Providing top-notch customer service is a vital aspect of any successful business. However, it’s not uncommon for businesses to make service errors that can damage their reputation and hurt their bottom line.
When it comes to providing customer service, the help desk is often the first point of contact between the customer and the business. As such, it’s essential to ensure that this experience is a positive one. However, there are several common mistakes that businesses make on their help desk that can damage customer relationships and erode trust.
If common help desk mistakes are ignored or brushed under the carpet, it can ruin the customer experience, increase customer churn rates, sabotage the business reputation and lead to drastic consequences.
However, providing customer support can be challenging. With an increasing number of support tickets, it is easy to lose track and make serious errors.
We’re all human, so we’re not saying we can’t make mistakes, but if we spot patterns where mistakes happen often, learn from that and see where we can improve, it’s going to be the right way to success for both the customer and the business.
In this blog, we’ll explore some of the most common customer service mistakes businesses make with their help desk, and provide tips on how to avoid them.
Sharing Duplicate Replies
One of the most common help desk mistakes is sharing duplicate replies with the same customer. Imagine this situation, a customer shares his query via email and waits for your response. Now, unknowingly, two of your help desk agents reply to the same email. The customer now has two responses from your team, which may include different information.
Such a situation can prove to be quite embarrassing for your business and can leave customers more confused than before. But when teams share a common email address, duplicate replies are bound to happen.
Solution: The best help desk software offers a feature called “Agent Collision Detection” that can save your team from this embarrassment. This feature allows agents to see who is working on which ticket in real-time. This means that whenever someone is typing an email reply, other agents can view it and avoid sharing duplicate responses.
Moreover, you can even set agent roles and permissions to ensure team members have limited access to view emails or share responses. Agents will only be able to access the inboxes that they have permission for, which will help you avoid sharing multiple email replies.
Manually Managing Customer Complaints
Manually managing customer complaints is one of the most common IT help desk mistakes. But what is wrong with that?
Well, manually handling complaints or requests is time-consuming and can negatively affect your team’s productivity. Instead of focusing on urgent tasks, agents will be busy sorting and organizing support tickets.
Moreover, manually managing tasks can also bring human errors into the process. For instance, an agent might fail to respond to a customer complaint in time, or they might lose an important conversation altogether.
Solution: The right help desk software can help you automate your customer service process and delight your audience. By investing in a good tool, you can leverage awesome automation features.
For instance, with the round-robin ticket assignment feature, you can automatically distribute incoming customer complaints to agents who are available online. This will ensure that every ticket has an owner, and no conversation can ever slip through the cracks.
Moreover, you can even use automated alerts and notifications to keep agents and customers updated. Whenever a new complaint is received, your team members will be notified. Similarly, the customers can be automatically updated about their ticket progress.
Taking Excess Time To Respond
Making customers wait for too long is another serious help desk mistake you need to avoid at all costs. When customers contact a business for support, they want you to handle their problems on high priority.
According to a Statista report, around 27% of customers expect an instant reply over email. The number goes up to 77% when it comes to other channels such as live chat.
People hate waiting, especially when they are in trouble. If your business is slow to respond, or you put customers on hold for too long, you stand a good chance of losing them to your competitors. So how do you improve your customer service response times?
Solution: To respond faster to customer complaints, queries, or requests, you must follow these tips:
Service Level Agreements: Create different SLAs for different communication channels so that customers can know what to expect. For instance, while you can look to respond to customers via live chat within 2 minutes, you can keep email response time to 4 hours – 6 hours.
Inefficient Ticket Management
A common mistake that can derail the entire help desk operation is an inefficient ticket management system. If tickets are not properly categorized and prioritized, they can get lost in the shuffle or not receive the attention they need. This can lead to delayed resolution times, frustrated customers, and a decrease in overall satisfaction.
Solution: Implement a ticket management system that streamlines the process of creating, assigning, and tracking tickets. Use categories and priorities to ensure that tickets are addressed in a timely and efficient manner. Consider using automation to route tickets to the appropriate teams and set up notifications to alert team members when a ticket requires attention.
Inadequate Training For Helpdesk Agents
The help desk team is only as effective as their training allows them to be. If they do not have the proper training or resources to handle complex issues, they may struggle to provide satisfactory solutions to customers. This can lead to increased frustration and decreased satisfaction.
Solution: Provide comprehensive training to your help desk team on a regular basis. Make sure they are up-to-date on the latest technologies and procedures. Encourage ongoing learning and professional development to ensure that your team is equipped to handle any issues that may arise. Include training on support processes, technical skills, customer service, and communication. Provide ongoing training opportunities to help desk staff to keep their skills up to date.
Not Following Standard Procedures
Help desk professionals should follow standard procedures to ensure consistency and quality in customer service. Deviating from procedures can lead to mistakes and inconsistencies. Standard procedures ensure that customer service is consistent, efficient, and effective, providing a reliable experience for customers who seek help from the help desk.
Solution: Develop and implement standard procedures for customer service. Provide regular training and reminders to ensure that help desk professionals follow these procedures consistently. To avoid this mistake, help desk managers should develop and implement standard procedures for customer service. These procedures should be comprehensive and cover all aspects of the customer service process, including how to handle different types of issues, how to communicate with customers, and how to escalate issues when necessary. The procedures should also be regularly reviewed and updated to ensure they remain relevant and effective.
