The Bloody Service Desk

You know the scene… it is 9.15; the office staff are furtively munching toast and slurping tea (there is a no eating at the desk mandate in our office) and one of the staff is having a good old moan to his colleague…

“I just called the service desk for an update on that issue I raised yesterday and they can’t even tell me when someone will have a look at it! Bloody service desk, they’re all useless!”

His colleague replies…

“I know, you’re better just sorting it yourself…or asking that engineer with the long hair, he’ll just come and do it. I don’t know where they get that lot from…dismal!”

Remarkable, isn’t it? You would often think, when listening to this sort of feedback, that IT Managers have a knack otems, make sure they spend some time with your vital business functions and make this an ongoing activity.

Respect

Give them some! A great way to allow your desk staff to earn it is simple. Make sure that key people in each department and your senior mangers are obliged to spend at least one day a year on your desk. Thereafter they will hold your staff in high esteem. Believe me; nothing sharpens the mind to the plight of the service desk like the experience of taking a call from a user, or even listening in to one. It’s a magical vivification of understanding to watch. Former critics suddenly see the reality and for a short time at least, a newfound admiration for the service desk is born.

Governance

Then there is remit to consider. All IT functions need to know their delivery expectations: what they should do; for whom; how quickly; and when. The best way of consolidating this information is through Service and Operational Level Agreements (SLAs and OLAs). These define the expectations and requirements of the users and customers that IT staff and the service desk can reasonably achieve (with their resources and ability) and can be measured against.

Many organisations claim to be following ‘best practice’ and have agreements in place to govern the expectation of IT providers, but they tend to be documents that have been formalised by people who don’t use the service and don’t know what their users actually need to allow them to carry out their business process. Furthermore they define expectations that are neither achievable, nor measurable: SLAs that are wholly deficient. The final indignation is that these documents are often locked in a senior manager’s briefcase or cupboard and once signed, never see the light of day, get reviewed or become available to the users for whom they have been designed!

How can anyone feel anything other than annoyance for a service desk whose remit and objectives are shrouded in mysticism?

The key is to define efficient, ‘living’ SLA and OLAs that are continually reviewed; affirming that they meet business needs and are achievable and measurable. Making them available to everyone (including users and service desk staff) is also necessary.

Management commitment

Finally, Management Commitment: I know I have already mentioned this, but it is crucial in making sure that the service desk is venerated appropriately. By management commitment I mean more than funding the desk. After the initial investment it is imperative that senior managers ‘walk the walk’ not just ‘talk the talk ’on behalf of the service desk function. Support the service desk, understand and respect their remit. Back their decisions, extol their virtues and conform to due process like all other users.

The service desk will fail to be successful if senior managers (and their PAs!) don’t respect its position. The service desk should have a defined remit, critical and non-critical services to support, agreements to conform to, priorities to commit to and a host of activities to complete to keep the wheels in motion. Senior managers should not be allowed to ‘jump the queue’ for non-critical requests. It is essential in developing and maintaining a good desk that senior managers commit to and support the agreements that govern it. If the service desk is delivering service in accordance with the SLAs then they should be meeting the needs of all parties, even your senior management team, so there should be no need for nepotistic behaviours that will only serve to deliver the wrong messages to the rest of the organisation.

The great service desk

In summary, the most important factors supporting the creation of a great service desk are:

> Correct people
> Appropriate salary
> Tools
> Ongoing training
> Respect
> Provide governance
> Demonstrate management commitment!

So, next time you hear someone lamenting about the ‘bloody service desk,’ ask yourself…

Why is the service desk often perceived in this way? Are the staff really uniquely inane and deliberately obtuse or is it actually because we haven’t chosen the right people or provided them with the skills, tools and support they need to allow them to deliver service that meets the needs of their users.

Never underestimate the importance of the service desk. The correct level of investment in this uniquely important function can provide your organisation with an excellent asset.

If you can get it right they can serve you well, and not just by answering you calls for IT assistance. They can actually provide a broad range of services, everything from training and coordinating issues to providing a communications portal, collating management information and gauging that all important user perception.

If the investment in the service desk is correct so much can be achieved, a valuable support function, the window to your IT services. Let’s get rid of the ‘bloody service desk’ once and for all!

www.nes.co.uk

 

http://www.nes.co.uk

Get Customers to Stop Calling You--12 Easy Ways to Save Money with Online Customer Support

Despite rumors to the contrary, the Web is not dead. More people are using it, they have faster bandwidth, and in many cases Net-time is taking over TV- time. It's no wonder more users are turning to the Net for help, rather than the telephone. So why not take advantage by offering your customers help online after the sale? Given that the average customer care call is $33, it's a great way to please customers that prefer the Web over a phone queue and save money too.

Not that you ever want to drive customers away. After all, keeping a good customer is a whole lot cheaper than acquiring a new one. The idea is to move the majority of calls to self-help and reserve quality time for those customers that need to speak to a real person. If you guide certain customers towards answering questions themselves, make it a good experience, and offer incentives for usage, self-help will be their first choice.

The type of online support required for each customer and for each problem may be different, so it's best to provide a range of self-help options and let customers choose what works for them. Online support comes in many forms, but for now we'll focus on the least expensive FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), Enhanced FAQs, discussion boards, and email. It's better to start with a few options first, and do them well, rather than trying to do everything at once. Offering a good help experience to people who use the Web regularly makes them more likely to turn to the Web for assistance again and again.

1. Determine Your Online Support Strategy Figure out what's going to give you the biggest bang for the buck, then add on. Having a plan will help ensure that each support component works within a cohesive whole. Generic information can be easily handled with FAQs or Enhanced FAQs. More complex or customer-specific information requires advanced technologies. If you don't have the expertise or time to build the functionality yourself, look into Web service providers who can create and host applications for you.

2. Focus and Target Don't try to create online support to cover every subject. Consider customer demographics to determine who will use the service, why they would use it, what they would need, and what would get them to use it. Customers ordinarily will use a combination of both online and offline support options, so build use cases for each target customer segment to gain an understanding of their behavior and how to improve their overall experience.

