Friday, December 16, 2005

CRM Improves the Bottom Line with Helpdesk

Customer relationship management (CRM) is crucial to maintaining and expanding business market share. A help desk is the life line between a business and their customers in developing quality CRM. Hiring a business analyst, will insure a successful implementation of your helpdesk. They can help sift through the plethora of help desk hardware requirements and software applications and negotiate with vendors for solutions which provide the biggest bang for the budget. A business analyst will also provide a long term strategic solution, in addition the a project plan for helpdesk implmentation.

The benefits of implementing a help desk system include:

* Improving the face of the organization through quality Customer Support
* Customer referrals are directly proportionaly to quality Customer Service
* Effecient Service order and Project Tracking
* Proatively address customer concerns, before problems arise
* Historical tracking of Customer issues
* Use helpdesk customer database as a marketing tool for business expansion

Click here to read some case studies by companies who implemented a helpdesk




Help desk applications can reduce call center business expenses by 20 percent or more.

* Primary cost savings are seen from help desk automation of company workflow.
* Active trouble tickets are easier to enter with the new help desk software. Tickets are automatically routed to the appropriate support agent.
* Assigned workflow frees up customer support agents and customer calls are answered more quickly.
* Today's help desk applications can resolve 80 percent of support or service calls in under one minute.

A reliable help desk solution is a fundamental core of successful customer relationship management. Selecting the right help desk and support tracking software is critical. The right solution will save a call center multi-thousands of dollars in customer support costs, function for years to come, and provide your business with cutting edge CRM software for obtaining and retaining customers.
What is a Help Desk?

A call center help desk system organizes reports on, and manages customer service and support issues. The help desk is an integral part of customer service since it brings all of a business's resources together to address a customer need. Help desk users may be internal or external. Therefore the software functions are critical for both internal management and superior customer support.

What are the Functions of a Help Desk Application?

* Advanced helpdesk technology allows support departments to record, track and resolve support requests in a controlled environment.
* Web based help desk solutions enhance the ecommerce and provide after sale support.
* The software records all actions in the sales and support process.
* A software knowledge base exists for past calls/ web contacts providing historical customer data for improved future CRM.
* Audit trails can be visibly documented on all issues and contacts.
* The system identifies support/ service issue trends and improves customer contact re. services and products.
* A logging system containing all support requests, enabling management to review employee help desks performance in managing customer care.


Help Desk software solutions can be deployed on either client networks, client/server systems or a remote web host. Thorough project documentation with customization needs will ensure a smooth launch of your new help desk system. Outline all customized functions such as the defining of user screen elements and call center agent workflow distribution.