topdesk magazine 2008 issue 4
TRANSCRIPT
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7/29/2019 TOPdesk Magazine 2008 Issue 4
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January 2009, Issue 4, Volume 10
Towards qualitative client satisfaction / Behind the Scenes of the TOPdesk
Help Desk / Cultural Inuences on Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction
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Satised clientsChanging providers remains a challenge. When you wish to
switch to a new telephone supplier, move to a different inter-net provider or purchase your gas and electricity from another
company, its more than likely that it will be a bumpy ride. On
many occasions, services are delivered too late, you are discon-
nected too early, or there is a complete lack of clarity about
the agreements made because you have had to deal with four
different people regarding the same request. Few people will
claim to be satised with these services.
Yet satisfying clients remains the objective of every organiza-
tion that provides services. And thats no different for a servicedesk. On a daily basis, service desk employees do their best to
be of service for their clients, colleagues or consumers. But just
how do they do that? And how can the effectiveness of their
approach be best measured? In practice, it seems that such
questions are not easy to answer.
In this edition of TOPdesk Magazine, you will nd a number
of articles on the subject of client satisfaction. Consultant
Gkhan Tuna discusses comprehensively the various approa-
ches to client satisfaction within service management, as wellas methods to improve it. We also examine the inuence of
cultural differences within Europe on the approach we take
towards clients and discuss the latest trends in the area of
client-oriented service delivery. Finally, to give you an idea of
what we do to ensure that clients remain satised, we have
interviewed our very own help desk.
TOPdesk Magazines editorial board also rates the opinions of
its readers highly. Are we discussing topics of interest to you?
Whats missing? What can we improve upon? Please sendyour responses to [email protected]. Your feedback will
help us to improve this magazine even further!
Niek Steenhuis
TOPdesk Magazine, a service management
platform, discusses subjects that are topical
in the world of professional service desks
in IT, facilities and other service providing
organizations. TOPdesk Magazine is intended
for managers, service desks employees, facilities
organizations and electronic city councils
- anyone who is involved with supporting
customers on a daily basis. This concerns boththe processes and the technology behind these
services.
Want to comment? Go to
www.topdeskmagazine.com
COLOPHON
TOPdesk Magazine is a TOPdesk publication
tel: +31 15 270 09 00
email: [email protected].
Editorial board Niek Steenhuis
Editors Carrie Brandt, Claudia Funk,
Henrieke Korten, Annemarie Moeijes, Gkhan TunaTranslators Carrie Brandt, Clare Donald
Lay-outCathy van den Berg, Jimmy Goedhart,Louise van der Laak
Website Pim Besseler, David Blom, Ted Erkkila,Erik Pols
This magazine is printed on FSC-certied paper,
using an eco press with cadmium-free ink for all
colours and distilled water instead of alcohol.
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4 News
5 Client in focus: AWVN
6 Column: Past results
7 Towards qualitative clientsatisfaction
11 The Help Desk for your Service Desk
Behind the Scenes of the TOPdesk
Help Desk
14 Trends: Keeping Customers Satised
16 Detailed explanation or light
conversation?
Cultural Inuences on Customer
Satisfaction
20 Tips + Tricks
11
Contents January 09
14
7
16
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TOPdesk LinkedIn GroupTOPdesk recently created the group TOPdesk Service
Management Professionals on the website LinkedIn. The
purpose of LinkedIn is to establish and maintain business
networks. Registering for this group will give you the chanc
to meet other professionals in your line of business, and
exchange experiences about service management, ITIL and
facilities management. You will also be able to participate
in discussions with others in the profession and remain
up to date on the latest TOPdesk developments. For more
information, visit www.linkedin.com.
TOPdesk present at BETT Show
From 14 to 17 January 2009, TOPdesk will be exhibiting
at the worlds largest educational technology event the
BETT show at London Olympia. Come and visit us at stan
#S90 and see how TOPdesk can best meet your service desk
needs. If you would like more information on the event, go
to www.bettshow.com.
