Transcript Help Desk Imperatives - International Legal Technology

Help Desk Imperatives
Presented by:
Charlene
Traynor of
Traveling
Coaches
Staffing the Help Desk
LawNet 2001
Roles of the Help Desk
Analyst
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Partner/Shareholder
Problem Eliminator
Communicator
Data gatherer
Expert
Customer Service
Representative
Partner/Shareholder
 Live the Help Desk
Mission
 Provide agreed-upon
services
 Understand priorities
and objectives
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Problem Eliminator
Focus:
Eliminate the reasons
for the calls
Increase uptime of
your customers
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Problem Eliminator
 Identify the problem
 Investigate causes
 Escalate when
necessary
 Work to eliminate
recurring problems
 Watch for trends
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Communicator
 Listen for the problem
 Get resolution to
customer
 Receive feedback
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Communicator
 Liaison between
customers and other IT
areas and management
 Participate in groups to
provide customer input
and collection
information
 Constantly communicate
with peers
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Marketer
 Promote professional
image
 Advertise value of
the Help Desk –
successes and
accomplishments
 Promote effective
use of technology
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Data Gatherer
 Gather and track
data from calls
 Update knowledge
bases
 Identify significant
trends
 Survey customers
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Expert
 Remain current on
technology supported
 The right training at the
right time (before it is
rolled out)
 Attend seminars; join
user groups; read trade
magazines; visit
websites to stay current
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Customer Service
Representative
 Respond positively to
complaints, problems,
frustration, negative and
emotional behavior
 Each customer is an
opportunity – not an
interruption
 Without customers, there
would be no job!
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Skills Required
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Focus
Problem Solving
Proactive Attitude
Communication
Skills
 Technical Skills
 Customer Skills
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Hiring the Skills You Need
Skills Requirement Grid
(Handout/Exercise)
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Where Do You Find Them?
 Don’t limit yourself to
areas of technology
 Look for ability to learn
technical skills
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Where Do You Find Them?
 People who work with people
 People who work with
technology
 Students
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Training Help Desk Staff
 DON’T depend on “on the job training.”
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Encourages learning of other people’s
mistakes
Only teaches one person’s way of using an
application tool – not the full capabilities of
the tool
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Effective Training
 Technical training
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Help Desk tools
Foundation products (LANs and
operating systems)
Products supported by the Help Desk
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Effective Training
 Procedural training
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Your organization’s help desk procedures
General procedures and skills for setting up,
running or improving a help desk
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Effective Training
 Personal Training
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Delivering quality service to customers
Communication skills
Problem solving
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Good Customer Service
 Provide service as
well as solutions
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Answer questions
Solve problems
Provide information
But what about quality service?
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Keys to Quality Service
 Understand and
meet your
customer’s two basic
needs
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Their need for
assistance
Their psychological
needs
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Good Customer Service
 If you fail to meet these
basic needs, you end
up with dissatisfied
customers
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The Call Flow Process
 Greet the Customer
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Answer by third ring
Speak clearly
Undivided attention
Identify yourself and
your department
Smile
Offer help
Use their name
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The Call Flow Process
 Listen
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Listen for central idea
Listen between the
lines
Control emotions
Ignore disruptions
Don’t latch onto key
words
The Call Flow Process
 Listen
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Ask questions
Repeat or paraphrase
Respond with short
messages
Visualize the problem
or situation
Don’t tune out
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The Call Flow Process
 Determine their
needs
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Ask questions
Open ended
questions, i.e., how,
why, when, who, etc.
Close-ended
questions, i.e., yes/no
The Call Flow Process
 Respond to their needs
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Provide empathy statement
Develop action plan
Inform customer of your plans
Explain the steps they are to take
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The Call Flow Process
 Respond to their needs
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Tell them the benefits of your
actions
Indicate a timeframe for results
Make sure customer understands
proposed solution
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The Call Flow Process
 Get agreement
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Why don’t we try this
remedy?
Agreement
encourages customer
to take ownership of
solution
The Call Flow Process
 Conclude the call
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Smile with positive
attitude
Use their name
Review plan of action
Offer further
assistance
Thank you!
Be sure they are
finished
The Call Flow Process
 Follow up as necessary
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With angry callers
When uneasiness is
detected
When service request is
high priority
When a specific deadline
is involved
When several users are
involved
When service request is
assigned to a different
group
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Handling Angry Customers
 Prepare yourself
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Sit up straight
Put a smile on your face
Take a deep breath
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Handling Angry Customers
 Let them vent their anger
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Don’t interrupt
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Handling Angry Customers
 Listen
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Take notes. It forces
you to actively listen
Refer back to your
notes later in your
conversation
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Handling Angry Customers
 Verify for understanding
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Repeat their central message –
word for word
Do not paraphrase
Help to correctly identify the
problem
Repeat description of problem
using their words (they have to
agree with you – right?)
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Handling Angry Customers
Empathize with
them!
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Handling Angry Customers
 Ask what they would like to
have done to solve the problem
 Get agreement
 Apologize
 Conclude the call
 Follow-up
 Take care of yourself!
