How IT Consultants Use a Hosted Helpdesk to Manage Client Requests

Mark Gallagher, founder of MoonRivers Media, and Mojo Helpdesk user since Jan 2012. (Photo Credit: Zoe Isaac)

Mark and Melissa Gallagher are co-owners of Moon Rivers Media, an IT solutions company based in New Hampshire. 

Married in 2003 when MoonRivers Media was in its early stages they worked tirelessly to build a client base and launch the business in 2004. Now nine years later, they're thriving entrepreneurs who serve a clientele of small to mid sized companies in the New England area and nationwide.

When not providing IT expertise to their clients, Mark and Melissa are also avid outdoors people who enjoy skiing and spending time with their two kids.

They were kind of enough to take some time out of their schedule to chat with us about their business and how it integrates with our hosted helpdesk software. 

ENTER MARK AND MELISSA:

Tell us about MoonRivers Media.

From web hosting, to email marketing, to Google Apps integration, MoonRivers Media offers an array of technology solutions for clients in the New England area and nationwide. The nature of our company is very mobile/on the road and the majority of hours are spent on site at client's offices, not our own. MoonRivers Media experienced a big growth once we settled at our home in New Hampshire and built a client base of local small to mid size companies with IT support needs.

What challenges you were facing prior to using Mojo?

Our diverse client base is spread around the country and our clients come to us for support 24/7. We needed to centralize the management of the requests and we needed a help desk to be bullet proof and accessible from EVERYWHERE.

How do you use Mojo day to day?

Tickets come in via email to help@moonrivers.com and our techs can grab them and get to work. It also integrates with our existing site and Google Apps both of which were great for us. 

Tell us about the results.

We can search the tickets for answers to questions people submit again and again. We can show them how to self-help and login to their own custom profile with all their tickets.

We also get the original requests via email and then the help@moonriver address sends the tickets to a few email boxes and to the helpdesk so we can see them every which way and respond as appropriate. 

We combined the helpdesk with our remote software support and now we have a GREAT helpdesk.

Melissa Gallagher, co-owner, MoonRivers Media. (Photo credit: Zoe Isaac)

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If you're a IT consultant or tech consulting firm looking for a help desk or ticket tracking software, you can visit our website: Mojo Helpdesk or send me an email at ryan @metadot (dot) com .

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Mojo Helpdesk Has a New Look

We are proud to announce the release of our new streamlined Mojo Helpdesk website and logo. Our updated branding reflects our intuitive, efficient and user-friendly design. We have consolidated our pricing plans by removing our Free and Basic plans, and have packed more features into our Enterprise plans. Now customers can choose monthly invoicing as well as secure their subscription with a Purchase Order. Along with our new site, we have updated the Mojo Helpdesk UI by improving accessibility to account information in the Owner/Admin menu. The new Account Information section allows users to easily update their billing information, view or change plans, and view their billing statement. It also provides an easier way for customers to subscribe to a plan when their free trial period ends. 

There are other ways to stay in-touch and informed about Mojo Helpdesk news. Check out our Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Tip of the Week: Creating an Automation to Close Old, Solved Tickets

We previously posted about the difference between closed and solved tickets and briefly mentioned creating an automation to help you keep your help desk clear of old, solved tickets. There is already a pre-created automation for this in the automations section of the helpdesk which can be activated at any time.  However, if you have never created an automation in Mojo Helpdesk before, this is a perfect one to start with due to its simplicity and usefulness.

Watch the video and try your hand at creating an automation for your help desk. You'll be glad you did once the automation clears out old tickets and makes it easier to keep track of open tickets that need attention.

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.

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How To Provide Excellent Holiday Customer Service

The holidays can be a trying time for customer service representatives. People often feel rushed and overwhelmed in their efforts to complete their holiday shopping in time for celebrations with family and friends. The need to maintain excellent customer service throughout this period cannot be underestimated. When tensions are high, it becomes ever more important to handle customer concerns and inquiries pleasantly and effectively.
Businesses should make efforts to ensure the customer service staff is well prepared for any issues likely to arise in the holiday season. These seven suggestions can help make sure your company maintains the superior level of service your customers deserve and expect.