3. Tell Customers Where to Go Make sure links to the help section are clearly communicated at every touch point, such as on printed material and through IVR systems. Familiarize your sales and phone reps with the site and its benefits, as in, "Did you know that we have a website that shows you how to do that?" Offer customers incentives to encourage first time usage and let them get in the short phone queue if they try self-help before calling.

4. Make Help Easy to Find at Your Site If you don't provide a direct link to help, make it an obvious click away from your home page and other appropriate pages.

5. Give them Options Even if a customer visited the site only in search of contact information, there's no reason why you can't try to resolve their problem while they're there, saving both of you a phone call. Briefly describe what is offered through self-help, how it works, and what they can expect. You don't want customers to waste their time looking for information that isn't there.

6. Should I Give Them My Number? You should always make contact information available, but the extent to which you delay publishing it will depend on your target customers and your support strategy. For example, if you can respond to the majority of visitor questions with generic information and your goal is to maximize self-help use, then delay, driving visitors to use self-help first. On the other hand, if many of your customers require custom treatment and you want the opportunity for personal contact, as with brokerage services, you may want to make phone numbers readily available.

7. Start with Simple FAQs Answer the questions customers ask most often. Don't worry about trying to answer every possible question. Build your list from customer questions received via your customer reps, email, and keywords searched at your site. Organize the information into a standardized format, write clearly, and don't try to sell your customers anything. This is not the place and time. You can always provide navigation links to sales information. If the FAQs are long, add an easy to use index or search function.

8. Give It to Them Straight Make sure the information you provide avoids jargon and terms they would need to search elsewhere to find. Leverage the technologies available with HTML to provide definitions via rollovers to help customers get the information they need faster.

9. More than Just the FAQs Expand on your FAQs by providing images and interactivity. Imagine how much easier it would be to show pictures detailing a car battery installation or a bicycle assembly, rather than explaining it with words alone. Involving the user through interactivity improves learning and results in a more positive experience, which means they'll use self-help again.

10. Get Them Talking Get customers to search and answer questions themselves via a discussion board. Harvest information from the boards for your FAQs.

11. e-Mail with Caution Use e-mail, but be sure you have the resources to respond in a timely and effective manner. If you set up the expectation that it takes too long to get a response, customers are going to lose confidence in the service and not use it again. Be careful about using automated email responders as well. If customers have to wait and still don't get the specific help they need, the best you can hope for is frustrated customers. More likely you'll end up paying for this lapse in customer service in the form of phone support and lost future sales.

12. Survey Says Let customers tell you what they need. It's the best way to make improvements to your online customer support. Ask a few simple follow-up questions through an online survey, but keep it short and simple. Respect your customers' time.

Robbin Block is President of PictureSez, Inc., which gives companies an easy way to enrich their websites with picture-based, online customer support. Whether for how-to instructions or FAQ's, our browser-based authoring tool allows you to 'show' your customers what to do-- without any programming. Visit http://www.picturesez.com or mailto:rblock@picturesez.com.

4 Easy Steps to Better Online Customer Support

Customer support is very important when you're running a business, whether your business is on or off the net. If your customer support is hopeless, you'll soon find your customers running away from you and worse, telling others to stay away too.

If you're like many of us out there, the last thing you want to do is to spend the whole day replying to customer support emails. Here are 4 easy steps to help improve your customer support and at the same time reduce the time you spend replying to queries. The trick here is to help your customers help themselves before you help them.

- Step 1: Start with a Knowledge base / FAQs

The first step to your support system is to set up a knowledge base or, if you have a quite straight forward product, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section. This will save you a lot of time. Your customers will also be happier since they can find answers to their questions immediately. If you're just starting out, it is still a good idea to set up a knowledge base/FAQs. Just sit down and think of all the possible questions that your customer would ask. Maybe not all. Start with a few and you can always add more to it as time goes by.

- Step 2: Set up a Forum

A forum is a great addition to your customer support system. The forum should be the second place your customer would turn to for help. A lot of people associate a forum to discussions, moderating, a lot of work and a headache to maintain. This is only true if you use a forum as a discussion area.

Instead, you should use it as a customer support tool. Just create different forum categories for eg., pre sale questions, member questions, one category for each product. A forum is an excellent way to provide customer support because:

 

• There is a search function for the customer to find related posts
• You could easily set up a forum for free. Most good web hosts now has a one click forum installation function.
• You don't have to worry about your replies being caught by your customers' email filters
• If you get a question you've answered before, just give them a link to the answer in another post.
• Usually, other forum members are willing to answer a question that they've managed to solve ... for free.
• Hiring extra help is as easy as adding a new moderator.

 Step 3: Install a Ticket help desk

Not all queries can be handled via a knowledge base and a forum. Sometimes there is a need for your customers to send you private information such as usernames and passwords.

When a situation like this arises, you will need a way for your customers to send you the information without others being able to see it. One of the best ways to handle this is to set up an online ticket help desk.

A ticket help desk system will allow your customers to create a user account and log a ticket into your system. They can then send whatever information they need to send. You can even allow them to attach files. Most good help desks will also allow you to prepare pre-written responses for repetitive queries.

Again, a good web host would also have some kind of help desk script installation available at a click.

- Step 4: Use a good email software

And finally, you have the good ole e-mail. Which should be the last thing your customers resort to. After implementing the above three systems, you will find a remarkably reduced amount of e-mails you need to reply to. Customers are getting wiser. Most know that e-mails are seldom replied to. So, they would only resort to this as a last resort.

Don't make a mistake of putting your email address on your web site. Use a form. With email filters rampant on the net, also remember to inform your customers that your e-mail may be trapped by their email filter.

There you go. Just set these up and you'll find your customer support a lot easier to handle.