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Customers’ Unrealistic
Expectations
 Type I - The
customer prepared
to negotiate to get
what he or she wants
 Type II – The
customer who
doesn’t know what to
ask for.
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Customers’ Unrealistic
Expectations
 Greet the customer
 Listen
 Determine if the request is
realistic
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Customers’ Unrealistic
Expectations
 Acknowledge their
dissatisfaction
 Empathize with them
 Explain the
consequences and
risks
 Offer alternatives
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Customers’ Unrealistic
Expectations
 Get agreement
 Conclude the call
 Follow up as necessary
 Take care of yourself
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“Magic” Phrases
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Please . . . . Thank You
I was glad to help
Thank you for calling
Just call the Help Desk
anytime and we will be
glad to assist you
 SMILE!
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Motivating Help Desk Staff
 Recognize their needs
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Achievement
Learn new things
Challenge
Meaningful work
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Five Ways to Motivate Help
Desk Staff
1. Assign projects that
require learning
new tasks, working
under time
pressures, dealing
with new groups of
people
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Five Ways to Motivate Help
Desk Staff
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Assign small-scope jumps
and fix-its which emphasize
team building, individual
responsibility, dealing with
the boss, encouraging
subordinates, managing
time pressure
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Five Ways to Motivate Help
Desk Staff
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Make small
strategic
assignments which
emphasize
presentation and
analysis skills
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Five Ways to Motivate Help
Desk Staff
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Have your team do
coursework and/or take
on coaching assignments
that require learning
something new and are
intellectually challenging,
both of which lead to
heightened selfawareness
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Five Ways to Motivate Help
Desk Staff
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Have your staff
undertake activities away
from work that
emphasize individual
leadership skills, working
with new people, and
learning how to influence
and persuade
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Writing Policies and
Procedures
 The Purpose of
Rules and
Guidelines
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So What Does That Mean to
the Help Desk?
 Consistency
 Correctness of
service
 Customers
make better use
of Help Desk
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The Cost of Not Having
Documentation
 Impractical learning
processes
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Word of mouth
Testing the waters
Trial by fire
Being thrown to the
wolves
Where to Begin
 Know your work environment
 Distinguish between Policy,
Procedure, and Task
 Formula for clear and concise
instruction
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What Is Your Work
Environment Like?
 Support environments include
internal, external, consumer,
technical, etc.
 Product of support environment
is problem solving
 Measured by customer
satisfaction
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What Is Your Work
Environment Like?
 How does work flow through
the support system?
 Establishing and
documenting policies,
procedures and tasks
standardizes mechanisms
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How to Make Writing Work
If you cannot say what you
mean, then you can never
mean what you say.
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Writing Style
 Effective
communication
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Writing Style
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Clear and concise
message
Effective
sentences
Avoid passive
verbs and lifeless
actions
Writing Style
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Avoid vague modifiers
Use definite headings
Test the 6 W’s
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Writing Style
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Page layout
Write like you speak
Standardized format of documentation
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Policies*Procedures*Tasks
 Policy illustrates a management decision
 Procedure lists the consecutive steps a
team takes to complete an action
 Task lists consecutive steps a person
takes to complete a procedure step or a
series of related actions
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Keep Policies, Procedures
and Tasks Simple
 Policy - What should
be done
 Procedure - Who
does what and when
 Task - How to do it
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Getting People to Use
Procedures
 Keep procedures as short and simple as
possible
 Keep procedures in central location
 Regularly review and revise procedures
 Have Help Desk create procedures
 Make sure Help Desk staff understand
their role in each procedure
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Getting People to Use
Procedures
 Common Procedures
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Handling a call
Resolving a problem
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Getting People to Use
Procedures
 Common
Procedures
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Answering a
question
Servicing a
request
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Getting People to Use
Procedures
 Common Procedures
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Handling an
emergency
Informing customers
of system problems
Reporting
Internal processes
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Marketing the Help Desk
(to Management and Customers)
 Increases appreciation
and support to deserved
level
 First step is to determine
how Help Desk is
perceived by
management and
customer
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Building a Marketing Plan
 Create realistic
objectives
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Customer
oriented
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Building a Marketing Plan
 Identify customer
needs
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Customer base
analysis
Surveys
Customer visits
Customer focusing
Problem solvers
Customer needs report
Building a Marketing Plan
 Establish image and profile harmony
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Determine the Help Desk’s image
Get it right
Management information
Strategic positioning
Help Desk
Survey
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Building a Marketing Plan
 Evaluate marketing
tactics
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Advertising
Posters
Marketing gifts
Presentations
Seminars
Newsletter
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User Guides
Help Desk tours
Open Houses
Performance reports
Management information
Information packs
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Building a Marketing Plan
 Implement the strategy
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Review the situation
Select marketing tactics
Structure the approach
Prepare the plan
Implement the plan
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Building a Marketing Plan
 Maintain the strategy
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Customer care
Customer account
management
Management
briefings
Management
information
Aiming for perfection