Hire Extra Seasonal Staff
The boon to business that comes with increased consumer spending during the holiday season means a greater burden on customer support staff. Bringing on temporary staff helps keep employees from becoming overwhelmed and ensures service doesn’t slow during the busy period.  

Utilize Mojo Helpdesk to Keep Up with the High Volume of Requests
Your staff is only human and when an individual’s responsibilities increase, making sure nothing slips through the cracks is especially challenging. Mojo Helpdesk makes sure every customer request is neatly organized, through custom filters and automations, as well as being able to assign to a particular representative and stays on the radar until it’s resolved.

Be Prepared for High Stress and Emotional Customers
The holidays are an especially stressful time for many and this can serve to make customer service interactions more difficult. When faced with an angry or emotional customer, keep in mind those feelings aren’t personal. Always remain calm when working through the customer’s issue and keep a levelheaded tone.

Use Mojo Helpdesk to Set Goals and Incentives for Staff Members
People work better when given a clear incentive. With Mojo Helpdesk’s ratings system and SLA targets,  it is easy to implement an incentives program to reward the representatives that receive the highest Mojo scores from customers or achieve the quickest resolution times. This can help raise spirits and encourage harder work, without making staff feel overburdened.

Keep Customers Well Informed
Make sure customers know upfront the estimated shipping times for each order, if your company ships/sells goods, and post clearly on your website and in all e-mail and helpdesk correspondence any days staff won’t be available.  If possible, direct tickets to an available staff member during days someone is out.

Be Prepared for Post-Holiday Returns
While the holiday gift giving tradition usually means an increase in sales, it also comes coupled with a period of high volume returns and follow-up calls for support. Have a system in place to handle returns that makes the experience simple for the consumer. Use Mojo Helpdesk to organize return requests.  Adding custom fields to the ticket form, and requiring customers to enter all necessary information can help ensure returns are more easily handled by staff.  For frequent requests, automations may be set up to respond more quickly to several customers/tickets at once. 

Reward your Staff
As the holidays mean harder work and higher stress for staff, it’s important to make them feel valued. Whether bringing sweets into the office for everyone, throwing a holiday party, or implementing a gift exchange program, bringing some levity and fun into the office setting will help keep spirits up. The holiday season is such an important period for businesses; some basic preparation is well worth the positive results it yields for customers and staff. Encourage staff to take note of any unforeseen issues they encounter so the team can take stock at the end of the season and better prepare for next year.  Ensuring you have a stream-lined, friendly, fast and efficient customer service system in place, even during the busiest time of the year can lead to happier holidays for everyone.

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.

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Mojo Helpdesk Updates - Improved Communications Controls

We just released an update to Mojo Helpdesk with a few features to make the help desk more customizable. We know everyone uses their help desk a little differently from one another, and we wanted to embrace this by making it easier to control communications to the customer.

The first update allows users to set whether or not an email is sent to the ticket submitter when new tickets are created. Help desks can now ensure the only time a customer receives an email is when an agent chooses to send one.

To control this feature, go to “Manage” at the top of your help desk and select “All settings”. Under the “Helpdesk Owner/Admins” menu, click “Configure Mojo Helpdesk”. Once on the helpdesk settings page, click the “Change” button and scroll down to the ‘Miscellaneous Settings’ section. Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ for the setting: ‘Send new ticket email notification to submitter?’.

We have also added the ability to customize the “Closed Ticket” email template that is sent to users when they try to respond to a closed ticket. For those who don’t want to utilize the customer portal and prefer to keep all contact with customers via email, the customization of this template is useful as it allows removal of all portal URLs. This way a helpdesk owner or admin can decide what instructions they want to leave their customers with for following up on a closed ticket. Now you can add a phone number or email address and remove the Help Desk URL, if desired.

