By ConnectWise Guest Blog 1

What does it take to get a 735,000-pound Boeing 747 off the ground? More than 50,000 pounds of thrust. Now that’s powerful.

You already know your help desk is vital to your success as a technology solutions provider. Now it’s time to make sure it’s doing its job of providing 50,000 pounds of thrust to boost everything from customer service to business growth.

Use these six steps to gauge your team’s performance and unleash the power of your help desk to help your business take off.

Your help desk starts with the people who run it on a daily basis. Without the right people in place, it can’t get off the ground. Use this free toolkit to make sure you have the right people on your team by choosing personalities that fit your company culture. The best help desk is staffed by patient communicators who take responsibility for doing their work well.

Once you’ve got a strong team in place, you have to give team members the right tools to do their jobs well. Without access to the right software, your help desk is ill-prepared to answer the calls of frustrated clients. Rely on the right tools to streamline your help desk by choosing software that lets you track issues to tickets, accurately bill time and work more efficiently.

Make sure your staff understands that you support their learning process as they take on the challenges of handling client issues and requests. Put training in place that helps everyone ramp up on your help desk tools, your products and services, and your internal processes and best practices. Allow your team ample training time and role-playing opportunities before they talk directly to clients, so that your reps and your clients are getting the best out of the support experience.

The basis of improving your performance is knowing where you started, where you are, and how you’re growing. KPIs, or key performance indicators, help you establish a baseline and define your goals for improvement. Consider tracking call and hold time, first call resolution rate, and agent satisfaction as just a few of the measurable aspects of your service. Start with a detailed look at your baseline, then use that information to set defined goals that drive your business growth.

Let your clients in on what’s happening with their issues, and you’ll see significant improvement in their overall satisfaction. Strive for personal connections that give clients access to details like ticket status, who their point of contact is and visibility into the work that’s being done. Look for business management solutions that allow you to proactively monitor for issues and help keep clients aware of real-time changes.

Your team can’t hope for success without processes in place to increase your team’s efficiency. Every actionable item should be documented in a ticket within your business management solution, and every request should be documented in the associated ticket. With a clear trail for each action, you’ll be able to help hold your team accountable to their responsibilities. Putting clear, documented processes in place means no more issues falling through the cracks.

Without your clients, your business would falter, so let them know how much they matter to you. When you’ve got the right team in place, and the tools to help them succeed, you’ll be providing stellar customer service that lets your clients know you’ve got their business success at the forefront of all you do. When your team excels at customer service, you’ll set your help desk apart from competitors, and you’ll open the door to new clients eager to take advantage of your expert service.

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Craig Fulton is Senior Product Manager, ConnectWise. In 1995, Craig’s IT career began with a letter from the U.S. Marines declaring that his specialty was now “Small Computer Systems,” and he achieved certifications in Lotus, Novell, Microsoft and Cisco. After the Marines, he transitioned into the private sector with Accenture, where he was a Network Engineer for eight years. Craig has 19 years of experience in the industry and was an engineer for ConnectWise IT prior to being promoted to Product Manager. His most recent project has been the development of ChatAssist. You may have seen him at User Group Meetings or hosting ConnectWise TV with Arnie Bellini. Craig made the 2014 MSPmentor list, which recognizes top managed service provider executives, entrepreneurs and experts.

Outside of his career, he enjoys kite boarding, surfing, mountaineering and exploring the Pacific Northwest. He has climbed many mountains, including Mt. Rainier and Mt. Whitney, with ConnectWise COO David Bellini. Craig is always looking forward to the next adventure!

Guest blogs such as this one are published monthly and are part of MSPmentor’s annual platinum sponsorship.