TOPdesk conducts client satisfactionsurvey
With the motto Practice what you preach in mind, TOPdesk
recently conducted a client satisfaction survey of its Dutch
clients for the second time. The aim of the investigation
was to determine to what extent TOPdesk has improved its
services and products, as well as where possible room for
improvement lies. The results of the survey are currently
being processed and will be presented in the following
edition of TOPdesk Magazine. Future surveys are also planned
for customers outside of the Netherlands.
Contact persons on the Extranet
The menu option Contact details has been added to the
TOPdesk Extranet. Here you will nd an overview of all
persons who are registered as contacts in TOPdesk. You can
also add, remove and edit contacts. When editing contacts
you also have the option to indicate what information an
individual wants to receive; for example, you can specify
who in your organization needs to be informed when a new
version of TOPdesk is released. In the list of contacts, you
can request Extranet accounts or ask for the account of acolleague to be resent.
Another new feature is the option to create and maintain
a contact prole. Here you can indicate how we can best
contact you or what the working hours of a contact person
are. These data are important for our help desk, as they
enable us to stay in contact with clients much more easily.
TOPdesk Symposium 2009
TOPdesk is planning several seminars and a symposium for
this year. The TOPdesk Symposium in the Netherlands will
take place on 17 and 18 June in Rotterdam. During these
two days there will be presentations and discussions about
service management, the latest trends and TOPdesk. In the
UK a TOPdesk seminar will be organized in Autumn 2009,
while the German-speaking organizations can visit the
German TOPdesk seminar in 2010. More information on these
events will follow, so keep an eye on the TOPdesk website.
Exhibitions and Shows
14 - 16 JanuaryFacilities Trade ShowBrabanthallen, Den Bosch, the Netherlands
14 - 17 JanuaryBETT Show, Olympia, London, UK
4 - 5 FebruaryLegal IT ShowBusiness Design Centre, London, UK
10 - 11 FebruaryKomCom Nord Hannover, Germany
News
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7/29/2019 TOPdesk Magazine 2008 Issue 4
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Alongside his position as
chairperson of the network Young
HR professionals, Erik Tierolf is
jointly responsible for the setup
and use of TOPdesk. He explains
the reasons for purchasing
TOPdesk: In 2003, we didnt have
an application in which to register
the complaints, questions and
comments of our customers thatwe received via our employers
help line; everything took place
via email. We had to be able to
legally guarantee our processes;
we therefore wanted to begin
recording the types of questions
we were receiving as well as the
responses we were providing.
The implementation was well
prepared, which was necessary, as
AWVN was one of the rst TOPdesk
clients to use the product for legalsupport. We are really pleased
with it. I even gave a presentation
about TOPdesk to another
company because they were
also looking to set up a similar
employers help line.
Given that AWVN uses TOPdesk
for both external and internal
support, the calls logged are very
diverse. Within the organization
we receive a lot of IT-related
calls. However, from our external
customers we receive calls like: My
employees are taking really long
breaks, what can I do about it? or
How do I re an employee?.
At the moment, TOPdesk is part
of the face of AWVN that its
members see. Erik Tierolf: TOPdesk
also functions as a marketing tool
for us. The calls we register reveal
the issues that our employers are
dealing with. Based on reports, I
ask the editors of our magazine to
write an article on a topic that we
receive many calls about. This is
one way in which we can provide a
better service for our customers.AWVN requested its clients to ll in
a survey about its service, of which
the most important question
was: What do you consider the
best thing about our service that
you receive in return for your
contribution? We often hear:
the employers line in response.
You can see the signicant role
that TOPdesk plays in the service
we provide. We are also working
towards making TOPdesk as
accessible as possible for our
members.
According to Erik Tierolf, TOPdesk
not only assists the AWVNs
external clients, but also itsemployees. Callers are always
aware of the procedures. They
know how long they need to wait
for an incident to be processed, as
well as what to expect because
they automatically receive
emails when the incident has
been logged and processed. The
operators also like working with
TOPdesk; they are notied when
an incident has been open for
too long and can quickly look forstandard solutions. In addition
to the technical side of things,
Erik Tierolf is charmed by the
social side of both the application
and organization. TOPdesk is
very approachable and I really
like the way the organization
communicates.