Bina runs the WebSite Workshop that provides tools & training to help newbies build web sites. Subscribe to Bina's ezine 'WebBriefcase!' & get your free course on "How to Make Your Own Web Site in 7 Easy Steps" mailto:subscribe@website-workshop.com

Importance of Good Customer Support in Online Computer Peripherals Shops

Looking for hi-fi computer peripherals? Finding it tough to decide on the product you need to purchase? Not sure about the models that are available? Not sure about the configuration that would best suit your need? Worried that your budget might not fetch you your long dreamt hi-fi? Just relax!! There are many great world class online computer peripherals shopping centers. They offer you not only the best computer peripherals but also friendly online help in their world class online computer peripherals shopping sites. All that you have to do is to avail all the help you need in terms of the counseling you would require on the purchase of the right computer peripherals. These websites have always-available customer support agents’ usually just one click away. The ones that are successful have provided exceptional customer support available online which is dedicated to make their customers feel delighted and satisfied. Because they have learnt the business mantra very well - Their success lies in their customers’ satisfaction.

The main criterion you should look out when dealing with an online shop is whether the online customer support is designed to help the wary customers in product counseling and budget counseling. They should have trained agents who will be able to give you guidance on the computer peripherals that would best suit you. In terms of budget counseling, their agents should be able to choose the most cost effective solution for your need. Any good shop would train their online customer support agents out of their longstanding experience. Look out for the availability of online customer support agents who are readily available to resolve your billing related queries and your shipping related queries. These are the shops you should be buying the products as they can offer the needed assistance post sales.

You got to ask the following questions: What is special about their online computer peripheral site? Is it the price? Is it the quality of the products? Or is it something more than that that makes them popular? Apart from all these usually, it is something more than that, that makes them popular and the most sought after online computer peripheral stores. The website should make you feel important you are not left on your own to be lost in the complicated technical configurations and specifications of the products which often most of the users find difficult to translate it in terms of meeting their practical requirements. The online customer support agents should listen to your requirements and should be happy to counsel you on the product, configuration that would best suit your need.

The website should be flooded with the latest technology products which also maintain consistency in offering the latest technology customer support. Ages have changed and everyone is expected to move along with the time. The same applies for maintaining a website and keeping the customers happy. It requires dedication blended with a sense of service.

Though still used in many websites, customer support offered through telephone has become a headache for both the customers and the companies that offer the support. Making calls to toll free numbers and waiting for long minutes have become obsolete. We understand our customers better and are aware how tired and frustrated they feel about making calls just to hear a monotonous reply – “Your call is in queue please wait”. Live chat customer support has changed the situation. Immediate response accompanied by valuable suggestions has become the specialty of having live chat customer support on websites. But this doesn't apply to all great websites as the toll free support is relatively good. You should look for a good customer support that you prefer, if you want phone, email, snail mail or chat you should look out for the shop that offers the right support like the one you prefer.

One good online Computer components and peripherals store that offers great support is the theredhotgroup.com. You can also take a look at the training packages offered in redhottraining.com

A New Type of Customer Support

We all know getting into some of the major stores such as Barney's, Saks and Neimans new Cusp stores can be great exposure, volume and really express the legitimacy of your brand.

But now more than ever you'll see smaller pointedly stylish local boutiques are becoming the new barometer for what's golden in the contemporary market.

My advice...see what retailers tickle your brand's fancy and start your sales efforts at the top of the boutique food chain. If you don't...hence deciding to let your sales efforts run themselves you'll find yourself placed in a lot of stores that are less than......and manage to make yourself a little less desirable.

Example: Think after school special...new girl in school decides to go out with every guy that asks for her phone number. Well she probably will never be able to date the captain of the football team. Unfortunately she lost her appeal.

But lets take it the other way around....New girl, lands the captain of the football team, notwithstanding him being totally blind she's instantly branded as the most beautiful thing walking... resulting in a lot more options if they should ever should every break up.

Excuse me for my teenybopper example but the point is to have a strategy and realize that it is in fact one of the most important parts of your brand launch. You'll want to be able to proudly publicize your store list and have your sales in essence do some marketing for you.

So where are these stores? There are boutiques all over the country you'll find are mentioned again and again in the press. Browse through the pages of US Weekly, Life and Style, Vogue, Elle, InStyle....you'll quickly see who is making a name for themselves and are creating a new definition of customer support.

Here are a few of my favorites.....

Mini Majors:
Scoop NYC and Intermix

LA Local Legends:
Fred Segal, Lisa Kline, Kitson

Other Fresh Faces:
Milk, Presse, Diavolina, Madison

Web Masters:
Shop Bop, Active Endeavors

Ralinda Harvey is the owner of Gloss Marketing, marketing and merchandising firm specializing in contemporary fashion companies. Ralinda has worked in merchandising and marketing for Michael Stars as well as Gap Inc. brands Gap and Old Navy. She has also served as an adjunct marketing instructor at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.

She currently consults a network of clients while conducting fashion marketing seminars with organizations such as Fashion Business Inc.

Website: http://www.glossmarketing.com
Blog: http://www.glossmarketing.com/blog/

So Your Starting An Online Buisness? Check For Customer Support First

Starting an Online Business is easier then you think. There are several work at home opportunities that are available. Anything from writing about your own niche related topic to Ad Marketing to Male Enlargement Opportunities. Although most people probably look for a cost friendly avenue to pursue, there is one major detail we all seem to over look. It should be the first thing we look for and we all assume it is there, but it may not be as present as we think. That would be Customer Support.

The last thing you need to find out is not there when starting an online business, is that there is no customer support. It is all fine and dandy to purchase a product for $10 a month, but does it provide all that you need? So yes, it may provide emailing capabilities, server space and auto responders. But if you have questions is there a purchasers forum? Better yet, are you allowed in the forums before you buy the product? Are there any responses to questions you send? How do you take advantage of that "Money Back Guarantee" if you ever need it?

These are the top questions we should all be asking when starting an online business. You may think you will never need to use customer support but at some point even if it is years down the road, you will need it. The last thing you need to find out when beginning your venture, is that your questions are just not important enough to see human eyes because it is a computer automated responder that takes the message. Internet Marketing is HUGE right now. Everyone wants a piece of the work at home pie.

With 70% of people thinking of starting an online business and several making money at it, why not? That is a very high number. But they are only thinking about it. That means they are likely researching about it. Which means a lot of web surfing. Equals a lot of sales gimmicks and having to give up your personal email just to see what is behind "Door # 1". And when you do finally begrudgingly sign your email away and enter the life of starting an online business, it may not be all the peaches and cream we have hoped for. Seems like the most common entry page is another sales page.

