Help Desks: Not Just for IT Anymore

New businesses are emerging all the time and struggling to stay ahead in competitive industries. It will come as no surprise to regular readers that it’s our conviction that one of the primary components in determining which of those businesses will succeed is the quality of customer service they provide. Regardless of the industry, organized and personal customer service is the key to getting and keeping customers.

Imagine a young professional, straight out of school, starting a new graphic design business. Employing the winning combination of talent, hard work and attention to friendly, personal customer service has helped the business to grow, in spite of these hard times. With the excitement of watching business take off, the graphic designer has come to the difficult realization that it’s becoming harder and harder to maintain the level of attentive, organized customer support that helped the company find success to begin with. In order to preserve their business’s hard earned reputation, the graphic designer must figure out a way to continue providing quality service to a higher volume of customers.

The above hypothetical could apply to businesses in any number of industries. With greater success comes greater difficulty in keeping up with the expectations of a growing customer base without letting any of the customer service touches that set a company apart begin to slip. How does a busy company maintain its positive relationships and keep up its brand? Whether offering goods and services in graphic design, accounting, marketing, retail or any other industry that involves customers, the same answer applies: Mojo Helpdesk.

Until recently, online help desks were largely associated with providing IT support. Increasingly, other industries are realizing how useful of a tool an online help desk can be for customer support in any number of industries. The hypothetical graphic designer can use the tickets in Mojo Helpdesk to track a multitude of design requests without losing sight of the needs of any one customer, stay in frequent communication with each client and solicit feedback once a project is complete. The whole process is documented and can be easily consulted when relevant to future customer interactions, saving time and improving service in the long term.

A marketing firm can use it to document the history of ideas and conversations that have transpired with each customer, making it easy to return to old ideas for inspiration, revisit client responses and track the general success of each campaign. A payroll department can utilize it to handle all payroll queries and help keep careful records of all issues that arise and the solutions used to resolve them within a secure environment. A retail business can keep up with a high volume of customer requests and easily pull up the history of repeat customers to check on their personal preferences and past experiences.

It would be impossible to cover the many, myriad ways Mojo Helpdesk could be put to use here; the possibilities are endless. Any business that works with customers, feels a need for greater organization or desires a better way to document interactions can quickly see an improvement in business operations with the use of a help desk. While IT businesses were the first to embrace the increased simplicity and efficiency of implementing help desks into their operations, other companies and departments would be remiss not to consider how they can contribute to making the lives of employees easier, while improving the relationships the company has with its customers.

Would you like to try our free, hosted ticket tracking/helpdesk application? No long-term contracts, signup fees, or termination fees. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel anytime. We offer a wide variety of plans to fit any budget.

Read More

In Written Communication, Tone Is Everything

One of the greatest skills in life, as well as in customer service, is the ability to communicate effectively. For most businesses, the majority of correspondence is now in the form of written communication. The many conveniences of written communication are at times offset by the loss of clarity in tone and intention. Sometimes an e-mail meant to be helpful can be critically misconstrued by the recipient. This makes it imperative that customer service representatives weigh the language and tone used in each correspondence carefully to avoid unnecessary discord with customers.

There are several factors to keep in mind when crafting the tone of written customer service correspondence. To begin with, each company has a preferred way of communicating with customers. Those representing a Fortune 500 company often choose a professional tone, while small businesses a more comfortable, laid back tone. If unsure what type of language is most appropriate for your company, read marketing material from other companies within your industry, and decide which voice suits your company best.

Customer service representatives doing their job well will quickly become relative experts in the industry they represent. Be aware that the kinds of questions and language that increasingly seem basic and easy to you will not be as obvious to customers. Don’t assume they know industry specific terms or information, but at the same time take care not to talk down to them. Make “respectful clarity” the goal of each written interaction you have with a customer. Before crafting a response to a customer’s inquiry, identify what it is they need. It could be an explanation, a desired action, additional information or recompense. Don’t send a response until confident that it will satisfy their specific inquiry.

Follow these steps to avoid misinterpretation within written correspondence:

Read Your Response Out Loud Before Sending
Reading something out loud, a tip regularly employed by professional writers of all types, can help create some distance between the writer and the words, making it easier to identify spots where the tone is off or the wording is awkward.

Choose Your Words Carefully
Avoid words that are ambiguous or overly complex; simplicity and clarity are the goals in customer service. This might seem an overly obvious piece of advice, but paying extra careful attention to word choices can make a world of difference.

Proofread Everything
Enough awkward business encounters have been caused by typos or lazy writing. Don’t ever send anything out that has not been read over first. Avoid the kinds of embarrassing and preventable mistakes that signal a lack of concern to the customer.