Client in focus
TEXT: HENRIEKE KORTEN
AWVN is one of the largest employers associations
in the Netherlands and assists its approximately 600
members with legal and labour issues. The organization
uses TOPdesk for the external support of customers as
well as the support of its employees. Employers in the
Netherlands that are members of the AWVN can direct
their questions via telephone to the employers help line.
Employees of AWVN register both the questions received
and the advice they have given in TOPdesk.
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personal service? This is often at
the cost of improvement work
concerning the set-up of a front
and back ofce structure. Give
further training to the service
desk employees? This again causes
uncertainty about the roles that
service desk employees must take
on because everyone always seems
to be meddling in other peoples
work. The result is a grey area in
which no one is sure of what his or
her responsibilities are.
Client expectations are determined
by the straightforward, personal
and often inefcient service
of the past. Their expectations
need to be adjusted to the new
situation. It is important to be clear
about the new procedures and
the response and resolution times,and it is particularly important not
to revert to the that is actually
not allowed, but Ill do it for
you anyway types of responses,
however tempting they may be.
The service department must
communicate clearly, be on the
same page and question whether
each requested service can be
provided consistently, uniformly
and in a logical manner, now, and in
the future. Since they know whatto expect, only then will clients
slowly but surely become satised
with the quality of the services
you provide. By establishing,
fullling and, eventually, exceeding
expectations, you will nd the key
to customer satisfaction.
Last month, I went out for dinner.
The menu was exciting, the
view fantastic and the service
attentive. While the bill ended
up being higher than expected
thanks, in part, to a liberal amount
of good wine at the end of thenight we patted our bellies in
satisfaction and stepped smiling
into the taxi to go home.
I rang my father: Hey Dad, you
two wanted to go out to eat for
your 35th anniversary, right? I
recently went to restaurant X
with friends. It was expensive, but
worth it: delicious food, beautiful
interior and a view of the water.
It just opened, but is packed everynight. If I were you, I would make
reservations ASAP. I told the same
thing to friends, and my word-of-
mouth marketing started a real
trend. However friend A thought
the food was mediocre, while
friend B complained about the
dirty tablecloths and the overly
enthusiastic service. And worst
of all, my parents celebrated their
35th wedding anniversary with
cold food, empty wine glasses and
completely negligent service. The
restaurant simply did not live up to
the high hopes I had instilled.
It is indeed so that past results
are no indication of future
performance. My work as a
consultant setting up service desks
brings me in frequent contact
with disillusioned clients. What
happened to the good old days
when Joe, the system manager,
walked around with his screwdriver
and could immediately x my
problems? Now, I have to rst ring
the service desk and those people
dont know anything! It is the
service management equivalent ofa dirty tablecloth on your table.
The introduction of a service
desk makes it possible for an
entire department to work more
proactively and to better plan and
structure work activities certainly
more so than with the proverbial
screwdriver. Given time, it will
result in better service across the
board, but clients will often not
notice it in the beginning. Theywere used to fast, personal service
and their rst impression is that
everything is slow, difcult to
arrange and impersonal. Clients are
not pleased.
What to do? Bend over backwards
to provide the same fast and
TEXT:ANNEMARIE MOEIJES
Column: Past results
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A Brief History of ITIn order to understand the essence
of IT service delivery, you can
best compare it with a magic
trick. Magicians are renowned for
making things that are tangible
and visible simply disappear. IT
specialists, in contrast, work in
the reverse order. By measuring
the quality of their services, they
attempt to make invisible services
as visible as possible.
The trend to make IT service
visible can be best illustrated
based on the development that ITIL
has undergone in the last couple
of decades. The series of books on
ITIL were compiled in response to
the need to improve the way in
which IT services were described
Towards qualitative client
satisfaction
TEXT:GKHAN TUNA
Within the last fteen years, the role of IT service has
experienced explosive growth. What began as a small
group of system administrators, who managed the
network behind the scenes, has grown to become a
valuable department, which has a central place within
the organization. For IT organizations, providing good
service is now more important than it ever was, with
satised customers being a measure for success. Yet
as contact with the client grows in intensity, IT service
providers continue to measure the quality of their service
without involving the client.
and set out. ITIL version 1 wasreleased at the beginning of the
1980s, during which the emphasis
was exclusively on managing
the technology. During this
decade, IT organizations delivered
sufcient added value, as long
as everything, from a technical
point of view, ran smoothly. The
maintenance and development
of the IT infrastructure took place
predominantly in the background.