Offering free e-zine subscriptions and showing you "Do not take it From Us, here is So and So and their success Story" ads. Then when you scroll down to the bottom, it does not mention anything of customer support or how to find it if you need it. There is a lot of different payment options, signs about a money back guarantee, and "if you buy now get $350 worth of additional products FREE"! And this is fantastic when starting an online business. We want to know that our investment is protected and we all love free stuff. But maybe what we should be asking first is how to contact customer support if there is ever a problem.

Take the major companies of the world. If there was no customer support they would never make it. Someone somewhere will have a question that needs to be answered. If you are starting an online business and you will be selling or promoting a product, are you going to ignore any and every question that comes your way? I doubt it. Although in society today, it seems like we are not as people friendly as we once where, there is something to be said for customer support. A happy customer talks. An irate customer talks, emails, and messages anyone and everyone about their experiences with a name and company attached.

Customer support is the front lines between you and who you will be dealing with. If there is little to no services, there will be little to no recurring business. Word will get around quickly that customer support stinks. We are a freedom of speech society that allows us to say what we want to anyone who will listen in any manner we choose, within reason of course. Nobody needs a lawsuit.

Word of Mouth is Queen in the business world and people listen closely for great customer support but remember names and companies for the worst experiences. When starting an online business, this is no different. Do your homework and ask questions. Yes, several people make it doing little to no research on a specific item, but do you want to promote something you do not care about? Or are you okay with your website "Going on Autopilot" and still making you money while you do the 9-5? Whatever avenue you decide to pursue when starting an online business remember customer support is King.

Celeste uses Site Build It for all of her web master needs. As the creator of little-known-food-facts.com, Celeste has spent hours researching foods and their effects on people. She has taken this information and is promoting a healthy lifestyle while working from home and raising her two young children.

This has been a dream come true for Celeste as she is able to pursue her passions of cooking, writing and photography all from one spot. Find out more on how you can create your own healthy lifestyle and how to begin your own work at home opportunity here.

Does your Organization Ensure Linkage Between Marketing And Customer Support?

Do you know whether your organization ensures linkage between Marketing and Customer Support? Your customers do. Here's how.

Your customer responds to a banner/email/chat/phone call advertisement. The person they interact with has no idea of the product or service, so the customer does one of the following.

a) Hangs up/disconnects/closes browser
b) Waits patiently
c) Waits impatiently while the customer support agent finds someone who might help
d) Uses Google to find another source for the product or service

If your customer's solution is either "a." or "d." you have missed your window of opportunity to acquire or retain that customer. This results in wasted marketing budget and lower customer satisfaction.

This scenario takes place when Service Centers and the Marketing department don't work together to jointly plan marketing programs. Some companies think they can get an edge on the competition by moving the Service Center to the Marking department, but just making this move doesn't ensure that the customer service team will be ready when the marketing for the latest product or service generates the first customer response.

Each customer marketing initiative requires a significant investment of resources to generate the desired customer response, and each customer touch point is a moment of truth for that initiative. Your company has only a small window of opportunity to successfully deliver the message and convey why it matters to the customer.

Here are some Best Practices Strategies to consider to prevent situations like the one above as well as to integrate your Service and Support Organization to deliver value for your Marketing spend.

1) Design success metrics, measures and customer satisfaction surveys based on methodology, i.e. response rates, conversions, sales and customer acquisition.
2) Jointly plan for the important dates: mail drops, banner ads, TV, print and email blasts to plan staffing and training needs. Include outbound contacts if needed.
3) Plan agent training to include scripting, scenarios, FAQ's, and tools required to successfully complete the transaction.
4) Ensure IVR/VRU has correct messaging and routing set up prior to first call. Test.
5) Include customer service agents in the process for Voice of Customer insight.
6) Establish formal cross-organizational feedback processes between all key stakeholders. Agenda items include performance, recommendations and action items to make the necessary adjustments to ensure program success.
7) Ensure the end-to-end initial marketing through completed transaction process drives brand awareness, recognition and linkage to products and services.
8) Determine whether you will survey customers, and if yes, that you measure overall program success and opportunities for improvement.

Your Service and Support Organization and Marketing departments can deliver your desired program results when they jointly plan programs. These programs are even stronger when they include success measures and intentional plans for service delivery.

Les Hyde has an extensive leadership background in customer service and IT operations with two Fortune 500 companies and the United States Air Force. He holds a B.S. in Information Systems from Park University, an MBA from University of Phoenix, and numerous technical certifications. He is an active board member of the Kansas City Association of Customer Contact Professionals (http://www.associationccp.com/) and also serves as the Vice President of Marketing.

Ticket Management System - All The Customer Support Services?

You may already have a flourishing online business, but in case you believe that further progress is being curtailed due to the ever-increasing number of customer support requests, it's recommended that you opt for a ticket management system as soon as possible. Installing a ticket management system will help you a lot because it will automate all of your vital business tasks such as replying to customer generated queries and complaints. It will also be a great help to your customers because then they will easily be able to create support requests and monitor status updates by using any of the preferred mediums such as email, web forms, phone, support site, fax and postal mail.

A ticket management system offers varied benefits, but if we were to make a list of the most prominent benefits, it would most likely include substantial timesavings and increased efficiency. This would become a possibility because after you install the ticket management system, you will no longer be required to reply individually to each and every support request that reaches you. All you have to do is configure the system as per your needs and preferences. The system will then automatically classify each incoming support requests into different categories based on your set criterions. This way you will be able to concentrate more on the most important requests and post generic replies for less important support requests.

Another important benefit is that you will be able to make a substantial reduction in your operational costs as related to the management of customer support services. What is even better is that cost savings will always be a possibility irrespective of the size of your business. If you have a small business, you will be able to save by handling all the customer support services on your own whereas if you have a large enough business, you will save by limiting the number of support executives you hire. What's notable is that you will be able to do all these without compromising the quality of your customer support services.

