organized and allows them to answer questions without needing to access multiple databases. In addition, help desk software applications can be integrated with popular business applications and phone systems, helping to adapt them to your company’s existing help desk applications and strategies.
In terms of customer relationship management (CRM) and ensuring customer retention, help desk software can greatly help. The applications can help users manage data and information, as well as direct calls and inquiries directly to the right people. Rather than bouncing the customer from help desk to sales department and back to the help desk, some help desk applications can make that determination up-front, eliminating the potential for the customer to be misguided and the service convoluted. Help desk software applications can streamline the customer service experience, making it much more efficient for the customer and the business, and more cost effective for the business.
It has long been said that keeping an existing customer is much more cost effective than seeking new customers. While help desk software applications may not be the solution for everyone, they provide companies with better methods of assisting their customers. By utilizing technology that can enhance customers’ experiences when they contact your company, you are heightening the potential of sustaining a customer relationship and supporting your business.