The second version of ITIL was
released in the mid 1990s. It
capitalized on a resolute change of
mentality from the management
of technology to the management
of services. The reason for this
change was that organizations
were becoming increasingly
dependent on IT to reach theirobjectives. By offering technical
innovations, the IT department
enabled the business to realize
its objectives more effectively.
The contact between the IT
organization and the client grew
in intensity and, as a result, the
service delivery was moved to the
foreground.
The third version of ITIL has been
around since 2007. In this latestversion, the entire eld of service
management is laid out. The IT
organization is no longer the
invisible team that it once was,
delivering and supporting only
automation tools. IT support, in
contrast, has become an essential
part of the organization and
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responds to the prevailing demand
for information technology. The
IT organization and the business
are involved in a continual process
of nding the balance betweensupply and demand.
Delivering QualityThe IT organization must be able
to deal with rapidly changing
technological developments,
while the commercial need of its
clients changes at the same time.
This tension between supply and
demand puts IT managers under
constant pressure to prove that
their service is client-oriented.
Nowadays, the magic word in
service delivery is quality. But what
exactly is quality?
Scholars distinguish roughly three
approaches to describe the conceptof quality. First, the philosophical
point of view: In Zen and the
Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
(1974) Robert Pirsig describes
quality simply as excellence. One
recognizes quality when faced
with it, but cannot explain it. For
example, Music composed by
Beethoven is of a high quality, but
we still dont know why.1
From
a theoretical point of view, this
approach is perhaps interesting,yet virtually unusable in practice
because quality, according to this
denition, cannot be accounted for
nor measured.
The second technical
approach is exactly the opposite.
According to this approach, of
which Frederick W. Taylor laid the
foundations in The Principles of
Scientic Management (1911),
quality can be seen as an objective
standard that can be measured.In this case, any divergence from
the standard means a reduction in
quality.
Finally, the client-oriented
approach leaves the denition of
quality up to the client. Quality is
thus subjective and depends on
the clients individual experience.
According to the denition of
Joseph M. Juran, expert in quality
management, the quality of a
service is good when the client is
convinced that its good.
The Technical ApproachCurrently, numerous IT
organizations use the technicalapproach to measure the quality
of their IT services. By employing
objective quality standards,
organizations can acquire insight
into the technical quality of the
service: How many questions are
being answered successfully?
How many disruptions are being
restored? How many bugs are
being xed? To guarantee this
quality, checklists of quality
standards are drawn up; forexample, the telephone at the help
desk must be answered within
three rings.
To a certain extent, this is a useful
method of measuring quality;
however, it is no guarantee for
success. In the example above,
help desk employees could answer
all incoming calls within the
given three rings, only to put the
customer on hold. Sure, the quality
requirement is met the phonedidnt ring more than three times
but has a good service actually
been delivered? Figures are
conjured up out of thin air, creating
the illusion that the service has
been made measurable. The
danger of this technical approach
is that help desk employees aim to
meet the quality standard, without
it actually leading to a general
improvement of the service.
Whether the client is satised
with the provided service does
not depend on what is delivered
(the technical quality), but also on
how the service is provided (the
functional quality). The telephone
might be answered quickly, but
is the help desk employee at the
other end of the line actually
friendly? Does he or she use too
much jargon? And if the client
is offered a solution, is his or her
schedule taken into account?
The Client-orientedApproachResearch reveals that it is exactly
this functional quality that is
decisive in the perception of
clients.2
The reason for this is
the nature of providing service:
services are not tangible, but are
effected as the result of interaction
with the client. The client is one
inseparable component of theservice. Therefore organizations
that wish to gain real insight into
the quality of their service, should
then consider applying a client-
oriented approach. What does the
client think of the service? If an
IT organization is really striving
for client satisfaction, then the
Quality is subjective and depends on the
clients individual experience
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emphasis should not only be on
what is delivered, but on how it is
delivered.