Looking at the benefits, you might be tempted to believe that ticket management systems are costly, but you can rest assured because most of the highly effective ticket management systems are quite affordable. What is even better is that free trial versions are available, which you can use to select the most appropriate ticket management system. You have basically nothing to lose, so just go for it.

If you need a powerful solution for your support make sure you check out the Premium Response Ticket Management System for more info.

Customer Support Software - What Is The Customer To Do In Such A Case?

It is quite prominent in many organizations to have a well-established customer support. A customer support is very essential for the smooth functioning of an organization, especially when it comes to handling customer queries. It is obvious that when a customer buys and uses your product or service, there is a possibility that he will be confused relating to some aspect of the product or the service. This confusion may arise due to some simple problem or some technical problem that a customer is not familiar with. What is the customer to do in such a case? It's simply not possible for him to go the store to get his problem sorted out, especially if the customer has ordered the product or the service from a different country itself. This is exactly where a customer support software comes to use for a company.

A customer support software acts as a link between the company and the prospective or the existing customers in order to provide solutions in a fast and effective manner. Due to the competitive nature of the business, business owners are vying to grab the attention of the customers and the only way to achieve this is working on improving the customer relationship. If the customers are satisfied with your company's services, it simply means that you can be a part of the rat race and aim to be in the big leagues among the major players of business. The customer support software can be really convenient for the company because it uses the web as a platform and the trouble ticket system as well as an online helpdesk to tend to the customer's queries and solve their problems.

It is sad when you still see some businesses using the traditional way of interacting with the customers with the help of phone lines and fact that is even more surprising is that most of these companies put their customers on hold when they're amassed with continuous calls. This often results in the company losing out its valuable customers thereby affecting the business considerably. A customer support software is probably given the first priority by most businesses because unlike the traditional times, customers have started interacting online, which makes it important for the companies to adhere to the customers' online demands. The software uses both, the trouble ticket system and the helpdesk, which provides both, a friendly interface that the customers can interact with and concept of trouble ticket, which prioritizes the service requests of the customers and makes sure that the problem is solved within the set time. The best thing about the customer support software is that it also gives priority to the customer feedback as well as their suggestions that can be used by the company to improve its functioning.

If you need a powerful solution for your support make sure you check out the Premium Response Customer Support Software for more info.

Customer Support Solution - Does It Make A Difference?

Starting your own online business may seem to be the most lucrative option. But, if you really want to make a difference, then you will have to do a lot more than you can possibly perceive. You see, the success of your online business basically depends on how well the customers take to your products or services.

This is why you need to do everything in your capacity that will help in satisfying customer needs and expectations. Quality and pricing may still play the dominant role, but other than that, the thing that matters most is the effectiveness of your customer support services.

This is often the main headache for small time operators simply because, most of them often do not have the requisite funds as is necessary for starting and operating a full-fledged customer support center. Even if they do manage somehow, it does not help much because they have to share their profits with the outsourcing company.

However, you need not worry too much, because cheaper yet highly effective customer support solutions are now available in the market. You just have to go and get one.

There are many options available, but if you are looking for something that provides the best value, then just invest in a customer support software package. These packages are designed to automate your customer support services, making it possible for you to spend your precious time and effort on more productive activities.

You may not be able to visualize it initially, but you will easily see the benefits of using these software systems in just a week or two. You will no longer have hundreds of unread messages in your inbox, but you will find mostly customer queries, suggestions, feedbacks and complaints.

The software will automatically lead your customers to what they might be looking for, thereby doing away with the need to send emails to your inbox. Another benefit is that you will get protection from spammers that are always on the lookout for new mail ID's.

Make it a point, to send hundreds of mail messages over to the recipient. In effect, you will never again see spam mails in your inbox, if you opt for a customer support software package.

The good thing about customer support solutions is that most of them are available at affordable rates, making them the perfect option for small time operators such as you. What is even better is that most of them are available as free trials, allowing you to test the software before you actually invest your hard-earned money in buying it.

So, if you want the best results, just download some of the free trials and test them. You can then easily select the one that best suits your needs and requirements.

If you need a powerful solution for your support make sure you check out the Premium Response Customer Support Solution for more info.

Customer Support Solution - The Way To Go About Your Business?

Customer support solution is usually unheard of by small enterprises. Well, actually, they just ignore it, since setting up a customer support service proves to be quite costly in terms of both, time as well as money. That’s not the case anymore is it, especially now that the Internet is finally here to stay.

There is vast competition among companies, big and small alike and it’s almost like a rat race in which you could just be the underdog. Getting the customer’s attention is the easy part; the tough part is when you have to manage them. Customer support solutions were known to be really costly where you could have hurt your pockets real bad, but that not the case anymore.

For advocating a good customer solution, there are many softwares available in the market as well as on the Internet. The software is an ideal package that can help you to manage all of your customers online. Communications is an essence needed for your business to grow and reach new heights.

Software packages like the customer support software provides rapid interaction with the customers. The reason for adopting these softwares is simple. Sometimes, it becomes very difficult to answer hundreds of customer e-mails at one go. What this software does is that it analyses the customer’s queries and directs them to the solutions such as the FAQ board, quotations of your products, etc. If the problem is related to something technical, the customer query is automatically forwarded to your technical staff. A CSM (Customer Support Management) system is an important asset for any enterprise. An effective knowledgebase is an important aspect in this matter.

Customers are always looking for new information and your knowledgebase system should take care of that. Customer support solution is nothing but a software support provided to the company to make its work more coordinated and deliver quick results. Apart from the customer support softwares, an additional feature that you can provide to your customers is live chat. When we talk about live chats make sure that you get the best of your technical staff for engaging into customer interaction.

This feature makes handling customer queries much easy and faster to handle. This is a perfect feature for those customers who just need to clear some doubts about the product or service. A customer support software combined with the live chat feature can offer you the perfect customer support solution that you always needed to maintain good customer relationships.

In this day and age, customer satisfaction is the sole motive of any web entrepreneur. To take care of a businessman’s needs, there are many customer support software available in the market as well as on the Net. So what are you waiting for, these softwares are very much affordable and you can spend more time focusing on different productive ideas and techniques to grow your business. All you have to do now is go get one.

