What do you say to a customer who emails you instead of using the Helpdesk portal?
Seeking recommendations on how and what to say to a customer emailing their SRs rather than using the helpdesk portal. We have a new customer who was made aware of the helpdesk portal during the onboarding process that emails us their SRs instead of using our helpdesk platform because, "That's the way they've always done it".
The nice thing about our platform is, you only have to register once. After you've registered, you just need to visit the portal, answer a few questions and click "Submit" without logging in because, their organization email @company.com automatically links their service requests to their organization.
So, what do you say to a new customer who is not used to using a helpdesk system and is used to emailing everything to an IT support person that they no longer have?
The nice thing about our platform is, you only have to register once. After you've registered, you just need to visit the portal, answer a few questions and click "Submit" without logging in because, their organization email @company.com automatically links their service requests to their organization.
So, what do you say to a new customer who is not used to using a helpdesk system and is used to emailing everything to an IT support person that they no longer have?
serialband
Does your helpdesk system have a way to receive email to generate a ticket from it?
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Jazz:
Thank you for that. If you don't mind, I'm going to paraphrase what you provided. Thank you greatly!
@ Serialband:
It does have the capability to receive email messages but, we don't have that feature enabled. The key to the system as opposed to an email is that, the system is easy to use once they register the first time and 2nd, the questions asked of them provide us with valuable information to begin narrowing down an issue without having to ask "20/20 questions", Who, Which Location, What the issue is (with a few drop downs and buttons detailing an issue a bit further) etc...
I totally get the "having to login annoyance". However, our system is very helpful. Each user initially creates an account. After they create their account, they just have to visit the portal, click on "submit a ticket", enter the details re: their technical issue and hit submit. Their user@companydomain.com simply links their email to their organization so, they don't have to login each time. If someone attempts to submit an SR and they haven't initially registered, the system will ask them to register as a new user and after that, they just have to visit the portal and submit tickets without ever logging in again. To check on their SR, they receive an instant email with a link after submitting their SR so, they can go back to the email and click on the link or, enter the SR# and their email on the portal to check the status without logging in.
Thank you for that. If you don't mind, I'm going to paraphrase what you provided. Thank you greatly!
@ Serialband:
It does have the capability to receive email messages but, we don't have that feature enabled. The key to the system as opposed to an email is that, the system is easy to use once they register the first time and 2nd, the questions asked of them provide us with valuable information to begin narrowing down an issue without having to ask "20/20 questions", Who, Which Location, What the issue is (with a few drop downs and buttons detailing an issue a bit further) etc...
I totally get the "having to login annoyance". However, our system is very helpful. Each user initially creates an account. After they create their account, they just have to visit the portal, click on "submit a ticket", enter the details re: their technical issue and hit submit. Their user@companydomain.com simply links their email to their organization so, they don't have to login each time. If someone attempts to submit an SR and they haven't initially registered, the system will ask them to register as a new user and after that, they just have to visit the portal and submit tickets without ever logging in again. To check on their SR, they receive an instant email with a link after submitting their SR so, they can go back to the email and click on the link or, enter the SR# and their email on the portal to check the status without logging in.
It may be easy for you to use, but what about your client? How computer literate are they? Those all sound like extra steps when it used to be one step, send an email.
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@serialband:
Like Ms Jazz stated, a simple 10-15 meeting, some hand-holding guidance, create a shortcut to the portal and place it on their desktop. The steps are approximately the same count as opening an email, typing in an email address, typing in a subject, entering some "vague" details like, "my computer is broken" and pressing send only to have someone reply with more questions via phone or email. The system? Click on shortcut, click on "Submit SR", enter details and press submit and have more valuable information to taking the next steps to resolve their issues with better information. I would be concerned if they were Neanderthals so, it will just take some getting used to.
Like Ms Jazz stated, a simple 10-15 meeting, some hand-holding guidance, create a shortcut to the portal and place it on their desktop. The steps are approximately the same count as opening an email, typing in an email address, typing in a subject, entering some "vague" details like, "my computer is broken" and pressing send only to have someone reply with more questions via phone or email. The system? Click on shortcut, click on "Submit SR", enter details and press submit and have more valuable information to taking the next steps to resolve their issues with better information. I would be concerned if they were Neanderthals so, it will just take some getting used to.
No problem! You can definitely edit that. Glad I could help!
We get a mix of emails and text and phone calls.
It's all about customer comfort level and we take that into consideration.
It's all about customer comfort level and we take that into consideration.
Yes, its definitely good to offer more than one contact method depending upon the structure, systems and environment, but can be tough to maintain or track\respond to first if you check the portal first as a standard. I liked how some of the workplaces I had allowed an email to generate a ticket as well.
I know one workplace we had 60% of contacts use our entry ticket portal initially, 30% used our walk-up Tech Bar and 9% was through our chat channel and 1-2% was phone calls, we rarely took calls at one workplace vs one it was 65% onsite support visits via a portal ticket, 25% calls and the rest were occasional emergency chats, direct alerts for on-call afterhours night systematic failures halting production or international incidents or emails etc. when they couldn't get into any system nor the portal.