In order to promote a client-oriented attitude, in particular a
change is needed in the way of
thinking. Employees in service
organizations must have a service
attitude in order to be able to
deliver quality.3
This attitude
comprises three elements that the
employees of the IT organization
should possess.
First, they must possess the
technical knowledge and skills to
meet the wishes of clients; in other
words, the help desk employee
should know what he or she is
talking about.
Additionally the help desk
employee should be competent
in assisting clients. He or she
understands the clients situation,
nds out what the client wants
and can offer alternatives that are
useful to the client.
A third component of this service
attitude concerns the capacity
of the service desk staff to worktogether as a team. The client
is often dependent on several
persons at once, who together
are responsible for providing the
service. They have to be able to
communicate with one another
in order to prevent the client from
being sent on a wild goose chase.
ResearchThese may all be good intentions,
but how can you be certain
that such an approach actually
works? If the quality of the serviceis determined by the clients
perception, then it is important
to take the clients wishes and
judgement seriously. Only in this
way can you measure whether
the service provided at the end
of the day actually meets the
expectations of the client. A client
satisfaction investigation is an
ideal way to do this as it offers a
platform for clients to express their
views and opinions. As a result, the
IT organization has a much better
idea of which points they need to
work on in order to improve their
service.
Client satisfaction investigations
can be conducted in the form
of a survey. It is best to conduct
such an investigation periodically
annually for example in
order to check on a regular basis
whether the service (still) meets
the expectations of the client.
After all, expectations can change
considerably over time.
It is useful not only for clients to ll
in the survey, but also managers
and employees. The results of the
surveys can be compared in order
to check whether discrepancies
exist between the perception of
service according to employees,
managers and clients. If the survey
reveals signicant differences
between the three parties, then
the employees or managers
clearly do not know how to place
themselves in the clients situation.
Use the results of periodic client
satisfaction investigations
to implement goal-oriented
improvements, in order to ensure
that, in the future, the service
better meets the expectations of
clients. The feedback of clients is
an ideal way to evaluate the client-
friendliness of the IT organization.
The gures and statistics that were
conjured up out of thin air in the
technical approach perhaps create
the illusion that the service has
been made measurable; however, a
client-oriented approach presents
a reliable representation of the
quality of your service. In the end,
only by listening to its clients can
the IT organization structurally
improve the service it offers.
Gkhan Tuna is a Consultant at TOPdesk.
1, 2, 3 Kasper, van Helsdingen,
de Vries, Services Marketing
Management, 1999.
Sources
Christian Grnroos, Service andRelationship Marketing (1990).
Kasper, van Helsdingen, de Vries,
Services Marketing Management
(1999).
The danger is that help desk employees aim to
meet the quality standard, without it actually
leading to a general improvement of the service.
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How are calls registered atthe help desk?Jeroen: Almost half of our calls
are phoned in. A quarter of them
are registered via the Extranet,
and the rest are received via
email or passed on personally by
colleagues. Many clients enjoy
having personal contact.
Ivette: Thats also nice for us;
if we have the client on the
line, we can identify precisely
what is going on. We want to
work together with the client
to resolve the problem more
as a colleague than as a service
provider. We are only satised if
the client is satised.
Who do I get on the linewhen I make a call?Jeroen: A call is rst received by
the front ofce. If they are all on
the telephone, then it is picked
up by someone in the back ofce.
These two teams are manned
by the same people: a support
specialist works one day in the
front ofce and the next day in
the back ofce. Every support
specialist can handle both rst line
and second line incidents.
The most important thing for
us is that we remain accessible;
the customer should not have
to wait. That is why we have setup the process so that there is
always someone to pick up the
phone. Even if no one is available
to answer it in the back ofce,
the call is transferred to the Sales
department. They are also quite
familiar with TOPdesk. They talk
with the client, and if they cannot
immediately come up with a
solution, they create an incident
for the back ofce.