When In Doubt, Run it by a Co-worker
A successful customer service team is quick to work together. Co-workers are a valuable resource for a second opinion on the wording of an email. If the issue is particularly complex, bringing a supervisor, or manager into the discussion can also be a great way to ensure the customer's issue is handled with care and sensitivity to their needs.

While all of this can help to ensure positive experiences in written communication, when it comes down to it, there will be times when the best method to help a customer is simply to pick up the phone. When an e-mail exchange isn’t accomplishing the level of communication you seek, a phone call can often go a long way towards clearing up any confusion and make it easier to establish a light, positive tone.

Would you like to try our free, hosted ticket tracking/helpdesk application? No long-term contracts, signup fees, or termination fees. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel anytime. We offer a wide variety of plans to fit any budget.

Read More

Tip of the Week: The Mojo Number

Mojo Helpdesk makes it easy to keep track of customer satisfaction by collecting satisfaction ratings based on a 5-star system called the Mojo Number.  When a user closes a ticket, they have the opportunity to provide feedback on the service they received. The feedback options range from "unsatisfied" to "great job."






Mojo assigns a rating of 1 to 5 stars based upon the feedback.  Each star counts for 20 points, meaning feedback of "great job" would result in 100 points, whereas feedback of "unsatisfied" would equal 20 points. The Mojo Number takes an average of your last 30 tickets to calculate a staff member's or a queue's user satisfaction rating. This rating is displayed on your helpdesk as My Mojo.

Both customer service representatives and helpdesk owners will find the Mojo Number helpful in improving customer satisfaction. Representatives can use the number to keep an eye on their customer feedback and work to increase it. Owners can keep an eye on their staff's ratings and determine which queues or team members need some help to improve ratings and which are going above and beyond for the customers. Managers can use the number to set goals for staff and even competitions to see who can rank the highest.

The Mojo Number helps ensure every customer leaves satisfied and happy with the support your company provides.

Would you like to try our free, hosted ticket tracking/helpdesk application? No long-term contracts, signup fees, or termination fees. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel anytime. We offer a wide variety of plans to fit any budget.

Read More

Turning Customer Satisfaction into Customer Loyalty

Achieving customer satisfaction is a good goal for any business to work towards. Taking it a step further, an ideal goal is customer loyalty. Most people can quickly think of a business they feel loyal to, one they gush about to others and return to again and again for repeat business. How does a company work to gain this sort of loyalty from its customers? Obviously, offering quality and useful products or services is the first step, but while this can result in customer satisfaction, to achieve customer loyalty a business should offer memorably remarkable customer service.

One of the first steps to developing strong, positive customer relationships is to listen. Make it as easy as possible for customers to provide feedback on their experiences with the company and products. There are several options for incorporating a simple system for this, such as Mojo Helpdesk. Allow the customer to provide immediate feedback regarding a customer service inquiry through Mojo Helpdesk ratings, for even better customer communication. This lets representatives know how well they’ve handled the situation and gives customers the opportunity to communicate their feelings on the experience without contributing much extra time or effort. If you're seeking more detailed information, utilize customer surveys. You can also let respondents know how valuable their feedback is by offering a future discount (or something comparable) to those who fill it out.

Ideally, customer complaints would always come through the proper customer service channels, but increasingly some customers choose to turn to social media and online review websites to express their feelings. By monitoring what users are saying about a business in social media and websites (like Yelp, Facebook, and Twitter),  it’s possible to collect important feedback and respond to customers quickly to resolve problems. It also allows for a greater awareness of the customers praising or recommending the company to others and can be used as a venue to express gratitude and show you’re paying attention.

Never forget that the company can’t exist without its customers. Treat them with all the respect this knowledge merits. Respond quickly to concerns they express and work with them on each issue until it is resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.  Most importantly, when you encounter difficult customers, endeavor to win them over with kindness and consideration. Sometimes the most difficult customers can become the most loyal, if their complaints are handled well.

As customer service increasingly gives way to complicated phone menus and websites that make it a challenge to reach an actual representative. When you ensure that your customers have a personal, human interaction each time help is required customers will take notice, and appreciate your company for it. Use sophisticated tools like Mojo Helpdesk to keep track of the history of purchases and interactions of each customer so repeat customers will encounter representatives knowledgeable of their preferences and past. If possible, assign a specific representative to common customers so anytime they need help, they will work with someone they know and trust.

Finally, do everything possible to exceed customer expectations. Encourage customer representatives to approach every customer interaction with the goal of going above and beyond. Surprise repeat customers occasionally with free shipping and discounts. For those who have joined your mailing list, offer special promotions for holidays and birthdays. Take every opportunity available to remind your customers how much you value them and to show that their loyalty is noticed and appreciated.

Would you like to try our free, hosted ticket tracking/helpdesk application? No long-term contracts, signup fees, or termination fees. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel anytime. We offer a wide variety of plans to fit any budget.

