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Help Desk Training is Good Business
How Customer Service Skills Deliver Productivity and
Profit
Article by Donna Earl
The temptation in scheduling training for help desks,
especially technical help desks, is to place all emphasis on technical
skills and either ignore training in customer contact skills, or delay
it until we have a budget for it.
Unfortunately while this might equip help desk agents with the technical
skills they need, the fact that they will be dealing with people (customers)
is overlooked. How well the help desk agents communicate with customers
determines the customer satisfaction rating of the interaction, and directly
impacts the customer friendly reputation of the help desk.
Help Desk Training must include a focus on customer service skills. Without
these skills, calls will take longer, help desk professionals will experience
more stress and burn out, and the frustrated customer will take much longer
to hear the solution to the problem and feel less satisfied by the interaction.
Help Desk managers are under increasing pressure to justify the existence
of customer support for either internal or external customers. Many organizations
are tempted to outsource this function, citing economic factors. The effectiveness
and efficiency of the customer support desk can be dramatically improved
through 'soft skills' or customer contact skills training, especially
if this training is targeted to technical agents.
In a class for customer service managers, a participant named Travis represented
the technical help desk for a major telecommunications company. He had
been sent to the class to learn how to force his customer support engineers
to cut off their conversations with customers. In Travis' words, his engineers
were needed to stop answering the 'sensous' questions posed by customers
requesting tech support. When asked to clarify what that meant, Travis
explained. "My engineers are so conscientious. When they've provided the
level of technical support covered by the customer's contract, and the
customer says 'since you's on the phone anyway, I have another question.
. .' my engineers are too nice to cut them off." Thus his help desk was
providing a higher level of service (at greater expense to the organization)
than customers had purchased.
The engineers needed some guidelines for politely, but clearly communicating
what they could provide, while still pleasing the customer. This was accomplished
during a help desk training seminar. Travis also informed sales department
of the excellent customer service levels his help desk had been providing,
and gave sales data to renegotiate customer contracts.
Customer Service skills training for help desks also helps tech support
professionals calm down the frustrated customer more quickly. Agents learn
skills to help the agitated customer explain the problem more clearly,
and quickly assess the customer's level of technical expertise. Help desk
training also shortens call duration, as the skilled agent moves the customer
more quickly from frustration to resolution. Customer satisfaction ratings
improve, as the customer perceives the tech support to be offered in a
customer friendly and effective manner. Help desk training in customer
service helps technical professionals demonstrate their technical skills
by using excellent customer contact skills.
Copyright © 2004 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
email.
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