By the time a user contacts an IT service management help desk, they’re already frustrated about something to do with their software or hardware. The issue may be with something that they can’t understand, or with a technology problem that’s happening on your side. Either way, it’s up to you to respond quickly, and deliver the kind of experiences that drive customer loyalty. 

Knowing how to manage an effective service desk can be the key to maintaining a positive reputation for your brand. At a time when customers are only willing to work with the companies that they can trust to deliver a great experience at all times, it’s important that you have the right processes in place. Failing to meet customer expectations could mean losing out on sales. 

Start with Metrics

The way to ensure that you’re delivering the best results with your help desk software, is to have something that you can measure. Having metrics that allow you to evaluate how your teams manage the end-to-end delivery of IT services to customers will make it easier to spot where the gaps are in your processes. You can even use your metrics to determine whether implementing new software and processes is having a measurable effect on your outcomes. 

Have a Best Practice Policy

Everyone in your team should know how to respond to service requests as quickly and effectively as possible. From the new starters in your staff, to those who have been working on these issues for years, make sure that your team has everything they need to respond well to every ticket. This could mean building a more comprehensive knowledgebase that your team can access when they need to answer complicated questions. It could also mean implementing guidelines for the kind of tools that your teams should be using each day. 

Automate What You Can

Automation is quickly becoming a powerful feature in all parts of the business landscape. While you can’t automate the process of giving someone an excellent service experience completely, you can remove some repetitive tasks from the shoulders of your employees. Automating things like logging requests and setting up a system to automatically route tickets to the right person can streamline your processes. You can even set up an intelligent ticket sorting system that can determine when an issue needs to be escalated to a senior advisor. 

Listen to and Use Feedback

Finally, remember that the best person who can tell you where you need to improve your service solutions is your customer. When your users offer feedback, you should be acting on it. If you’re struggling to get a lot of feedback from your current customers, consider offering them something in return for their guidance. Many companies in the IT industry find that offering additional trial periods or demo features can be a great way to convince customers to reveal useful insights. When you do implement a change based on some feedback that a customer gave, make sure that you let them know that you took their thoughts into consideration.