Help Desk and Service Desk - when is Excel and CRM insufficient? Really important functions of accounting systems

The system of registration of applications and their subsequent processing is usually called HelpDesk . In general, a classic program or a helpdesk service provides opportunities for registering requests from clients and monitoring their execution.
This is sufficient in the very early stages of the maturity of companies. But with the growth of business, it comes to the understanding that for the further growth of the registration of applications alone is not enough.

The question arises: which automation means to choose in order to “forever” (or at least for a long time)? Which Help Desk will help you make informed decisions specific to the service business, such as raising the cost of services or hiring new employees?

If your activity is related to the provision of services:

• IT service (IT outsourcing);
• vendor or dealer tech support;
• commercial property management;
• site support;
• maintenance of industrial equipment, engineering communications, video surveillance systems, etc.

and the problem described above is not alien to you - let's understand!

All Helpdesk-and “equally useful” (actually not)

The higher the maturity of the business, the more serious and conscious requirements it makes to the tools used in the work - in particular, to online services or mobile applications Helpdesk. And with the increase of maturity in the requirements for automation, branch specificity also begins to appear.

Let us explain this with an example. Not long ago, sales were the main growth point of business in Russia - the market is relatively free, there is no serious competition. Growth is needed - sell to the fullest. Or according to the well-known saying: “there is no time to grind, it is necessary to cut”. For this reason, the requirements for the Help desk system that the online store, that the IT service company, that the taxi order service were the same (and very simple). Namely - the registration of applications, primarily through email, tracking their execution, correspondence on applications. When the main way of growth is new sales, this attitude to the Help desk systems is acceptable.

But the market has matured (we see it perfectly), the competition is becoming serious, and the consumer is quite demanding.

As a result, the importance of working with existing customers (increasing the average bill, re-selling, reducing churn) and optimizing internal processes (increasing business profitability, increasing output per employee) increases. It is here that the discrepancy in the requirements for different industries begins - branch specificity is manifested. And, accordingly, the Help Desk system ceases to be simply “the system of registration of applications”.

This is confirmed by the Western market. Due to a number of circumstances, the business in the United States is more mature than the Russian one. And if you look closely, you can see a lot of specialized help desk-solutions for various industries: online games, mining and oil and gas, “home” services (utilities and their ilk), field services (provision of services with the participation of traveling teams) and Further.

The last 1.5 years more and more often there are opinions that the Russian market has matured and is close to the point where business growth is impossible only through new sales. The service business in Russia should already pay attention to improving the quality of services provided, working with existing customers and increasing profitability by optimizing internal processes. So, it’s time to look at the help desk solutions from the angle of industry specificity and demand from the automation system more than just counting applications.

“Help Desk system is the most critical business system for a service company.”

For a company to bring in more money, you need to sell more and spend less.

But if you dig deeper in relation to the business in question, financial success depends on the following four areas of work:

• Attracting customers, that is, new sales.
• Keeping current customers - eliminating or minimizing care to competitors.
• Increase revenue per customer, the so-called increase in the “average check”.
• Reducing maintenance costs, including through improving the efficiency of internal processes.

All four areas need to be engaged at the same time, observing the balance. The solution of one problem should not adversely affect the other. For example, you can reduce maintenance costs by drastically reducing quality. In this case, the costs will fall, but all existing customers are likely to part with you. This alignment is more interesting to your competitors.

All of the above areas of work, with the exception of new sales, are closely intertwined with the company's key business process - working with customer references. That is why their automation should be built around the system for automating the registration of applications - around the help desk of the system.

After realizing this simple idea, the help desk in the company ceases to be a simple system of registration of applications and becomes a key information system for business.

“Help Desk system is not just an electronic application log, but the most critical business system for a service company.”
Ilya Boldyrev, General Director, IT Co.

An extended interview with the head of one of the IT service companies is available here .

Below is our vision of the help desk feature set of systems to which, we believe, service companies should pay attention first.

Business processes and functions Help Desk solutions in a service company

Automated system of registration and processing of user requests

As it was written above, any helpdesk system begins with receiving and processing client requests (applications), and in the most primitive case of management it is registration, assignment of a responsible person, change of status, commenting and attachments.

Mature businesses must have an extended set of requirements for this basic functionality.

Namely:

• Multi - channel - the ability to interact with customers through various channels , including e-mail, a call to the dispatcher service, applying through the form on the website or the client portal. Your customers may have their own preferences regarding the convenience of interaction channels with the customer service. The more diverse ways to contact the help desk is provided by the Help Desk system, the more clients will be able to please.
• Flexible configuration of standards of quality of service (or, as they are called SLA - an abbreviation of Service Level Agreement). The level of customer service can be measured by a variety of parameters, but in most cases the formal (i.e., fixed in the contract) quality criterion is the time to decide the application. When choosing a Helpdesk system, you need to pay attention to the possibility of flexible SLA settings. Most solutions have the ability to configure and monitor compliance with temporary parameters. However, often this function is limited to setting up one SLA template for all customers of a service company without the ability to detail these parameters for each customer and, all the more, a specific service contract.
• The ability to assess the execution of the application at closing . In addition to the formal criteria for quality of service (SLA), it is important to control the subjective customer satisfaction - after all, ultimately, the decision on further cooperation will be made on the basis of sensations, rather than dry reports on compliance with standards from the contract.

Client portal

We have already mentioned the client portal in the context of multichannel interaction. But we believe that we should pay more attention to it, since this is not just “another way” of interaction with consumers of services.

For a service company, the customer portal can become a retention point for existing customers and a competitive advantage. Having such a mechanism (also called a self-service portal or a client’s personal account) increases the level of transparency and trust in the service company from the consumer’s point of view.