Read More

Tip of the Week: Auto-Assigning Tickets

This week we want to show you how to create an automation that will automatically route new tickets to specific agents. This is perfect if you have specific customer service representatives that handle tickets submitted by particular companies.  It takes a step out of manually assigning tickets to the correct person, resulting in a faster response from the right person, something everyone appreciates.

You can find the Automations link in the drop-down manage menu at the top of the helpdesk.

Click the ‘new’ button next to the Automations header to begin creating your custom automation.

You’ll need to title the automation and add a description. This will be useful if you ever need to return to the automation to make changes.

In the Filters section, choose the ‘selected companies’ button next to the ‘Company’ filter.  Then select the company who’s tickets you want to auto-assign. To select multiple companies, hold ctrl or command and select each company with your mouse.

In the Actions section, choose the representative all tickets will be auto-assigned to. One of the nice benefits of creating this automation is if you ever need to change who the tickets are routed to, you just make the change here and it is done.

Make sure to check the box to run the automation only once per ticket and if you want it to only apply to new tickets, check the box below.

Click Create and Activate and your automation is done. In less than 5 minutes you’ve created an automation that will save time and ensure your customers are being helped by the appropriate staff.

Would you like to try our free, hosted ticket tracking/helpdesk application? No long-term contracts, signup fees, or termination fees. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel anytime. We offer a wide variety of plans to fit any budget.

Read More

The Top 5 Customer Service Trends of 2012

The way we do business is changing faster every year as new products and technological breakthroughs influence the expectations and practices of companies of all types.  Awareness of the current and coming customer service trends enables a company to meet customer expectations and leverage the resources available to improve operations from year to year.

With that in mind, we’ve compiled 5 of the top customer service trends of 2012.

1. Proactive Social Media Use

People were using social media to vent concerns and complaints about their consumer experiences before businesses really had the wherewithal to develop a presence there themselves; but, more and more, savvy businesses have learned to use social media as a platform to publicly demonstrate personal concern for customer needs and fast response times. In 2012, expect to see more companies treat social media as a two-way communications system offering new, creative opportunities for marketing and customer relationships.

2. Customer Service in the Cloud

SaaS (software as a service) products are an increasing presence in the business landscape. Using a customer service software hosted in the cloud lowers costs by moving responsibility for hosting and support out of the company’s hands. It also increases efficiency by bringing all of your customer service needs into one place and speeding up the process of finding relevant data.

3. Increase in Smartphone Optimized Websites

As the world gets ever bigger through international internet connections and globalization, the devices we use to view it continue to shrink. With the market for smartphones growing every day, having a mobile optimized version of your website is a must. Businesses should strive to ensure it’s as easy for someone to find the information they need wherever they are with their smartphone as it is for someone sitting in an office.

4. Self-service Customer Support Gives Way to Faster, Personal Service

The concept of self-service customer support took off in 2011, with the websites and phone menus of many large companies designed to offer answers to customers without ever connecting them to a representative. While this may save costs by keeping employee numbers down, it also slows down the process of the customer reaching the answer needed and makes the experience less personal. In 2012, companies that prioritize exceptional service are likely to utilize the tools available, such as instant chat functions and centralized online support desks to help customers faster and with the irreplaceable experience of human care.

5. Increased Telecommuting

The availability of easy, affordable technology like Skype, online conferencing products and web-based tools like Mojo Helpdesk makes it possible for more customer service representatives to work from home. The increased flexibility is nice for employees and businesses both and telecommuting allows companies to hire and maintain employment for the highest quality employees in spite of geographical differences.

Each year always has a few surprises when it comes to customer service trends. One company with a solid customer service reputation can do something so amazing it changes our perspectives on good service. In the meantime, we have the means and knowledge to prepare ourselves for those changes that have already begun to take effect and make strides towards ensuring customer satisfaction in new and exciting ways.

Would you like to try our free, hosted ticket tracking/helpdesk application? No long-term contracts, signup fees, or termination fees. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel anytime. We offer a wide variety of plans to fit any budget.

Read More

Tip of the Week - Advanced Search Tips

Searching for tickets can be tricky if you don’t have much information on the specific ticket and hundreds of tickets to dig through. There are some search tricks that can help you refine your search, making it easier to find exactly what you need. While it’s simple to suggest you use the Advanced Search option on your help desk, by knowing exactly what to type in the search field, you can save yourself a little time.

Wild Card Search

Example of Wild Card Search

Using * at the end of a word is very useful if you are unsure of exactly how it is used in the ticket. For example, help* would result in matches like helps, helped, helping as it tells the search to look for any word that begins with help. This is perfect when you remember the submitter’s first name only. A simple search for Erin* will pull up all customers whose names begin with Erin. This can also be used with ticket numbers if you don’t remember the full number. Type the first few numbers and enter * to find the correct ticket with ease.

