As much as IT departments hate to admit it, company employees are their customers. Still, many workers think of their help desk as the “no-help desk.” There’s a disconnect, for sure.
It’s no different with some all-in-one outsourced help desks, at least in general, where callers are often greeted with verbose scripts and seemingly pointless reboots.
“Not many people wake up in the morning and say, ‘Today, I want to make life miserable for our customers.’”
In a post titled “The Six Laws of Customer Experience,” blogger Bruce Temkin explores this issue, and presents a must-read treatise for any CIO or IT department leader. Below are highlights. How does your help desk compare?
1. Every interaction creates a personal reaction.
In this section, Temkin stresses that customer feedback needs to be a key metric. And he’s dead-on. An outsourcer can live up to its service level agreement (SLA) and perform stunningly on paper, but what about the employees who have had to wait on hold, or have had to waste time waiting for call backs? SLAs mean nothing if your outsourcing desk leaves frustrated employees in its wake.
2. People are instinctively self-centered.
This section’s salient point is: “You know more than your customers; deal with it.” Using tech jargon, talking callers quickly through complicated processes, becoming impatient when they become stumped — these are examples of deplorable customer service.
3. Customer familiarity breeds alignment.
Temkin captures it succinctly in this statement: “Not many people wake up in the morning and say ‘today, I want to make life miserable for our customers.’” Yet every day, he continues, many workers make decisions that end up frustrating, annoying or downright upsetting their customers.
The help desk should keep in mind its purpose: to help.
4. Unengaged employees don’t create engaged customers.
In this section, Temkin writes, “If it’s hard for employees to do something, then they are less likely to do it — and more likely to get frustrated.” For example, if you go through a company-wide Office migration, but don’t increase help desk staff or provide them with a competent outsourcer to pick up the slack, your migration will flop.
5. Employees do what is measured, incented and celebrated.
The bottom line on this point is: Don’t blame employees (in this case, the help desk); fix the environment. If you don’t make it clear to your IT department or help desk that customer satisfaction is important, then don’t expect to get it. Make your goals clear and reward those who help you meet them.
6. You can’t fake it.
In other words, if you don’t make customer experience a top priority, don’t jump into it halfheartedly. Either you are committed or you aren’t.
Visit Temkin’s blog to read the entire post.
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