To edit this template, go to “Manage” and select “All Settings”. Under the “Helpdesk Owner/Admins” menu, click “Configure Emails”. Scroll to the bottom of the email handling page until you reach the ‘Email Templates’ section. The new email template falls under “Tickets to Submitter” and is called “Ticket Closed Message”.

And finally, we cleaned up the messaging system for all tickets. We saw a few issues with the formatting whenever users must click “more” to view the full content of the ticket. Now, all messages will look just as they were entered.

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.

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Can Ticket Tracking Increase Client Retention?

Customer contact is an integral part of any business model. Servicing clients effectively plays a large role in the success or failure of a business. Part of providing good service comes with ticket tracking or following a customer issue from the start to its resolution at the end of the line. Businesses can track how a client’s issues are being solved at any point in a process.

Getting to the root of the problem
No matter what industry a company operates in, service is crucial for longevity. When good customer service experiences occur, those clients may tell someone. When bad experiences occur, they may tell ten people. Unfortunately, for many companies, it can be difficult to pinpoint at what point a customer started to develop a negative opinion of the organization. With ticket tracking techniques, management can view the status of customer issues from one department to the next and identify areas for improvement. With systems like these, trends can also be identified in order to develop new strategies for better serving clients.

Increase customer loyalty
Most people do not keep coming back to companies for great prices, sales, revolutionary products or even quality. While some or all of these factors draw customers in the first time, good service is what causes the majority of customers to be loyal to one brand over another. Tracking customer tickets from beginning to end not only ensures quality control of customer service activities, but also increases the chance that more clients will continue to use an organization’s services. Moreover, people that are aware that their concerns are being tracked closely by a company feel more satisfied that they are being taken seriously.

Customer service activities are some of the most crucial components of a successful business. Providing poor service is the fastest way to destroy a business’s reputation. This is why being able to track customer issues from when they originate until they are resolved is very important for companies to master. Ticket tracking not only helps to identify issues at any point in a path through an organizations workflow but also increases overall customer loyalty and satisfaction.

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.

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How Should a Small Business Determine the Best Help Desk?

Virtually all businesses have employees that use a computer for some task or another. Computers make a variety of jobs easier, and in today’s tech rich world, they are almost a necessity. Just like with all things technical, computers malfunction or simply outwit their users. For these and other reasons, companies have help desk services to aid their employees in solving IT related issues. Small businesses must determine what the best help desk program should be for their needs based on the activities of their employees, the complexity of the network as well as the budget allotted for the system.

Who, What, Where and When?

Many software packages are great for dedicated computers and even laptops that rove around a building. Many businesses however, have employees that work remotely or perform tasks from mobile devices or laptops in places other than the company campus. The help desk software that a company chooses should be equally as mobile and flexible enough to handle requests coming in from devices other than computers. Employees working remotely will still need occasional assistance with devices and will need answers quickly.

Multi-tech environments

These days, employees may have the option of choosing from different machines, such as PC’s or Macintoshes. They may also be running differing versions of operating systems on these machines, as well as various types of software, depending on their job descriptions. This can make solving issues incredibly complex and downright confusing for help desk solutions. Ensuring that the software a company purchases can handle multi-tech environments such as these is crucial to its success.

Price

Of course price can be a driving factor in a poor economic climate even when businesses do not want it to be. Help desk programs generally charge for the license to use the product, which can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. Just because a system is expensive, however, does not mean that it is better for your company’s particular needs. The best help desk will be a combination of what works for the company at a competitive price.

Computers and other technology that we use in our daily work lives seem to be a mainstay. Although these machines make a lot of tasks much easier, they also tend to need fixing or expertise that a user may not have. Help desk software helps users by tracking issue requests and acting as a knowledge base for IT related problems that employees face.

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.

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