If its one new customer out of a bunch, then you can miss those requests in your inbox or often you have to create a ticket on their behalf and re-fill the details etc. Having a central primary place is good where all communications can be directed towards and tracked, only if a majority of customers provide feedback that the portal is not user-friendly then I would say its time to change the portal or contact procedures set up in place for getting Help Desk support or if you're noticing a lot of struggles with it.
I agree nickg5, It is definitely extremely important to listen to your customers, get everyone's feedback on any systems in place for receiving support and understand what they're comfortable with, but in this case I would say if all other customers use the portal currently as the primary point of contact first without issue then it should be implemented for all to leverage as a go-to first and standardized for support request submission - make them aware of other emergency-only points of contact e.g. a back up phone number, an email address or another method through their mobile app etc. if they do not hear back or what if any exceptions exist for not using the portal if its down, they're locked out of their station completely, or if there's an error.
I know one workplace we had 60% of contacts use our entry ticket portal initially, 30% used our walk-up Tech Bar and 9% was through our chat channel and 1-2% was phone calls, we rarely took calls at one workplace vs one it was 65% onsite support visits via a portal ticket, 25% calls and the rest were occasional emergency chats, direct alerts for on-call afterhours night systematic failures halting production or international incidents or emails etc. when they couldn't get into any system nor the portal.
If its one new customer out of a bunch, then you can miss those requests in your inbox or often you have to create a ticket on their behalf and re-fill the details etc. Having a central primary place is good where all communications can be directed towards and tracked, only if a majority of customers provide feedback that the portal is not user-friendly then I would say its time to change the portal or contact procedures set up in place for getting Help Desk support or if you're noticing a lot of struggles with it.
I agree nickg5, It is definitely extremely important to listen to your customers, get everyone's feedback on any systems in place for receiving support and understand what they're comfortable with, but in this case I would say if all other customers use the portal currently as the primary point of contact first without issue then it should be implemented for all to leverage as a go-to first and standardized for support request submission - make them aware of other emergency-only points of contact e.g. a back up phone number, an email address or another method through their mobile app etc. if they do not hear back or what if any exceptions exist for not using the portal if its down, they're locked out of their station completely, or if there's an error.
ASKER
" I would say if all other customers use the portal currently as the primary point of contact first without issue then it should be implemented for all to leverage as a go-to first and standardized for support request submission."
That is precisely how we have it modeled. Naturally, if their Internet isn't working, a phone call is a given. We also have the same platform available as an app which is also convenient and SRs can be carried out without having to sit down behind their computers.
That is precisely how we have it modeled. Naturally, if their Internet isn't working, a phone call is a given. We also have the same platform available as an app which is also convenient and SRs can be carried out without having to sit down behind their computers.
well - it also depends on the customer - would you dare say to your major customer that he can't send mails - but must use the portal ? so how far will you go for reaching your goal?
after all - a help desk's reason of being is to HELP customers - in any way possible, as best as you can.
keeping this in mind you can try educating him.
just my point of view
after all - a help desk's reason of being is to HELP customers - in any way possible, as best as you can.
keeping this in mind you can try educating him.
just my point of view
Per Nobus ( a help desk's reason of being is to HELP customers - in any way possible).
We want to accommodate all customers so we offer all payment methods.
We want to accommodate all customers so we offer all payment methods.
ASKER
What do you say to a customer who emails you instead of using the Helpdesk portal?
Most of the opinions here Re: How and What you would do are welcomed but, the question itself isn't being addressed with the exception of one commenter here.
Suggest to them:
"It is possible that their emails will go to the company spam box and since you value their business you hope they will begin to us the portal (it being straight forward on how to use it). You want them to get the best of customer service and the portal affords them that."
If I was told the above I'd try the portal. I want my order (?) to reach the proper department and be processed promptly.
"It is possible that their emails will go to the company spam box and since you value their business you hope they will begin to us the portal (it being straight forward on how to use it). You want them to get the best of customer service and the portal affords them that."
If I was told the above I'd try the portal. I want my order (?) to reach the proper department and be processed promptly.
ASKER
Excellet! We customize the helpdesk portal to each customer's needs by creating different instances so, they will see only their physical locations, software, hardware, etc, questions pertaining to their business and only their business.
Portals are great for shifting the work to the customer
i hope you don't loose customers then ...
ASKER
No Nobus, no customers lost. It's just a single customer we are wanting to address. Our other customers have no more than one to three offices while this one has multiple nationwide hence, better organization using the portal.
As Serialbrand stated, it strategically shifts some of the work to the customer by seeking details up front via the portal to better narrow down/isolate a problem along with better tracking.
As Serialbrand stated, it strategically shifts some of the work to the customer by seeking details up front via the portal to better narrow down/isolate a problem along with better tracking.
ok - i get it. probably it comes down to this - the mails are not fast enough, and easy for the helpdesk, as everything must go faster. i understand that, and it has several pro's but also some very hard drawbacks, like the robot chat which never answers a specific question, and makes the customer loose time - but that does not count for the company i think....