How to Choose HelpDesk Software
Choosing the right help desk software solution is vital for any company wishing to provide their customers with the best possible customer support. When the right solution is implemented, response and resolution times decrease, leading to higher customer satisfaction rates and increased customer retention. Selecting the wrong solution, on the other hand, may produce the opposite effect and lead to a lower return on investment. Before choosing a help desk software solution, it's important to know how to assess each solution and determine whether it's capable of meeting a company's specific requirements.
A common pitfall that causes many companies to select the wrong solution is to follow what's on trend or to make the decision based on price alone. Although a specific product may be highly popular, it will not be able to meet the demands of every company. Similarly, a solution should never be chosen simply because it's affordable or because it's the most expensive. Cost does not equate to quality.
To help ensure that the best help desk software is chosen, a list of current and projected customer support obstacles should be listed. Understanding where the current support system fails or is lacking will make it much easier to find a solution that meets current and future needs.
Many companies will leave the decision of selecting a customer support application to a single employee, usually the support manager. Although the manager will have a high level of knowledge regarding current support processes, he or she may not have a full understanding of the issues other support team members are facing. Be sure to gather the entire team for a meeting to find out what their needs are and how they think that their current issues can be solved.
Once a list of clearly defined requirements has been drafted, it should be compared to the features available within the different support solutions. In some cases, it may not be possible to find a product that meets every requirement, while staying within the company's budget. If this happens, the list should be prioritized and the solution which offers the most important features should be chosen.
One of the most important decisions a company will have to make when choosing a help desk solution is to decide whether a cloud-based or self-hosted solution is right for them. Typically, self-hosted solutions should only be chosen by companies with dedicated IT teams and enough expendable income to pay for the upfront licensing fees as well as the ongoing maintenance fees for hardware and software upgrades. Companies with tight budgets and those lacking an IT team should generally choose a cloud-based solution. Such a solution will be maintained by the manufacturer and paid for monthly, resulting in considerably lower upfront fees.
A common pitfall that causes many companies to select the wrong solution is to follow what's on trend or to make the decision based on price alone. Although a specific product may be highly popular, it will not be able to meet the demands of every company. Similarly, a solution should never be chosen simply because it's affordable or because it's the most expensive. Cost does not equate to quality.
To help ensure that the best help desk software is chosen, a list of current and projected customer support obstacles should be listed. Understanding where the current support system fails or is lacking will make it much easier to find a solution that meets current and future needs.
Many companies will leave the decision of selecting a customer support application to a single employee, usually the support manager. Although the manager will have a high level of knowledge regarding current support processes, he or she may not have a full understanding of the issues other support team members are facing. Be sure to gather the entire team for a meeting to find out what their needs are and how they think that their current issues can be solved.
Once a list of clearly defined requirements has been drafted, it should be compared to the features available within the different support solutions. In some cases, it may not be possible to find a product that meets every requirement, while staying within the company's budget. If this happens, the list should be prioritized and the solution which offers the most important features should be chosen.
One of the most important decisions a company will have to make when choosing a help desk solution is to decide whether a cloud-based or self-hosted solution is right for them. Typically, self-hosted solutions should only be chosen by companies with dedicated IT teams and enough expendable income to pay for the upfront licensing fees as well as the ongoing maintenance fees for hardware and software upgrades. Companies with tight budgets and those lacking an IT team should generally choose a cloud-based solution. Such a solution will be maintained by the manufacturer and paid for monthly, resulting in considerably lower upfront fees.
