How to get people using self-service for IT support

Transcription

1 How to get people using self-service for IT support Part of the Service Desk Best Practice Series from Richmond Systems BEST PRACTICE SERIES 1

2 Introduction Many service desks have failed to shift any significant portion of their workload to self-service, despite the obvious cost benefits. Given that self-service has been around for some time, and customers are accustomed to using automation for consumerorientated tasks, why is uptake so poor? In this guide, we look at the reasons why self-service is failing to gain traction, offering quick fixes and long-term strategies to ensure that automated support becomes a cornerstone of your service desk. BEST PRACTICE SERIES 2

3 Before we look at how to increase self-service adoption, let s remind ourselves why it is so valuable to service desks. Most service desk improvement projects attempt to either improve efficiency or improve the service delivered. Self-service is one of the few initiatives that can potentially deliver both. Effective self-service can massively reduce pressure on service desks by removing the need to manually respond to every query. Results vary widely depending on the industry and customer type, but in our experience, we believe that any service desk can achieve self-service rates of more than 20% of total support volumes. For service desks dealing with high volume, low complexity problems, this figure can reach up to 80%. Wherever your service desk fits on that scale, the cost benefits are obvious. In addition to the cost benefits, self-service also helps improve morale on the service desk. This is because analysts deal with fewer mundane and repetitive queries. Instead, they have more time to deal with more indepth IT support and usability issues, which are more satisfying to work on and solve. This in turn means that customers contacting the service desk by or phone enjoy a better experience and improved service. And it is this final point, above all other benefits of delivering effective self-service, that is the critical catalyst for driving adoption. BEST PRACTICE SERIES 3

4 What s in it for me? Customers will only use self-service if it benefits them. It may seem an obvious point, but it is critically overlooked by many service desks, which tend to approach the challenge of self-service from their own point of view. It is vital that self-service offers a better, more convenient way of doing things for customers. However, many service desks fail because they build self-service that benefits them. For example, you might want customers to log their own support queries, forcing them to fill out forms and select from various pick lists. This can be an effective starting point for self-service, but if the analyst receives none of this information when they do finally make contact with the user, they will have to ask for the details again, frustrating the customer. In this example, the service desk isn t offering self-service, they are just trying to avoid speaking to customers. Another common mistake is trying to push all queries to use self-help, forcing customers to access an FAQ portal or making them listen to lengthy recorded messages rather than offering assistance. This can be incredibly annoying to customers, especially if the knowledge sources are poorly maintained. Sometimes the solution is simple and may only require a thirty second conversation. Again, this example is about the service desk practicing call avoidance, not improving resolution. Any self-service initiative must help the customer, otherwise it will be rejected. Here s a check list of points to consider when assessing your selfservice. BEST PRACTICE SERIES 4

5 - Does it reduce waiting times for customers? Or does it add more time to the support process by asking them for repeat or superfluous information? - Does it improve first call resolution by either effective self-help or by logging the relevant information to speed up the process when dealing with an analyst? - Is searching the knowledge base quicker than making a call/sending an ? If after an honest assessment your responses to all or some of these questions are negative, you have discovered why your self-service is failing. BEST PRACTICE SERIES 5

6 Steps to better self-service Improving self-service usage is all about improving the quality of the function on offer. Here are the main elements of self-service which you must get right for your portal to gain acceptance. Make it easily accessible (and fast) If the portal that provides self-service is hard to find, perhaps hidden behind an obscure and lengthy web address, it won t be used. Similarly, the speed of logging-in and finding information will have a major impact on uptake. Most people have little patience with technology today, expecting an almost immediate key response. The starting point therefore is making sure your self-service portal is in-line with performance expectations. Navigation How quickly can you find the information you need? Confusing and clunky interfaces are off-putting for customers, who won t spend long looking for the right answer. You need to think about the layout and structure of the information and offer a search function rather than an FAQ alone. Accessibility, speed and quality of interface are some of the factors which will be largely decided by the self-service portal used by your business. There is no way around this. If your self-service tool is a problem, whether a stand-alone product or part of an IT service management suite, you will need to consider replacing it if you re serious about self-service adoption. BEST PRACTICE SERIES 6

7 Base content on requests that people actually raise This is critical to get right. Service desks often populate the knowledge base with articles based on what they think customers want to read. Or they publish help pertaining to issues they rather not deal with. Neither approach benefits the customer. The correct approach is to create knowledge based on the most popular reasons for contacting the service desk. This can be obtained by studying service desk reports, seeking the general consensus of your staff, or conversations with customers. Ideally the knowledge is compiled by combining all three sources. Asking customers about their most common problems is a great ice breaker for service desks. It improves relationships and the understanding of the challenges faced by the business, and increases the business value of a self service project. BEST PRACTICE SERIES 7

8 Running a pilot A pilot scheme offered to a limited number of users is the best way to test your self service portal. It s particularly useful for verifying that the knowledge it offers reflects the information that people need. A pilot will let you check the speed of your portal, test capacity, gather useful feedback and ensure a successful launch. This is important because people are unlikely to give the portal a second chance if it doesn t immediately offer them some value. Maintain content To ensure self-service delivers long-term value, it is vital that the knowledge is current and correct. While this requires manual intervention which must be scheduled into the regular workload, service desks must recognise this investment is vital to ensure the benefits of using selfservice continue. Creating an accurate, well-written knowledge article may take time and skill, but it will pay for itself many times over. Ensure quick responses to logged incidents/ requests As mentioned earlier, a self-service portal for logging incidents and requesting support is only useful if the service desk acknowledges and uses the facility. An automated response confirming that an incident has been logged is a must and all information entered must be pre-populated on the record when the analyst does access it. If customers can see the self-logging facility working effectively, they will use it again and are more likely to try self-service if they need quicker or out-of-hours support. BEST PRACTICE SERIES 8

9 Selling self-service to the business Once you re confident the self-service facility is useful, and customers confer, then it s simply a case of promoting the service. Put links on the intranet, send out regular s reminding people of the service and ensure that your teams communicate the benefits to customers when it is natural to do so in conversation. Inform customers why the portal will benefit them, how it will speed up the support process and offer a better overall experience. Selling is easy when the person selling believes in the product. If the service desk is confident that the self-service offers an improved experience to the customers which they supplement with their expertise, then it will sell itself. Similarly, as the business begins seeing the benefits of using self-service, they will champion the facility and drive adoption even higher. One of the long term benefits of gaining traction with self-service is that as it grows, it encourages service desks to invest more time and effort improving it further as their workload falls. At this stage, the service just keeps improving and the hugely impressive self-service rates we see some customers realise stops becoming pipe dream and becomes a reality. Do you have questions about improving self-service rates? Is the performance and quality of your self-service portal software letting you down? Call us on and we can show you how to quickly create an effective self-service facility. BEST PRACTICE SERIES 9