How quickly will my call beprocessed?Jeroen: In any case, the call will
be examined within a day, so that
the client knows what to expect.
Almost half of these calls are
resolved on that same day, and
often within one conversation.
We do not believe in making false
promises as to when an incident
will be resolved. Some problems
have complex causes, and in
that case, the resolution time is
difcult to estimate. If you have
a strict deadline, then you run
the risk of closing an incident for
the sake of meeting the deadline,even though the problem has
not been completely resolved.
Our work is meaningful if we are
able to offer the client a solution,
instead of just an answer.
Are the incoming callsprioritized?Jeroen: We make a distinction
between multiple sorts of
priorities. Disturbances with
a high priority are those thatcause the client to be unable to
continue working. Each day, one
support specialist is designated
to handle these sorts of problems.
If we receive such a call, then this
person drops everything to try
to resolve the problem as quickly
as possible. The less serious
The Help Desk for your Service Desk
TOPdesk clients from all over the world can direct their questions, complaints and
requests at the help desks in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. The rst line
incidents are processed by the local support specialists in London and Kaiserslautern,
while second line incidents are resolved by the head ofce in Delft. Here, 27 people
process about 2500 calls per month. To introduce our Dutch help desk, we posed the
most frequently asked questions to Jeroen Boks, Manager of the help desk, and Ivette
van Putten, Support Specialist.
TEXT:NIEK STEENHUIS
Behind the Scenes of the TOPdesk Help Desk
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disruptions, functional questions
and change requests are entered
into the normal process ow and
are addressed according to the
order in which they are received.
Are the help desk employeesable to resolve everythingthemselves?Jeroen: Actually, we work together
with all the departments within
TOPdesk. For more complex
problems, we ask the Test team
to research the disruption. It is
possible that an error only occurs
if a combination of factors is
present: for example, it can bedependant on the version number,
the settings, the environment and/
or a certain order of processes.
The possibilities are just about
endless, so research can be quite
time consuming. The Test team
has specialists that are able to sort
through all the details. We let the
Communication department know
if there is an error in the manual
or if something can be improved
upon.
Ivette: If a call concerns the
technical functioning of a module,
then we pass on incidents to the
project team in the Development
department that is responsible
for that particular module. Each
team has a developer that has
been appointed to keep track of
and process incidents. If we receive
questions about purchasing extra
modules, we pass these on to the
Sales department.
Despite the fact that, internally,
many departments work together
to process calls, we make sure
that the client only needs to have
contact with one department,
namely, the help desk. It doesnt
matter who the client speaks to
at the help desk. All of us log the
details thoroughly so that anyone
can handle an incident. New
clients often need to get used to
this; at the end of the conversationthey ask, Could I get your name
please? After they have spoken
with us a few times, they dont
ask that anymore. They have
come to know that their calls are
always addressed and handled
appropriately.
What happens to mysuggestions for newfunctionalities?
Jeroen: If we receive an ideafor a new functionality in the
software, we rst check whether
it already exists or has already
been submitted as an idea and
then later rejected. If neither is
the case, then we pass it on to the
Development department. They
assess the functionality to see if
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The added value ofa good help desk
We asked Wolter Smit, Director of TOPdesk, what the
important factors are when it comes to a good help
desk at TOPdesk:
When we began this company in the early nineties,
I was the one on the line with clients. We wanted
to do whatever it took to help the client as much as
possible, regardless of the size of the organization.
That is still one of our core values at TOPdesk. Call it
a sense of pride. The client must be pleased and we
must ensure that theyre pleased. The help desk plays
an essential role in this.
Moreover, the help desk adds a lot of extra value to
the services we provide. The market is being ooded
with more and more free and open source software.
TOPdesk offers solutions at a price, so we need to
distinguish ourselves from the rest. For example, one
of the added values of purchased software is that the
application is strong and well-integrated you dont
need to fuse together a lot of individual applications.
But the most important added value is the excellent
support. For a large part, a software supplier is
justied by a good help desk.