If you need a powerful solution for your support make sure you check out the Premium Response Customer support solution for more info.

Will A Customer Support Software Improve Your Life And Well Being?

Customer Support Software is a software solution that handles issues about certain products and services. The software is based online and uses the 'help desk' and 'trouble ticket' system to help and assist customers. An essential component of a marketing strategy and business, customer support software is highly productive in customer service management.

A more traditional method of offering customer-service was through an interstate, low toll phone line. However, as businesses grew and spread over the Internet, customer service came online and is easily accessible now to customers 24/7. An online customer service solution easily assures satisfaction to customers who are constantly seeking help and answers to their queries.

Custom support software is stand-alone software and can easily handle customer upkeep. In many organizations, it is used to integrate and stabilize the functioning of multiple channels, deliver response to multiple users, allocate distinctive task assignments and alarm systems to set alerts and escalation.

On the front-end, the software offers a friendly interface to handle email responses, offering priorities through the 'trouble ticket' system and assigning unique service requests. In advanced packages, the software even offers a separate inbox that can be used to browse customer queries, suggestions, feedback and complaints.

The Trouble ticket system is based on the priority and urgency of the query or complaint. The system was created to resolve problems within a specified time-line and under a specific service level agreement. Overall, the trouble ticket system can help classify, identify and handle a problem, creating a unique log in the centralized database.

To create a successful customer service department, an organized 24/7 support team of people is not sufficient. Creating an accessible and commendable database is also necessary. A well-organized customer service can help you customize the 'help desk' software for event logging, communication between operators and to maintain schedules.

Other add-on features that can improve a customer service:
* automation of work process
* integrating a group of features, so as to form a customized template
* ticketing system with a closed loop facility, that monitors, raises, assigns and manage issues
* self-help facility
* individual and group access to the mail servers and inbox
* VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) to conduct a real time conversation between agents and users
* Maneuvering and handling the existing self-help knowledge base

Available on the Internet are a variety of customer service software:

The Bridge CRM software solution:

BridgeCRM is a web based software that is used to conduct PC based Customer Relationship Management (CRM). It is used for small-time customer service support as it is suited for 10 users. The database used by the software makes procedures quick and easy.

ChatStat Customer Interaction Software system:

The Software is easy to use and is available with an instant online messenger interface. The messenger service helps agents to provide live chat support to clients and customers.

If you need a powerful solution for your support make sure you check out the Premium Response Customer Support Software for more info.

Customer Support Solution - How Would You Ensure The Same To Get The Best Possible Result?

A Customer Support Software is a web based customer support solution that allows robust tackling of Product or Service Support issues through help desk system and raising trouble tickets for issues related to customer priorities. A cost effective customer support solution is highly productive in customer service management.

You need a robust and reliable tool to accept, categorize, and manage customer issues that are widely diverse in nature. A Customer Support Solution is such a dynamic tool that integrates multi channel functioning, multi-user options, unique task assignments, setting alerts and escalation, response through emails, raising trouble ticket for problematic issues, assigning unique service request IDs, follow up and reviewing the status of service requests and completion of the task on time. A matured Customer Support Solution helps in resolving the problem categorized under the unique trouble ticket within a specified timeline under the Service Level Agreement.

This also helps to identify, stratify, and treat an incident or an issue through an all-inclusive and organized 24/7 support mechanism to deliver the best output within a specified time.

You are dealing with issues that are diverse in nature. Each one has different priority levels to the customer. Who do you think is best to solve a specific issue? How would you ensure the same to get the best possible result? Given your priorities and preferences it is almost difficult for you to search for people who have special skills for special issues each time. This is also a waste of time, effort, and resources. Therefore, the best way is to build a team that is best capable of troubleshooting. A Customer Support Solution is just the way to resolve such issues in service management.

For this, just a team of people with diverse knowledgebase is not sufficient. You also need an organized database. Therefore, here is the need for well-organized customer support solution or help desk software that log in issues, forwards these to respective operators and maintain a schedule and list of task and time allocated to these users and generates reports according to your business requirements.

Many customer support solutions have add-on feature to allow:
*Workflow automation
*Integrated advanced features to create customized templates
*Closed loop problem ticketing system to raise, assign and mange issues
*Advanced self-help functions for customers
*Group access to the mail servers
*Real time conversation between the customers and users
*Browsing the existing self-help knowledgebase.

Recommendations:
Some of the highly recommended and top rated Customer Service Solutions are as follows:

Premium Response
NetResults Tracker
ChatStat-Customer-Interaction-System
BridgeCRM
Click-N-Speak

If you need a powerful solution for your support make sure you check out the Premium Response Customer Support Solution for more info.

Trends In Customer Support Software

A Customer Support Software is a software solution that promotes easy and rapid interaction between the potential and existing prospects and the entrepreneurs in different business domains. A robust and aggressive business environment thrives on customer relationship. If you are able to satisfy your customer then you sustain to be a part of the rat race. A device that enables this effort is tailor-made CSM.

Thriving proper customer relationship is dependent on profound knowledge base that the program provides. This knowledge should also be common knowledge easily reached by support groups including self-service. This should make space for 360-degree analysis of the prospects as well as handle purchases and service contracts. Efficient CSM should be able to route customers and escalate troubled ticket routinely, without human intervention.

A good management program is the tool customized to meet exclusive entrepreneurial needs in service and maintaining customer relations.

Any solution you look ideally assign new tasks/activities to member depending upon their skills and sustain a sophisticated workflow, prompting automatic warning and re-assignment of tasks if these are running behind schedule. Good customer support software is enabled of activity tracking, monitoring, and translating the relevant task to workflow and course automation. Integrated reports and relevant analysis, automated communication options through emails and/or cellular phones are the added advantages of installing such a program.

This is usually developed to extend mutual support to the entrepreneur, users, support and technical segments and customers. The web portal supported is customized for task submission and management. Real-time communication with the support team is the USP of any good program. The centralized information base with self-compatible tools/directives, useful URLs and specified access to sites are distinctive to a quality CSM.

