First impressions. They are everything.
According to a Harvard study on communication, it only takes seven seconds to make a first impression on another human being. Seven seconds.
What are those first seven seconds like when someone contacts your customer service desk?
The service desk has always been one of the most critical elements of a practice’s IT. But in this technology-driven marketplace, it’s more difficult than ever to maintain. Your business practices are more complicated. Your tools and expectations are more sophisticated. Your goal to stay ahead of your competition has become more intense. And all of that equates to taking the right steps to ensure your users have a great experience every step of the way.
The first step involves being able to meet your users’ expectations. They want to contact you in their preferred format, and they expect responsiveness in a manner that suits their needs. Are you up for the challenge?
Start With A Strategy
Every step of your IT process begins with having a good strategy in place. It’s easy to get caught up in the day to day operations and ignore what may be obvious to others looking in. Take a step back and evaluate:
- Your customer’s knowledge base - targeting twenty-somethings will require a different experience than if your customer base is sixty-somethings and older
- Your customer’s demand - what do they want when they contact you? How do they prefer to do so?
- How will you define success - what kind of feedback are you getting from your customers along the way?
- What is your goal - this is about good customer service, not just getting the job done
Put People First
It’s easy to fall into the trap of developing your customer service desk with the latest and greatest tools. That’s not always what’s best for your customers. Personal interactions are what matters most.
Ensure technology matches your needs. Ensure your help desk staff has the right work environment and education to operate in. If they feel confident in what they know, that carries through to your customers too.
Use The Best Technology
Technology changes all the time. Think back to just a few short years ago; remember how clunky some of the systems you used were?
There’s a reason to update on a regular basis: better customer service. Don’t think your customers won’t notice an old and outdated system; they know what’s possible by what they use with other business models.
Building up self-service portals is a great idea to let customers have a hands-off approach. But the moment they want to connect, it should be as simple as clicking on a button.
Not sure where your customer service experience is doing for your business? We can help. Let’s evaluate your current strategy together, and determine the best way to improve it.
