Are You Ready for the Future of Internal IT Support?

We’ve been talking (and hearing) a lot lately about the ways in which customer support is changing, and how it’s turned into the key competitive differentiator for many companies. With customers being a prime focus, businesses are starting to ramp up their investments in consumer facing support, but does the same sentiment hold true for internal support?

The short answer? It should. Consumers are beginning to expect the same level of service from their employers as the brands they do business with, but internal IT teams are challenged to keep up. A recent study conducted by IDC Research found that 22 percent of companies don’t have much buy-in from executives on the critical role for support. Additionally 42 percent of organizations said that investments in enhanced support will be limited within their business.

On the surface, it might seem to make sense to prioritize your external-facing support (customers) over your internal-facing support (IT) – after all, internal teams don’t face the same pressures as customer support teams. However, when employees don’t receive the support they need, it can be just as detrimental to a company’s bottom line as a disgruntled customer.

If an employee has a technology issue, not only does it hinder their own productivity, but it threatens the productivity of their colleagues as well. When issues arise, employees can no longer do their jobs. In fact, it has been estimated that employees spend 22 minutes a day on IT-related issues, which translates to 91 hours of downtime per year for a full-time worker.

To resolve the problem and get back to work, employees are likely to troubleshoot the issue themselves. More likely than not, they waste time trying to solve the solution on their own, and/or enlisting the help of their coworkers, further distracting them from their tasks . This was the case nearly 50% of the time, according to participants in the study.

As expectations shift and IT departments face more pressure to deliver quality experiences, how can they improve the way they deliver customer service? Here are a few things internal IT teams can learn from their external-facing counterparts:

• Efficient support depends on effective communication. The right support tools can help supplement the conversations by allowing support teams to see what the user sees and quickly resolve issues based on that vantage point. Also, these tools are available in more than just phone channels – but can offer help across the engagement journey including mobile, live chat and more.
• Personalization is key to success. Internal teams need to know the employees they serve. Develop employee personas to understand how to best service your “customers” and compliment that by developing profiles on end users to capture device information, spot recurring questions, and use that data to improve overall processes.
• Start with self-service. Improving internal self-service portals can increase employee satisfaction by providing them with a more efficient avenue to resolve their issues. By using data from real-time conversations, IT teams can build up their self-service content and tailor their portals to answer the most recurring questions.

While it might seem okay for organizations to continue providing support using traditional methods, it threatens the productivity and loyalty of one of your greatest assets….your employees. Don’t risk getting left behind.

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