Software solutions are customized for call centers, IT needs to track support requests from department and users. Call centers are now using software that enhances Customer Relation Management (CRM) as a holistic approach to customer retention and escalation. Therefore, software that performs beyond tracking task requests is the need of the hour that such a program should integrate.

There are software solutions that focus on internal support. It is designed to facilitate IT operations and ensuring quality IT service. It also ensures the ability to set and monitor service level agreement (SLA) that reflects customer priorities. Many others have multimedia routing dovetailed with tracking requests. Most Customer Support Software is capable of distributing tasks analyzing the workload. These help in uniform designation of tasks throughout the group. Many CSM's incorporate interactive voice response (IVR) systems that are speech-enabled.

Customer Support Software that might be helpful:
Premium Response
BMC Software
TechExcel
Genticity
Numara Software
FrontRange Solutions
GWI Software

If you need a powerful solution for your support make sure you check out the Premium Response Customer Support Software for more info.

What Are The Issues With Any Customer Support Software?

With the advent of Internet technology, it has certainly become quite easy, to start and operate your own small online business. But, this should not be a reason for complacency because many of the conventional rules of business are still applicable in today’s digitized world. For example, you will still be required to take proper care of customer needs and requirements, even when you might be selling only the best quality goods or services through your website.

Now, do not think that you are being asked to start a full-fledged customer support center. We very well understand the limitations of small businesses and will never ask you to do the unthinkable. However, we do recommend that you install a customer support software on your website as soon as possible because ultimately, it’s the level of trust that determines the success of online businesses.

There are many issues that might require your attention while operating an online business. There is one hurdle that is probably the most difficult to avoid and that is hundreds of emails that you are required to write and send as replies to customer generated queries and complaints. You just cannot afford to ignore mails received from customers because if you do so it will create a bad impression on your customers and over a period of time, completely ruin your business prospects.

However, you need not get overly concerned because you can easily eliminate such hugely boring and repetitive tasks just by installing a customer support software on your website. This software helps a lot because it automatically guides customers to the exact answers that they might be looking for, thereby eliminating the need to enter queries and complaints in the space provided. The software basically creates a win-win situation, wherein you benefit because you no longer have to send hundreds of replies and your customers benefit because they no longer have to endure the long waiting period to get the right answers from you.

Customer support software systems are no doubt the best option for small online businesses. But, before you actually invest your hard earned money in buying one, you need to consider a few things, obviously because the market is virtually flooded with all types of customer support software, making it quite difficult to select the best. However, don’t lose all your hopes, because if you use the right techniques, you can easily zero in, on the most cost-effective customer support software.

The best way to go about this is to download the free trials of some of the most popular software systems and test each one of them individually. You can then easily set aside the bad ones and select the one that best suits your needs and requirements.

If you need a powerful solution for your support make sure you check out the Premium Response Customer Support Software for more info.

Excellent Customer Support Makes All the Difference in the World for ATV Users

There’s really more to buying ATV that just the price…although a reasonably priced ATV will surely make you feel all that much happier about your purchase but from experience, we can tell you one thing’s for sure – the better the customer service, the more satisfied you will be in the long run. For instance, if you purchased a an ATV from an online ATV dealer and when you get it, it works fine for all of one week. And the you find that something’s wrong with it – what happens now? who do you turn to now that you’ve discovered that your brand new ATV isn’t perfect? Anything can happen, this is the truth and we’re not saying that we SHOULD expect to have a faulty ATV at all! Far from it. In fact, even with world renowned branded ATVs, there’s still a chance of it being delivered to your doorstep with a minor glitch.

Shady online ATV dealers usually promises to give you good customer support and after-sale services, but when the time (unfortunately) rolls around, customer service tells you that they can’t help you with your brand new ATV…the very same ATV that you just bought from the dealer. Well, compare that to a company that deals with your complaint and helps you find a way to fix the problem that you have with the ATV…there’s no doubt as to which company will get recommendations from you.

Before you buy an ATV, you should always test their customer support response rate by sending emails to them and calling them on their hotline. If the customer service is good, then go ahead and get the ATV from them. However, if they don’t seem too keen on answering your questions and the customer service person is not as knowledgeable as you would like him or her to be, take your money elsewhere and find a reliable and professional ATV provider.

Trust us, you’ll be happier this way. http://www.racewayatv.com RacewayATV is a leading online ATV, ATV parts, ATV accessories provider today. Please visit http://www.racewayatv.com for more information

How I Got Rid of Customer Support and Saved 8 Hours a Day

You may not be aware of this, but customer support can very easily be your main time consumer. Yes, those emails that you get, and answer one by one, they end up taking a LOT of your time.

Now, how would I know that?

The reason I know that is because this happened to me. Except doing my company’s customer support got to a point where I was spending around 8 hours a day doing it. Every SINGLE day.

But even if you are not spending 8 full hours a day doing support, let’s pretend that you’re only getting 25% of the support I was getting, that would mean you’d still be spending 2 hours a day doing support. That’s 10 hours a week, and if you work on the weekends (and which online business owner doesn’t these days) you’d be spending 14 hours a day. Almost two full business days just on supporting your client base.

Now, on the other hand, imagine that you'd have to do NO support at all. Imagine that all your customers are satisfied with your product and all the emails you get are the ones from all the sales that are coming through.

What if this was possible?

The way I turned this whole thing around was by getting smart and deciding to install a brand new customer support software in my website. At first the whole thing seem like I was trying to speak alien, but after a while I realized using a script definitely has a lot of value.

For example, most people don't know this, but some scripts will have a function that will allow you to present all the answers in front of your customers, EVEN BEFORE THEY ASK FOR IT.

How does this work?

Simple, all you do is fill out your databases with the questions that you get answered over and over (there's always a pattern to the questions you get). After you fill that database, your customer selects the topic he wants to ask the question about, he will see a list of possible answers. If you did your homework right, that's as far as your customers will go. They now get their answer in front of them.

Well, this is how I did it. Trust me, it's way simpler than you think, it will clear out a lot of your time, and like people say "Time is Money", so in this way this will pay off in a big way.

