There’s nothing more exciting than telling a prospective client “We can definitely do that for you! Let’s get started!”
But sometimes, we have to say “no.” And it’s not because we aren’t equipped to handle the request.
It’s because the requester doesn’t realize what they’re asking for is pretty much impossible. Or at the very least, what they want is so prohibitively expensive that none but the biggest companies could afford it.
When those requests roll in, we turn, as one does, to the wisdom of the Rolling Stones:
“You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.”
So, what’s the key to accurately assessing your IT help desk support requirements? It takes a holistic view.
Let’s explore.
Poor Planning = Paying for More IT Help Desk Support Than You Need
Here’s an example. Let’s say a client is growing and suddenly needs foreign language help desk support. And not just during business hours; Let’s make it 24/7, round-the-clock support.
Unless their name rhymes with “Schmapple,” or” Foogle,” they can’t afford that.
But we don’t just say “no.” Instead, we say “No, but…”
No to 24/7 foreign language support, but yes to another solution that will work just as well and cost a lot less.
Why is the original request so expensive? To answer that, let’s take a holistic view:
- Think of the manpower involved. The minimum staff you need for 27/7 support is six people.
- When you add in sick time and paid time off, that means you need even more staff to cover for absent employees.
- And if you require that coverage to be in a foreign language, that further increases the expense. Bilingual people don’t grow on trees, so they cost more to hire.
- And even if you can find plenty of qualified agents, they might not be fluent in technical or medical terms relevant to your industry.
And the cost isn’t just financial. Say you don’t hire dedicated agents to handle the foreign language support for the weekends and overnights but instead divide the shifts up among your regular pool of agents. Your staff might not be getting a lot of calls during those time slots, but the extra hours can disrupt their sleep schedules and lead to burnout, which means you have to continually rehire for the same roles. That costs you extra time and money as well.
Related Reading: 5 Ways to Improve Customer Help Desk Morale
The Solution: The Global Help Desk Services Process
Now, let’s discuss how we turn pie-in-the-sky requests into reasonable, cost-effective solutions that accomplish your goals. Or, in other words, here’s how we turn what you want into what you need.
Step 1: Discovery: Uncovering Your Actual IT Help Desk Requirements
The first thing we do is a robust discovery. We get to the root of what issues your company may be struggling with and what your real needs are. What's driving the changes that made you contact us? What happens if the issue doesn't get fixed? We’ll look at your call center metrics and data to get the whole picture of the problem and then what impact it will have on the help desk.
Step 2: Diagnosis: What’s the IT Help Desk Support Problem?
After we look at all the data, we can understand and diagnose your help desk problem. Are you getting the calls you think at the times you think you are? If you get just a handful of calls during overnight and weekend shifts, it’s probably not worth paying staff to cover them. You might do better to add a message to your lines instructing callers to call during business hours, use email or a chatbot, or find the answer to their question on an FAQ or website.
Step 3: Recommendation: How can GHDSi Solve Your Issue?
Now, we rely on our expertise to make a holistic recommendation that solves your problem without breaking your bank. For example, imagine you’ve just had a security breach and originally wanted 24/7 coverage for employees to call in with any questions they have about the breach. As we’ve covered before, that’s a tall order that could end up being more expensive than you realized.
But what if you could route all the password reset queries to us to free up your IT team for bigger challenges related to the leak? That’s a far less expensive request that can still have the same end results.
To determine your best help desk staffing structure, we’ll also ask questions you may not have thought about. Say, for example, you want French-speaking agents:
- Which industries should they have knowledge of? An average person who learned French as a second language might not know IT terms, for example.
- Which dialect should they speak? The French you learn in high school is usually more formal than the dialect French people speak in their homes and offices.
- And if you hire someone from Quebec, their manner of speaking may not be compatible with your audience of Parisians and could result in a poor impression of your brand.
The same is true for the time of day you’re considering. If you want coverage from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., it’s important to know where. If your call center is working from 9 to 5 New York time but most of your calls are coming from France, a lot of your callers won’t get the support they need.
When we go through the discovery process, we’ll ask the questions most companies overlook, to come up with a customized IT help desk solution that will work for you. Maybe we hire one or two European French speakers to work during France’s day shift, then supplement after-hours calls with English-speaking agents using a translation service. That gives you the coverage you need for way less than a full slate of French-speaking agents working around the clock.
Why a Holistic View of Your IT Help Desk Requirements Matters
When you work with Global Help Desk Services, Inc. (GHDSi), you get a holistic IT help desk experience. Our in-depth discovery process helps us uncover the actual problems you’re facing and recommend a proven solution that will work for your unique needs. Here’s what we deliver.
Your Callers Are Happy
Getting the right agents who speak the right language and have the correct knowledge base working to cover the right time slots goes a long way to increasing customer satisfaction rates. When your callers hang up the phone with their question answered (in their native language), they’re more likely to call back next time they have a question and less likely to seek alternative solutions.
Your IT Help Desk Solution is Under Budget
That original need you came in with? A full roster of dedicated agents working around the clock? We don’t want you to pay for that. We want to help you find a solution that won’t cost as much. So instead of blindly filling an order, we consult with you to come up with a customized plan that will give you the same results for much less money.
(Not sure if your IT help desk budget is realistic? Use our quick Help Desk Cost Calculator to benchmark your budget and see if you’re spending too much.)
You Get IT Help Desk Support That Is Designed for Your Business
Other help desk companies have a menu of plans to choose from. At GHDSi we’re your partner. So, we use our experience to build a customized plan that meets your needs instead of making you choose from pre-built solutions that might not fit exactly what you’re looking for.
We Teach You About Caller Support Solutions
No matter your level of expertise, it can be difficult to stay on top of the best practices and new developments when operating your IT help desk. But we do. We can help answer your questions and uncover your true needs. Rely on us to help guide you to the right solution.
Wanted? Needed? Done: A Clear, Holistic View of Your IT Help Desk Requirements
At GHDSi, we’ve been doing this for a long time. So, while your problem might be new to your company, we’ve probably seen it—and solved it—before. That means we don’t have to reinvent the wheel to get you a smart solution you can afford. Instead, we look at your complete landscape, assess your needs holistically and completely, and then work with you to plan out an IT help desk strategy that gets you exactly what you want, what you need, and what your budget — and callers — will love.
Ready to find out if what you want is actually what you need? Get in touch with us.
