A Responsive Social CRM Help Desk

By Barton Goldenberg

In my previous blog post, I discussed effective training, the first of the three components that will assist in determining the long-term success of any Social CRM implementation. Here I will discuss the crucial element of a help desk for a Social CRM initiative.

A Responsive Help Desk

Every Social CRM system user should have access from within the application to a comprehensive, online help function.  Complementing the online help function should be an internal Help Desk set up for Social CRM users that takes questions by phone, email, text message, via the Web or via Social Media.  Some organizations opt to utilize a 3^rd party Help Desk but this requires that the 3^rd party be well trained on the Social CRM application.

The Help Desk fulfills several important needs, including one phone number or one URL to contact when the user encounters a problem.  This implies that the Help Desk should be staffed with properly trained personnel and supported by Help Desk software described below.  In smaller organizations, the Help Desk may be integrated with the systems administrator function.  In larger organizations, the employees are usually trained to support Social CRM applications only or trained to support multiple applications within the organization including the Social CRM application.

A successful Help Desk requires that strict business procedures be followed when handling incoming questions.  For example, each question received must be logged into a Help Desk software program so that there is a record of all incoming questions.  When a user’s question cannot be answered on the spot (called First Call Resolution), the Help Desk should then route the question to the appropriate individual within the organization to a second support tier such as the systems administrator, who in turn tracks the user question until it gets resolved.  In the worst-case scenario, a question may require changes in software code, which may mean that the Help Desk will need to route the question to the organization’s IT department or even to the software vendors for what is referred to as third-tier support.

Regardless of the type of question received and its routing procedure, the question must be logged into the Help Desk’s tracking system once the user’s question has been resolved.  A summary of how long the resolution process took as well as the solution to the question should be captured in a knowledge base for reuse by others in the future.  Reports generated from Help Desk information are used to improve Help Desk functioning as well as to prioritize training needs or system alterations and enhancements.

In my next blog post, I will discuss the key factors behind Comprehensive Systems Administration.

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Barton Goldenberg, is the founder and president of ISM Inc., customer-centric strategists/implementers serving best-in-class organizations globally. As a CRM leader for 30 years, he was among the first three inductees in the CRM Hall of Fame. Recognized as a leading “customer-focused” author, his latest book, The Definitive Guide to Social CRM, is hailed as the roadmap for Social CRM success. Barton is a popular speaker on “maximizing customer relationships to gain market insights, customers and profits”. He is a long-term columnist for CRM Magazine and speaker for CRMevolution and frequently quoted in the media.