The global COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations to get creative with how they delivered IT help desk support. As a result, many organizations outsource help desk teams to save money, save time and improve processes.
Today, the right outsourced help desk team can mean the difference between the success and failure of your IT organization.
But do you know which traits to look for in a help desk partner? If your organization is looking to hire an outsourced help desk team, here are five essential traits you should look for.
Trait No. 1: Service
COVID-19 changed service delivery, while presenting new challenges for help desk teams (like implementing support for hybrid workplaces). Organizations realized that as they become increasingly digitized, they’re facing an increasingly pressing need for help desk service they can count on.
As you assess vendors, keep an eye out for these signs of a strong commitment to service:
- The outsourced help desk team should come to the table with a level of excellence that is driven by predictable, repeatable processes.
- The help desk should be able to tell you, your IT teams and your users exactly what to expect at every point of engagement along the IT ticket lifecycle.
- They should have the technology and workflows in place to monitor, measure and continually improve upon service.
In the end, your organization and its users should feel comfortable and confident they will be taken care of by the help desk.
Trait No. 2: Communication
When communication is lacking or limited in an organization, it impacts quality and results in unnecessarily long wait times for your employees or clients. Poor communication within the help desk and between the help desk and your customers creates confusion.
One of the first things to suffer is your first call resolution rate: Tickets take longer to resolve, issues typically escalate unnecessarily through multiple tiers before being closed, and the help desk spends an inordinate amount of time following up on issues that should have been resolved during the first call.
In addition to the quality of the communication channels, it’s important to consider culture and time zones. It's important to find an outsourced help desk team that can communicate clearly with the people they support as well as other support teams. It’s also important that they can help with any foreign language requirements and can communicate with and support your employees and clients around the globe.
Continuous communication is always at the heart of success, which is why you should hire an outsourced help desk team that prioritizes this skill.
Trait No. 3: Expertise
The right outsourced help desk team should come with a wealth of knowledge and expertise. In an increasingly competitive business world, hiring the wrong team means missing out on key trends and opportunities that help to advance your organization.
You'll want a team that focuses on continuous improvement and on finding ways to shift more resolutions to the help desk, which will result in faster resolutions and happier clients. Look for a team that is agile, able to adapt rapidly, and able to work closely with you, because their experience can be highly advantageous both in the short and long term.
Trait No. 4: Value
The reason for outsourcing, other than to improve processes and efficiencies, is to improve your bottom line.
Usually, organizations outsource their help desk to resolve more issues at the help desk, at a lower cost. You want to shift left to drive more resolutions, to give more capacity back to your second and third levels. This returns clients back to work sooner and also frees up higher paid staff to focus on more strategic areas of the organization.
However, if the outsourced help desk team you hire can't handle simple processes, the whole idea of cost saving can be lost.
It's important to ensure you find an outsourced help desk team that is not only affordable, but brings value to the organization. Look for cost effectiveness, not just cost.
Trait No. 5: Reputation
All organizations want to have a good reputation, and for the clients you support, the help desk is often the face of IT and the organization.
This means taking your reputation into account when hiring an outsourced help desk team.
Is the help desk team as reputable as your organization? Do they have a “good comes first” work culture? If yes, there will be no disconnect or backlash from your clients. Remember, having to rebuild a tarnished reputation will be more costly than outsourcing.
To find a help desk partner that protects your reputation, screen potential vendors for these five criteria:
- Transparent pricing
- Sufficient coverage
- Support for your proprietary applications
- Expertise in your industry
- Guaranteed service levels
Having the right outsourced help desk team in place can help you deliver value while establishing establish your IT team as an important and strategic player within your organization. If you do your research and consider the above five essential traits during the review process, you’ll select the right outsourced help desk team for your organization.
Are you looking to hire an outsourced help desk support team to help improve the processes and efficiencies in your organization? Read our helpful guide: How to Choose an Enterprise Help Desk IT Support Company.