Discover the Support Ticket System that I used to reduce my support workload... down to almost zero!

Outsourcing Your Customer Support? Points to Consider

Okay, so you’ve made the controversial and often contentious decision to outsource your customer support operations to an external call center. Before closing this all-important deal, there are a few steps you should take to ensure that your business is getting the quality and flexibility it deserves.

First of all, it’s important to ask where your support calls will be handled. Just because a call center has offices in your area doesn’t necessarily mean that calls will be sent there; in fact, many customer support firms outsource their business to other countries or even continents. Before signing a contract, its best to be clear on this issue, and ask yourself whether you (and more importantly your customers) are happy with support calls being dealt with from half a world away.

Secondly, you should ask exactly how much of the vendor’s business your company will account for. Ideally, its best that your business account for at least 5% of the call volume at your call center of choice, so as to allow agents to become familiar with your products and services. This isn’t always possible for very small businesses, but it’s still a good thing to look in to.

Another thing to remember is that most call centers will try to set up their own in-house phone number(s) specifically for your business. This is an offer your should flatly refused, as the vendor can later use it to their unfair advantage in keeping your business. It’s much better to own your own 1-800 number so you can switch providers at any time without changing your marketing material.

Finally, it’s always a good idea to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement with any vendor that you use for call center services. This will prevent the company from learning about how your business works, then taking that information to one of your competitors. This step is especially important if your call center of choice specializes in your industry.

Jeremy Maddock is a successful web-based freelance writer, who covers customer relations and other business-related issues

Live Customer Support

These days, almost all customer support systems are automated. Still, nothing beats the ‘real thing’ – live customer support that is both warm and friendly. Live customer support can do so much more for a company than business owners and managers realize. It creates a favorable impression on people – customer, partners and prospective clients who come in contact with your company.

Developing live customer support

There are generally two ways of providing customer support – via the Internet or the telephone.

While email is an acceptable and effective method of communication, it is still stagnant and expensive in the long run. A customer, when unsatisfied with the reply, will tend to email again and take up yet another significant part of your customer representatives’ time. This will never happen if you have live customer support. Your clients will get all the answers they need at once, and your customer service representatives can move on to the next client and get more work done.

How do you make your live, online support stand out? It takes more than just putting a live support button on your site. You can try showing the names and images of your customer support staff on your website’s customer support page, so that customers know that they are talking to a real person, not an automated program. Your customers can then easily click on a specific customer support representative they have talked to before, if they have follow up questions or need more assistance. These touches may seem simple enough, but they can greatly help make the interaction between your company and your customers more intimate and effective.

Live customer support on the telephone. Telephone support should be provided free of charge to all customers regardless of their location. Be sure to have enough operators standing by to attend to calls. There is nothing more frustrating for a customer than waiting in vain only to be answered by a machine. All calls should be answered within five minutes.

Customer Support provides detailed information on Customer Support, Customer Support Software, Live Customer Support, Customer Support Services Call Centers and more. Customer Support is affiliated with CRM Call Center Solutions.

Customer Support Software

The way that customer support is handled is changing rapidly, thanks to emergence of customer support software that make life easier for companies of any size. Now, a single system can offer multiple customer care solutions for a fraction of the cost of more complex systems.

Features of a customer support software

Most customer support software feature both internal help desks and project collaboration portals that are both customizable to correspond with the requirements of individual businesses. The aim of customer support software is not only to provide immediate assistance to clients, but also to build long-term customer and partner relationships.

Customer support software enables business to generate, administer and settle service requests. Such software can maintain an accurate database of questions and answers for both internal and external clients in a cost effective manner. You never have to pay for costly infrastructure expenses and extra manpower required by more complex systems.

At the end of the day, you improve customer satisfaction and lower your operating costs. More efficient resolutions of problems and complaints also increase re-orders and promotes your products and services. And, because customer support software also provides your customer care team with accurate, real-time information, you improve their effectiveness and job satisfaction.

Other benefits

Customer support software will also significantly decrease the volume of incoming service requests because it provides a ‘self-service’ Internet portal for your three most important publics –customers, partners and employees. It also organizes your customer contact details and request information, making data more accessible and making communication across your entire organization more effective.

Most customer support software is typically upgradeable to include functionalities for managing project deadlines, too. This lets your employees know of their responsibilities and solve late-service complaints before they even happen. Choose customer support software that is expandable, so that you can easily and cost-effectively improve its system as your company grows.

Customer Support provides detailed information on Customer Support, Customer Support Software, Live Customer Support, Customer Support Services Call Centers and more. Customer Support is affiliated with CRM Call Center Solutions

Customer Support Services Call Centers

The customer is the lifeblood of any business, and it is only right that business owners and managers provide optimum customer support through the quickest and most accessible medium – the telephone.

You can easily provide your customers with this kind of support from call centers. Call centers refer to firms that act as ‘company phone centers’ on your behalf. These call centers are able to handle services like help desks, live customer support, lead generation projects, emergency responses, inbound responses, outbound telemarketing and simple, telephone answering service.

Most companies now outsource their call centers to save on the costs of maintaining one in-house. Many call centers can be found in India and in Manila, where labor is cheaper and the workforce speaks fluent English. Big call centers offer value-added services such as multilingual customer support, directory assistance, credit card services, interactive voice response and web-based functions.

Call centers bring your company closer to customers, paving opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling. A good call center not only helps strengthen your company’s relationship with its customers, but it also generates new business and helps you maintain and grow your market share.

Aside form this, call centers can control your brand integrity by delivering fast and accurate support to almost any customer concern. What’s more, it does not cost much and frees up your internal resources, so that you can use them to develop your core competencies. Leave your sales and customer care concerns to call centers, because they can provide all necessary telephone and Internet support to your customers at any and all times.

Call centers are indeed becoming very popular among business because of their proven track record of maintaining and even increasing sales, fostering customer satisfaction and acting as one of the essential gatherers of market intelligence.

Customer Support provides detailed information on Customer Support, Customer Support Software, Live Customer Support, Customer Support Services Call Centers and more. Customer Support is affiliated with CRM Call Center