Nobody likes a dumb question. This includes the members of your online business team who ensure that customer complaints are met with helpful answers. Unfortunately, most customers are so excited to use their new product that they neglect to educate themselves with the user manual. These same frustrated customers will call support with questions that are easily answered, tying up the phone lines as customers with more complex complaints anxiously wait.
However, there is a solution – it’s called help desk software or customer support software. This software is designed to either help customers help themselves or to assist customers in contacting technical support. There are a couple ways that help desk software accomplishes this task.
Most customer support software will include a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ). An FAQ is a relatively short list of some of the most common questions that are asked of customer support and their answers. When customers first use help desk software, they should be exposed to a program or self-help list which will attempt to answer their questions before they ever get a chance to make a call.
Most major retailers are performing this task today by funneling customers needing support into a short questionnaire or troubleshooting session, handled by software, which will either answer the customer’s question or display contact information for phone support.
There is another option which separates the customer from costly phone support – text support in the form of chat messaging and email. The email option allows support teams to handle customer questions on their own time, allowing for more efficiency in handling complaints. It also allows more severe complaints to be handled before all others as support employees can choose which complaints they address first.
Chat messaging does not offer this triage effect for severity of complaints, but it does connect customers and support employees in a way that minimizes wait times and confusion. When on the phone, poor connections and differing accents can result in many poorly transmitted messages causing confusion and frustration. However, text is always clear and, in most cases, understood.
So you see, help desk software can do wonders for your company’s online business. While your competitors’ support teams are gridlocked with customers asking simple questions, you can educate your customers on how to use your product without even answering a complaint.
As your competitors’ support teams struggle to hear customers with bad cell phone reception or different accents than their own, your support employees will be sending satisfied, educated customers on their way. In business it all boils down to who can provide the most value to their customers. By contemplating adding help desk software to your online business, you may give your company the edge it needs to outclass the competition.