Helpdesk Support. To Begin With, the Results

¶ … helpdesk support. To begin with, the results of the CIO Insight customer satisfaction survey regarding IT support were surprising in that they weren't more negative. To be sure, that same survey today after companies have laid off, downsized, and outsourced their customer service staff would almost certainly yield very different results.

Given the number of studies that have shown that it costs the average company from 5 to 10 times as much to attract new customers as it does to retain existing ones, it is always surprising that companies do not do a better job of providing good customer service. As customer relationship management software expert Corey Rudl points out in his website article, "If You Don't Service your Customers, Who Will? Probably Your Competitors!" The article offers ten tips that illustrate the basics of developing good relations with one's customers:

Make sure that your customers feel valued; let your customers know that you appreciate their business.

Manners are nice, but expertise is even better. Ensure that your customer service representatives are not only polite and cheerful, but that they are well-trained with deep product or service expertise.

Ensure timely delivery of your product or service. One of the most common causes of customer dissatisfaction is delayed fulfillment.

Don't make promises you can't keep. Customers appreciate honesty.

Don't pass the buck; take responsibility.

Reward customer loyalty. Acknowledge customers who bring you repeat business.

Be available. Be sure that your customers can easily contact you 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by either phone, fax, or e-mail.

Respond to inquiries and complaints in a timely fashion, establishing your professionalism and credibility.

Personal touches are the icing on the cake, exceed your customers' expectations.

Understand that attitude matters. Customers don't want to buy from a company with rude, disrespectful employees (Rudl, 2005).

Another helpdesk expert urges companies to offer easy-to-navigate online frequently asked questions (FAQs) along with help documents organized by topic to prepare to respond with on-target solutions. She also recommends cross-training all staff to answer every type of incoming question, and to avoid passing a customer from person to person as much as possible. To help avoid unnecessary escalation to a supervisor, front-line staff should be empowered to handle a wider range of customer service complaints (Margetts, 2010).