If you can’t remember whether that submitter is Tony or Toni, simply search for Ton?. The question mark indicates the character is a wild card. It will bring back Tony, Toni, and any other word that begins with Ton.

Avoid using a wild character at the beginning of the query will result in the search having to look through every term in that field, which can be very time-consuming.

Phrase Queries
If you have a string of words, put quotes around them to find only tickets with that exact phrase. Entering "service emergency" into the search field will pull up only tickets with those words in that order.

Field Queries
If you are looking for any reference to emergency in the title field, you’d enter title: emergency. This is a powerful way to refine your search as there are several fields you can specify. You can also search for a phrase in a specific field by combining a field query with a phrase query, the resulting search would look like this: title:”service emergency”. If you are ever curious about what a specific field would be, check the Mojo wiki for a list of field queries. If you use this to search for a custom field, you’ll need to know the custom field value. For instance, location: Boston or searching for just Boston will bring up custom field results.

Saving Searches

If you find that you are searching for the same things over and over, simply use the advance search filter to create and save the search. You will then be able to access your saved searches from the drop down list on every page.

Saved searches can be found in the Saved searches menu

The possibilities are practically endless in how you can refine your search using these suggestions. Try a few out and see how they make it easier and quicker to find the exact ticket you are looking for.

Would you like to try our free, hosted ticket tracking/helpdesk application? No long-term contracts, signup fees, or termination fees. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel anytime. We offer a wide variety of plans to fit any budget.

Read More

5 Ways to Keep Customer Service Representatives Motivated

Employee motivation and loyalty is important in any position, but for those tasked with representing a company to its customers, it takes on extra significance. Customer service representatives who feel invested in the company they work for and the products they represent will inevitably provide superior service than those unhappy in their position. As individuals commit themselves to resolutions for the coming year, take the opportunity to encourage improvements in your customer service department. Consider these 5 ways to keep customer service representatives motivated.

1. Hold Weekly Staff Meetings for Feedback
Effective communication is one of the most important facets of running any successful business. Weekly meetings afford both representatives and managers the opportunity to address any concerns that arise week to week and provide relevant feedback. As the main point of contact for customers, the customer service department is the first to hear about any problems or suggestions for products. By making sure this feedback is heard and passed on to the product development staff, these meetings can serve to improve products, keep customers happy and make the job of your customer service reps that much easier. It also lets staff know their contribution to the company is valued.

2. Encourage a Positive Work Environment
A pleasant workplace means less risk of dissatisfaction and high turnover. When the customer service staff is happy in their work, this lends itself to how they interact with customers. Give positive feedback whenever it’s earned and make sure any negative feedback is carefully worded to be constructive rather than disparaging. Pay attention to conflicts amongst the staff and step in before they have the chance to influence the larger environment, setting up a meeting with HR or a sit down with the staff members to encourage communication. Find little ways to reward the staff, such as donuts in the office once a week, or monthly company lunches or happy hours.

3. Set Goals and Recognize the Staff Members Who Accomplish Them
Mojo Helpdesk makes it easy to track the time it takes to resolve customer inquiries and lets customers provide ratings to representatives for how an issue is handled. Find a way to honor or reward those with the best results or greatest improvement over time. Having something tangible to work towards, such as a bonus, gift card, or displayed list of top rated employees each month, can be a powerful motivator.

4. Offer Upward Mobility
There’s little incentive for employees to work hard and stay with a company long term if they don’t expect opportunities for upward mobility. The best customer service representatives know the company’s products well and care about the larger success of the business; a state that is best achieved by ensuring that employees see their own success as aligned with that of the company. Showing long-term loyalty and providing a consistently good performance should lead to promotions and raises—skimping on this will lead to the loss of your best staff members to competitors.

5. Give Representatives Freedom to Make Decisions
Encouraging consistency in business can be valuable, but becomes constraining when taken too far. Don’t micromanage. Allow for some flexibility and creativity in how representatives handle customer service inquires, as long as they stick to general guidelines and trust their instincts. Something as simple as staff upgrading shipping for free due to an order error can enable your staff to quickly solve a customer’s issue and shorten call times, saving money in the long run. There also might be some truly great ideas to come out of giving staff the room to make their own decisions.

A company that makes a priority of providing a positive work environment and motivation to its employees will quickly gain a reputation as such. This can positively impact the company from an internal perspective, but also in regards to the company’s customers. People like to do business with companies who have a good reputation for taking care of their staff. In addition to improving conditions for your current customer service representatives, these tips can help your business to attract and keep high quality employees moving forward.

Would you like to try our free, hosted ticket tracking/helpdesk application? No long-term contracts, signup fees, or termination fees. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel anytime. We offer a wide variety of plans to fit any budget.

Read More