And something that shouldnt be forgotten: if you
are a supplier of help desk software, then you should
of course have a good help desk yourself. We offer
excellent support for a xed annual price. Surveys
have indicated that our help desk is always well
appreciated. For example, clients are not forced to
log incidents by email or on the Extranet. If a client
prefers to speak to someone on the telephone, then
that is of course possible. We believe in the human
factor in doing business, so we have to make that
apparent in our help desk. That is something forwhich we will not cut corners.
it is indeed desirable and whether
it is feasible to create. As soon as
something is decided, they let the
Help desk know and we pass this
information on to the client.
Ivette: We also pay attention to
the kinds of incidents we receive.
If we get a lot of calls about a
particular functionality, then we
discuss it with Development.
Perhaps they can do something
about the design or the term used
to clarify the functionality.
Jeroen: Of course, we use
TOPdesk to support our ownprocesses. If we come up with
ideas for improvement while we
are working, we let Development
know. We are actually are own
beta testers. If we cant work with
the software, then we dont let our
clients work with it.
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14/2014 TRENDS
Extended opening hours
For better or for worse, gone arethe days of working the 9 to 5
for many service management
professionals. With consumer
expectations continuing to grow,
the trend of 24/7 service has
begun to spread to service desks
and call centres. In contrast to just
a few years ago, consumers are
seeing more and more European
service desks that are open on
evenings and Saturdays. While
working non-standard hours canbe inconvenient for the employee,
it can make the difference
between a satised customer and
a dissatised customer.
PersonalizationPersonalization entails customizing
a product or service to the unique
Maintaining a strong base of satised customers is an important objective
for any business operation. This is especially true for service management
organizations; in fact keeping customers satised is often their primary objective.
Each organization has its own methods, but learning to capitalize on new trendsin customer satisfaction will keep your organization ahead of the game. In this
article we have outlined some of the latest customer service trends relevant to
help desks, call centres and other service management organizations.
TEXT: HENRIEKE KORTEN,
CARRIE BRANDT
Trends
Keeping Customers Satised
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needs of a consumer. Websites
such as Amazon.com have lead
the way in the digital world, with
personalized websites that offer
customized selections of booksand CDs that are based on a
customers past purchases. Help
desks and call centres are now also
seeing the value in personalization
techniques. Customer satisfaction
increases when clients feel that
the solutions to their queries have
been specically designed for
them. One way to enable support
technicians to better personalize
their responses is to give them
access to client histories and more
basic information about the client.
Employing individualized SLAs
can also be of help in identifying
tailored resolutions for the client.
Text messages and chattingFor a long time now, contact with
the service desk has not been
bound to the telephone. Email
has turned into a communication
tool that is vital to most business
operations. Nowadays, many
service desks and call centres
are taking it a step further
and beginning to use online
chatting and text messages as
communication tools. Genesys
Telecommunications conducted an
international survey on the most
preferred forms of communication
with contact centres. Results
showed that Americans have the
most favourable views of chatting:
28% indicated that this was theirfavourite form of communication,
compared to 16% of Europeans
and 11% of Japanese people. On
the other hand, Europeans prefer
communicating with businesses
via text messages, while only 2%
of the Americans do so. Email,
however, remains the number 1
communication tool worldwide:
85% of consumers prefer to email
about their requests, problems and
complaints.
Business-to-business giftsA couple of years ago, Annemarie
Vosselman, a consultant for a
client research agency, observed
that business-to-business relations
were becoming increasingly more
formal.1 Nowadays, the opposite
holds true. Vosselman is observing
an increase in the (almost
explicit) request from clients that
organizations pamper them with
things like complimentary lunches,gifts, invitations to various events
or golng appointments. Perhaps
this is a reason to consider not
only friends and family during your
Christmas shopping, but clients as
well?
These days, it is not enough to just
offer a product. Clients have higher
expectations, but there are also
more and more ways in which to
keep them satised. Text messages,online chats, gifts, personalization
and extended opening hours are
just a few of those ways, which
can make the difference between
keeping and losing a client.
