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Help Desk Challenge
Customers Who Bypass Procedures
(and Tech Support Personnel Who Allow It)
Article by Donna Earl
A frequent challenge of internal IT help desks is the
customer who bypasses procedures and the tech support agent who allows
it.
Even in organizations where Service Level Agreements (SLAs) have been
negotiated, customer expectations rarely conform to the SLAs. When an
end user has a problem, they want it fixed, and fixed NOW! They don't
think about SLAs. They only think about getting tech support to fix the
problem immediately. While every help desk wishes they had the resources
to offer immediate service, the reality is they need to prioritize responses
to requests, and require customers to follow a procedure, typically initiating
a ticket.
User expectations must be managed by upfront communication, and also by
support personnel actions. Frequently support agents create challenges
by doing 'favors' for coworkers i.e.fixing their problem without going
through the system, and creating a ticket. This creates two big problems.
First, it 'trains' the user to bypass the system and go directly to a
sympathetic support person. Other priorities in the system are ignored
while the rogue user is accommodated. Often tech support personnel justify
this by saying they're just giving good customer service. While this brand
of customer service suits the rogue user, it is bad customer service for
the user who has submitted a ticket and has to wait longer. Until all
support agents only fix problems with tickets, more and more users will
expect 'favors.' A help desk agent named David said when he is approached
to do a 'favor', he states, "I promise you'll get help with your problem.
Do me a favor, submit a ticket so I'll remember to help, or one of my
team members will make sure your problem is resolved."
A more serious consequence of accommodating user requests and bypassing
the system lies in the underreporting of work. I consulted with an internal
IS help desk for a medical devices company. The agents complained of being
stretched too thin under a heavy workload. They admitted 10 to 25% of
their time was spent doing 'favors', i.e. helping users who had not submitted
a ticket. When their stats for tickets/calls handled were compared to
industry norm, this help desk was within average range. By doing 'favors'
for their colleagues, they were under representing the time they spent
working by up to 25%. With only 75% of their time accounted for, their
manager could not make a case for more resources or personnel.
As tempting as it is for kind hearted technicians to bypass the system
and help a frustrated user just this once, it can become an expectation
with unfortunate consequences.
Copyright © 2009 Donna Earl. All rights reserved.
Donna Earl
is an international expert in Customer Service. She specializes in helping
technical help desks deliver world class customer service. To use or reprint
this article, or for further information about Donna's consulting or training
services, contact us by phone or
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