There is nothing more important than making the right software choice for your business. This certainly applies to customer service processes.
The success of a business relies heavily on customer satisfaction. Fortunately, there is an abundance of helpdesk software available to make exceeding customer expectations a breeze. According to survey results, the top three qualities of a talented customer service agent are “willingness to help” (60%), “ability to solve my issue” (60%), and “knowledge about the product or service” (58%). Whilst software can never replace the highly valued human touch, the right service desk SaaS can fit seamlessly into your service agents’ workflow, making them more efficient and exceptional.
Let’s look closely at how to choose the right SaaS helpdesk that will position you to grow, and to exceed your customer service needs.
Features and benefits of SaaS help desk software
As you are aware, customer service teams are always busy working hard to help customers and positively represent businesses in a number of ways. It’s amazing how much the right helpdesk software can alleviate pressure on service agents, and ensure efficiency and accuracy in resolving customer issues. There are a variety of reasons why businesses should invest in helpdesk software. Scaling a business, or streamlining workflow, are just two of many key examples.
If you’re wondering, “what is helpdesk software?”, it’s a one-stop shop for handling both customer communications and taking care of internal staff communication. The best help desks feature a variety of customer service tools and apps, with common features including:
- Ticketing systems – A ticketing system receives service requests from multiple channels, and automatically turns them into tickets. A robust ticketing system should be high on the list of things to look for when choosing SaaS help desk software.
- Automation – Workflow can be automated using help desk tools. Repetitive processes can be taken care of by the software, which can leave a support team member to respond to a more complicated customer query.
- Analytics – Analytics features enable precious customer data to be gathered, for valuable insights to be pulled and trends spotted. Many types of analytics can be complex, but help desk SaaS offers a fast and cost-effective alternative to hiring experts.
- Knowledge bases – Research shows that 40% of consumers prefer self-service to human contact. Offering a self-service knowledge base enables customers can access information for themselves at any time of the day.
- Dashboards – Desk systems can be customized to suit the needs of your customer service team. Clearly lay out KPI progress, as well as key metrics, in one simple to navigate dashboard.
- Omnichannel communication – Helpdesk software will offer integration options for multiple communication channels. If customers get in touch via email, telephone, social media, or other, it can all be dealt with in one place.
The benefits of using a help desk with the above features are numerous. Organization is vastly improved, thanks to information and data being consolidated in one centralized system. Customer context is also available, helping agents to personalize interactions, as well as meet any accessibility requirements seamlessly. Help desk software promotes collaboration, by enabling teams to communicate concisely and work together on issues to achieve swift resolutions.
Create a list of help desk features that you need
You may not require a SaaS helpdesk that has all of the above features. Prioritizing what tools matter most to your business will help in your search for the right SaaS helpdesk software.
One of the key tools of a helpdesk service hub is the ticketing system. Within this system, there are a number of must-have features for every business. Looking out for these features will help your decision when comparing software.
- Automation
- Customization
- Ticket tags
- Public & private actions on tickets
- Service Level Agreement (SLA) tracking
- Ticket status options
- Ticket deflection
You should be looking for customization within a ticketing system and wider help desk solution. Being able to tailor processes to customers, as well as adjust things like tagging and SLA progress statuses to fit your business, will ensure you’re delivering on the promises made to your customers. Another thing to look out for is ease of use. Overly complicated and confusing help desks can slow agents down, hindering their service. Operations should be streamlined by desk solutions, for instance by minimizing duplicate tickets or delayed responses.
Creating a list of the tools you feel would help your business grow, whilst exceeding customer expectations, will steer you in the direction of choosing the right help desk. The best software offers many integrated solutions in one place.
Customers are likely to get in touch with a business for a variety of reasons. Some of the most common helpdesk queries are: trouble logging in, slow website, late product deliveries, product returns, and complaints. The best way to approach help desk software in order to solve these common issues is customer centricity. By putting the customer at the heart of everything, you’ll be able to build a help desk that best serves them. Many issues, like returns processes or resetting passwords, can be dealt with via a knowledge base. Considering customers need help 24/7, offering a knowledge base is the perfect way to show customers can rely on your business, whilst reducing workload for agents.
Pick the software that best matches your needs
It goes without saying, although we have already said it, that you should choose the helpdesk software that matches the needs of your customers. Truly understanding who your customers are is a fantastic way of whittling down software options. This will also inform which KPIs you select, and goals you work towards.
Beyond KPIs and overarching goals, selecting helpdesk software also relates to your existing business processes.
Think about the apps your support team already uses, and the daily tasks they have to keep on top of. How many of these can be automated, speeding up workflow whilst maintaining accuracy and quality? Here are some of the customer support processes that can be automated through a top help desk solution.
- Ticket routing – Based on rules and keyword, tickets can be assigned to the correct agents depending on their nature and complexity, or any other predefined criteria.
- Escalations – If a query isn’t resolved straight away, automation can escalate cases to higher level agents. This ensures customers receive the right attention without having to wait.
- Alerts & reminders – By using one system for customer service tasks, all apps, and agents are synchronized. This means SLA alerts, or meeting reminders, can be delivered across the business.
- Canned responses – Many customer queries can be responded to by a chatbot using canned responses. This means simple issues are resolved quickly, and time isn’t taken away from service agents performing menial tasks.
Alongside automation, it’s important to look at how new software can integrate with your homegrown and existing apps. SaaS help desk solutions require minimal development knowledge, and zero coding experience. You can incorporate mobile solutions, integrate project management, and upgrade your customer service processes with the right helpdesk software.
Integration also relates to the hardware your service team uses. If you opt for helpdesk software with mobile options, will you need to upgrade the smartphones in the office? Equally, new software can be demanding on older computers. Can a new helpdesk integrate with your existing machines, or can you afford to upgrade those as well?
Pick the software that supports your team
It’s crucial to pick the software that supports your team. 80% of consumers say they expect a response within two minutes of contacting a company via live chat. Any helpdesk SaaS that is too advanced could cause delays in training and, as well as slowing down workflow and disappointing customers.
Businesses should invest in support software that makes the lives of service agents easier. Considering ease of use, and whether your existing customer service agents will be able to use it. Otherwise, you may need to employ specialized agents to manage the platform, which could incur extra expenditure you will need to budget for. Software with plenty of automation capabilities should be simple enough to be managed by your existing customer service agents. Task management software can also be integrated, helping to direct team members on now to work with the helpdesk software.
Overall project management and team management software should be able to be integrated with the help desk software you decide upon. This way, it’s simpler for managers to oversee the work of their teams, and get a clear picture of whether they are working well with any new software. These helpful insights can indicate if additional training is required, or if different help desk solutions may be necessary.
Try a Wavity SaaS Helpdesk for Free
Ultimately, the process of choosing the right SaaS helpdesk software should be guided by considerations regarding your service team, primary customers, existing software and hardware, and of course your budget.
If you’re ready to scale and move your business forward, streamline customer service processes, or simply refresh the way your business does things, why not try a SaaS help desk solution? With no expensive development teams required, or experience with coding, you can upgrade your customer service department with easy to use drag and drop software.
Wavity offers customizable and flexible options to suit the needs of your business, whether big, small, or somewhere in between. Just click on the “Free Trial” button up top to get started.