We dedicated a separate article to the topic of the client portal and how it helps to develop a business, and we strongly recommend that you read it.

Maintain customer base, contracts, service facilities and equipment

A significant difference between service companies and other types of business is the long-term nature of customer relationships . Therefore, it is important to look at the interaction history not only within a single “ticket”, but within the framework of all communications with all contact persons of a customer. This circumstance imposes its own requirements on the Help Desk system. In particular, to the customer accounting module.

Most helpdesk allow you to maintain a database of contact persons. But for a service company, this is not enough. It is important to have a full-fledged register of clients: a list of companies, contracts concluded with them, lists of contact persons with an indication of positions and authorities . For detailed analysis and decision making, for example, on increasing the value of a service contract with a specific customer, this functionality should be integrated with the application processing module (Helpdesk and CRM in one).

Even more important is the accounting of serviced equipment, and in relation to locations or service objects. This may be computer equipment, office equipment, cash registers, tachographs and other equipment. For such cases, the system should include a module for recording applications for the repair of machinery and equipment maintenance. Naturally, the ability to maintain an individual directory of types of equipment, manufacturers and models should be additionally implemented.

Knowledge base

The knowledge base is a tool that allows you to capture useful information (instructions, manuals, typical solutions, etc.) and share it with all users of the system.

A knowledge base that is useful for business should have the following functionality:

• Storing and displaying for all users of the Helpdesk system (including contact persons of clients in the client portal) public articles and sections - to quickly and independently solve typical problems.
• Storage and display of closed articles - available only for employees of the service company (for example, internal regulations of the technical support service).
• The ability to maintain personal client sections in which specific information regarding the customer will be stored (for example, a local network diagram, an information system configuration or a floor plan).

Billing services

Service companies, most often, work with customers on a subscription fee model. Such an approach implies the provision of a basic set of services at a cost calculated for the customer (monthly payment). In this service, not included in the basic set, may be provided for the add. fee.

For example, IT service companies in the framework of customer service eliminate incidents in the IT infrastructure and provide advice on working with basic programs. And non-basic services (such as user training, installing and configuring new jobs) can be provided for some money.

Thus, there are tasks for accounting subscriber payments and separately paid work. Undoubtedly, the solution of these problems should be reflected in the Help desk system:

• Accounting for subscriber periods , including expiration dates, warning responsible managers about the need to extend services and invoicing, providing a list of debtors, warning service specialists about the client’s debt when processing applications.
• Maintain a price list of works and services of the service company with the possibility of drawing up specifications for separately paid tickets.

• At more mature stages, service companies introduce the concept of a “customer’s personal account” , to which, for example, money can be credited or prepaid “conventional units” (as well as price list work). In this case, it is logical to expect from the Help desk of the system the ability to maintain personal accounts and, when solving paid applications, write offs from the “balance”.

Service cost accounting

In any service business, the main item of expenditure is the wage fund (FOT). And how effectively the working time of employees is spent depends, among other things, the cost of services provided.

We have no doubt that the Help desk solution for service providers should be implemented accounting of employees in relation to customer requests . Analysis of this information will help to identify unfavorable contracts or, for example, “slow” employees. So, there will be an additional tool to improve the profitability of the business.

Employee mobility

In a number of service businesses, the decision of applications is connected with departures (to the client in the office or on the object). Depending on the company - somewhere there are more such applications, somewhere less. And if the “exit” appeals are many - the tools of convenient work of “field” employees become critically important.

That is why the interface of the Help Desk service system should be simple and work correctly through a mobile browser . Ideally, the solution should have a mobile application for working with applications (arrival mark, cancellation of labor costs, fixing of works from the price list). In addition, setting up and sending SMS notifications (including cases when an employee does not have a smartphone and / or does not have access to the Internet) is required for prompt interaction and notification of field staff.

Cross-cutting analytics on business processes

The system for automating business processes will not bring much benefit without the possibility of analytics (reports, metrics) and making key decisions. Therefore, this requirement is also relevant for Help desk solutions. But, as we found out above, related processes are integrated into the processing of applications in service companies (labor accounting, billing of applications, assessment of the quality of services). Therefore, when choosing a Helpdesk for a service company, it is necessary to pay attention to the possibility of generating reports and related processes .

findings

Help desk systems are firmly associated with only one best function - considering requests. While the market is in the stage at which business growth is achieved “only” by attracting new customers, this is acceptable. But as soon as the market reaches a level of maturity, in which stability and further growth of the business are impossible without working with current customers (retention, increasing the average bill) and optimizing internal processes (reducing service costs), this attitude to the functionality of the Helpdesk system is dangerous.

In mature markets, a business should have specific requirements for automation tools related to industry-specific features. In particular, service companies should view the Helpdesk system as a central business automation system and make demands on it that go beyond “registering and processing customer requests”. We have brought our view on the extended set of Helpdesk requirements for service companies and will be happy for your additions in the comments.

Instead of advertising

Having realized the problem described above 1.5 years ago, we began to develop Okdesk - a specialized system for service businesses . The first version of the system was born in the second half of 2015 and continues to evolve - releases with new functionality are released every 4-6 weeks. Not all the functions described in the article are currently implemented in our service, but if you are in the service business, you can be sure that by choosing Okdesk, you will get on the right rails :). The system is developing and will be developed in accordance with the specifics of service companies.

ps read some reviews of representatives of the service business and their assessment of the functionality of the solution, for example, here .
pps In the meantime, Okdesk rises in the ranking of domestic Service Desk systems ever higher.
Comparative table of tariffs and information on how to buy our Help Desk system, read on the updated portal https://okdesk.ru
There is a free period!