Once the procedures are in place, it is essential to provide regular training and reminders to help desk professionals to follow them consistently. Training can take various forms, including classroom-style instruction, online courses, and hands-on practice sessions. Regular reminders can be in the form of email reminders, posters in the help desk area, or daily briefings.
Another helpful tool for ensuring compliance with standard procedures is to use help desk software that includes automation and tracking capabilities. Help desk software can automate routine tasks, such as ticket assignments and status updates, freeing up help desk professionals to focus on more complex issues. It can also track the progress of issues and provide analytics to help identify areas where standard procedures may need adjustment.
Lack Of Communication
Effective communication is crucial for a successful help desk operation. If team members are not communicating effectively with each other or with customers, it can lead to misunderstandings, delays, and frustrated customers.
Solution: Implement a communication plan that ensures team members are regularly sharing updates and information with each other and with customers. Encourage open and transparent communication and make sure team members have the tools and resources they need to communicate effectively.
You can also use a ticketing system that provides automated updates to customers and employees. Ensure that the system is configured to send notifications whenever there is a change in the status of a ticket or an update is added. Also, ensure that help desk staff are trained to proactively communicate with customers and employees.
Failing To Follow-Up
Failing to follow up on customer requests can lead to frustration and dissatisfaction. It’s essential to keep customers informed of the progress of their requests, even if it’s just to let them know that you’re still working on the issue. Customers want to know that their issues are being taken seriously and that progress is being made towards a resolution. If they don’t receive updates or feel ignored, they may become frustrated and dissatisfied with the service.
Solution: Use a ticketing system that allows you to track requests and ensure that you follow up with customers regularly. One solution to this problem is to use a ticketing system that allows help desk professionals to track customer requests and keep them informed of progress. A ticketing system allows for easy assignment and tracking of requests, so nothing falls through the cracks. It also ensures that requests are prioritized appropriately and are addressed in a timely manner.
When using a ticketing system, it’s essential to set expectations with the customer regarding the frequency and method of follow-up. Let the customer know when they can expect an update and through which communication channel. Providing regular updates, even if it’s just to say that you’re still working on the issue, can go a long way in building trust and maintaining customer satisfaction.
Another strategy to ensure follow-up is to establish a clear escalation process. When a request is not resolved within a set timeframe, it should be escalated to a higher-level support professional or supervisor. This ensures that urgent requests are addressed promptly and that customers are not left waiting for an extended period without any updates.
In addition to using a ticketing system and escalation process, it’s essential to establish clear communication channels with customers. Make it easy for them to contact the help desk and provide them with multiple options for doing so. This can include phone, email, or a chat function on the company website.
Finally, it’s crucial to provide ongoing training to help desk professionals on the importance of follow-up and how to do it effectively. This includes training on communication skills, time management, and customer service best practices. Regular reminders and refresher courses can help reinforce the importance of follow-up and ensure that it remains a priority for the help desk team.
Lack Of Documentation
Documentation is essential to help desk operations. It helps to ensure consistency in support processes and enables knowledge transfer between team members. However, documentation can often be neglected, leading to confusion and errors.
You must also document resolutions on the helpdesk software. Not documenting resolutions can lead to duplicated efforts, wasted time, and unsatisfied customers. Help desk professionals should document every resolution, even if it seems like a minor issue.
Solution: Use a ticketing system that allows you to document resolutions and track requests. Encourage help desk professionals to document every resolution and include detailed notes on the solution.
You can also develop a documentation strategy that outlines what needs to be documented, how it should be documented, and who is responsible for maintaining it. Use a knowledge management system to store and organize documentation, making it easily accessible to help desk staff.
Lack Of Empathy
Help desk professionals must show empathy and understanding when dealing with customers’ problems. A lack of empathy can make customers feel like they’re not being heard, leading to dissatisfaction.
Solution: Train help desk professionals to show empathy and understanding when dealing with customer issues. Encourage them to put themselves in the customer’s shoes and understand their perspective.
Not Prioritizing Help Desk Requests
The helpdesk receives a high volume of requests, and not all requests are created equal. Some requests are more critical than others, and it’s essential to prioritize requests based on their urgency and impact on the business.
Solution: Use a ticketing system to prioritize requests based on their impact and urgency. You can also use automation to route high-priority requests to the appropriate team members.
Now You Know, You Can Avoid These Customer Service Mistakes With Your Help Desk Software
In conclusion, there are several common customer service mistakes that businesses should avoid with their help desk. By taking the time to listen to customers, avoiding forbidden phrases, taking responsibility for service failures, setting clear expectations, providing consistent service, following up, and listening to customer feedback, businesses can improve their service quality and ultimately, their bottom line. Remember, happy customers are loyal to your business and a help desk software can massively help with the customer service experience.
By avoiding these pitfalls and embracing best practices, you’ll set your business apart from the competition and create loyal, happy customers who keep coming back for more. So don’t settle for mediocre help desk software – Request a demo or a free trial of Wavity Help Desk Software and watch your business thrive!