Customers are crucial members of any business, large or small. They form the base, objective, goal, and mission for a company to thrive in the market and continue operations. Help desk platforms help to manage customer requests and build up long-lasting relationships in every sphere of business.
Help desk software forms one of the robust pillars in ensuring top-notch customer service with timely engagement with the complaints, queries, and other issues faced by end-users.
Why would one want to invest in help desk software for enhanced customer experience? A few reasons to prove its worthiness:
- Retaining existing customers is strategically feasible in comparison to investing in new ones. A strong customer service channel and team is essential.
- 89% of customers would make another purchase after a satisfactory customer experience.
- 38% of customers are likely to recommend the company with seamless customer service and experience.
The numbers clearly convey the need to have a help desk platform on any business scale.
What’s the Story Behind the Help Desk Software?
The concept of the help desk was conceived ever since the invention of the telephone in 1876. And it has been refined over the years to become an essential and profitable tool to many businesses.
Data Storage
The help desk platform functions as a single point of contact, providing centralized support and an information management system. Those help to handle the multiple queries and issues faced by a company. These issues and queries mainly originate from customers.
Tickets & Automations
The help desk software expedites the consumer grievance process through the ticketing system and automation. This helps in the total management of a company’s grievance mechanism along with customer engagement and retention.
Customer Relationship Management
The main business goal of the help desk tool is to develop and strengthen customer relationships through engagement. It focuses on a collaborative communication style and is process-driven and proactive. This also distinguishes it from CRM, as help desk software and CRM are not synonyms.
Known Help Desk Providers
Some prominent providers of such software are Freshdesk, Zendesk, Zoho, Help Scout, Intercom, Hubspot. Some companies offer data migration services like Help Desk Migration. It is essential, however, to understand the difference between help desk software, service desk, and other ITSM solutions. The former is IT-centric and not IT service-centric, and the focus is on external end-users, i.e., customers.
The classic dilemma is between Freshdesk vs. Freshservice. These may sound the same, but their underlying functional principles and processes, and targets vary.
4 Types of Help desk Software
Help desk platforms aren’t not a single category, as it has sub-categories too:
- Web-based/cloud help desk: it functions on cloud hosting or SaaS.
- On-premise help desk: a company completely owns the help desk software with total control.
- Enterprise help desk: the focus is on the overall company’s efficiency and not just fast customer service.
- Open source help desk: these are free open source codes and can be easily enhanced and scaled.
Basic Functions of Help Desk Platforms
Ticketing System
The help desk platform provides one of the essential functions in customer service: the ticketing system. It enables the software to register tickets for each customer interaction and accordingly assign, transfer or merge them to ensure a speedy resolution. From queries to issues to requests, all nature of interactions are converted into tickets and conveyed to the team members. The software also helps keep track of all tickets and provides the details to the consumers to track the progress.
Omnichannel Customer Support
The generation of a ticket is only one of the aspects of the multi-faceted help desk platform. This software offers integrations with various channels, through which a consumer may reach out for help or raise a query. Nowadays, all help desk software has mobile integrations. It integrates engagements through smartphones to emails and also social media. This ensures that none of the customer’s requests are missed and a required ticket is generated.
Categorization
A help desk software also enables the agents to categorize and prioritize the various tickets. In case of immediate help, an agent can use the software’s features and flag the ticket as urgent. Then, using the routing system, the ticket can be assigned to the appropriate person for quick response and satisfactory feedback to the consumers. Help desk software is the key to having immediate responses, as it is a vital aspect of customer service. Rapid responses are a must for 90% of the consumers.
Flexible Ticket Assigning
The mechanism of the software facilitates skill-based routing. Tickets of various concerns can accordingly be assigned to agents as per their expertise. Escalation also can be done if the level of knowledge required is high. This also allows higher-skilled agents to cater to other important tasks, thereby maintaining fluidity and growth in the customer service function.
Automation
There are various instances of repeated processes to either group, assign, route, or record a ticket. Manual repetition would lead to a loss of time and effort. Help desk offers the solution through smart automation of processes, enabling agents to focus on quick redressals. All administrative requirements, along with other techniques, are automated to ensure efficiency. It also functions as a reminder of pending, incomplete tickets. There is also the flexible choice to customize the help desk platform.
Knowledge Base and Self-Help
Help desk platforms also contribute towards allowing the customers to avail themselves of self-help through the creation and regular maintenance of the knowledge base. The common queries and issues and their respective solutions can be made available to the consumers for timely help. The classic examples are FAQs. The timely up-gradation of the knowledge base ensures 24/7 support as it is always available.
Analytics
Reports, analytics, and KPIs provide valuable insights to ensure better control function of management and improve customer satisfaction and engagement. Help desk platforms are equipped with integrated data analytics and KPIs to provide relevant data to the business regarding end-users. These analytical functions help monitor SLA/SLO compliance, the volume of tickets, average response rate, and other such parameters. This, in turn, allows careful planning and implementation of strategies to improve the overall end-user experience.
Help desk software also provides social media integration to keep track of the business’ mentions and obtain feedback from a multitude of customers. It also offers advanced features such as CRM integrations, reporting through data visualization, and predictive customer analytics.
Wrap up
These functionalities and their results ensure customer satisfaction, better agent productivity, seamless business operations, and long-term build-up of the business image. Help desk software indeed contributes largely to the growth of a business.
The recent trends suggest help desk software will be ever more scalable with further upgrades through AI, machine learning, and big data. In the current market scenario, having help desk software is essential to capitalize on market opportunities and expand the consumer base.