1 www.klanttevredenheid.nl
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16/2016 TOPDESK
Geert Hofstede was one of the rst to conduct in-depth
research into cultural differences. Among other subjects,
he examined the differences between how IBM workers
around the world viewed matters such as time, hierarchy,
success and assurance. Now, more than 20 years later,
businesses still use his book as a guide. When operating
outside of the continent, European companies often expect
to deal with large differences in culture. But even within
the continent such differences can make the difference
between a satised and unsatised customer.
Detailed explanation or
light conversation?
TEXT: CARRIE BRANDT,
HENRIEKE KORTEN, CLAUDIA FUNK
As an international organization,
TOPdesk has had years of
experience working with clients
all over the world. One thing
the company has learned from
supporting so many internationalcustomers is that they are not all
the same. Differences in culture
often impact the way businesses
approach customers of varying
nationalities. This article
highlights some of the differences
that TOPdesk employees have
encountered, with a focus on
the differences between British,
Dutch, Belgian and German
customers, of which TOPdesk has
the most experience.
The saleCultural differences startbecoming apparent during the
sale. For example, more so than
Dutch clients, German clients
often devote more time to
gathering information about a
product during the sale. They
often know almost as much
Cultural Inuences onCustomer Satisfaction
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about a product as the sales
representative. As soon as a
client shows interest in the
product, the sales representative
is introduced extensively tothe clients organization, in a
similar way to taking a tour
of a factory. During the next
step in the process, many
demands are placed on the sales
representative. German clients
often ask detailed questionsthat can even cause the most
experienced pro to break into
a sweat. Detailed arrangements
are made in advance of the
implementation, so that
everything can go as planned.
Amandine Reville, TOPdesk
consultant for the French market,
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18/2018 TOPDESK
specialists Fenneke Gonggrijp
and Ivette van Putten have
noticed that British clients often
seem to be more accustomed to
being assisted by females whenit concerns technical matters.
This is in contrast to people from
other European countries who
sometimes seem sceptical as
to whether a female will have
enough technical expertise to
assist them properly with their
queries. Furthermore, many
British customers also seem
to prefer assistance of a more
proactive nature than do other
clients. They like to receive
follow-up calls and discuss their
queries over the telephone, as
opposed to through emails,
which is the preferred methodfor many Dutch and German
customers. Britons often prefer
more detailed explanations than
do their European counterparts.
Another difference is in the level
of formality exhibited during
business conversations. While
most European customers prefer
to keep business conversations
formal, British customers are
often more inclined to keep such
conversations light. They address
other professionals by their rst
names and joke around a bit
more, tells Ivette van Putten.
Often times, business associatesmust work overtime to satisfy
the needs of French clients.
They expect optimal service and
accessibility.
There are some slight differences
in Dutch and Belgian business
contacts. According to Nancy Van
Elsacker, Belgians often prefer to
deal with other Belgians rather
than Dutch people, because other
Belgians have experience that is
specic to their country. Even
though they speak the same
language, they often get the
feeling that Dutch people may
not fully understand their unique
situations. They also do not want
to be treated like a number.
Dependability comes rstIt is no surprise to hear that
all clients, regardless of their
cultural background, nd the
trustworthiness of a supplierto be essential. Freek Takken,
Customer Service Manager at
TOPdesk Netherlands explains,
Clients become displeased when
they feel that the help desk has
not responded quickly enough to
their issues, or if the responses
are unclear. Communication
is very important: when you
show respect and carefully
explain the process, the client
will immediately become more
has observed that French clients
focus more on a good product
for the lowest price. French
clients are not always entirely
clear about what they want orneed. The process of completing
a sale can often be quite long;
all the various layers of the
organizational hierarchy must
weigh in on the decision, even if
only one person will be making
the actual decision. One thing is
sure in France: clients are almost
always very courteous because
they must always be respectful.
A potential client will usually
want to keep the salesperson
from losing face.
In Belgium, the clients and
suppliers business connectionscan be more important than
in the Netherlands. Social
networks play a bigger role here,
remarks Nancy Van Elsacker,
Account Manager at TOPdesk
Belgium. Many Belgian clients
select a particular supplier
because other organizations
with which the client is familiar
have already put their trust in
that same supplier.
Expectations andcommunicationCultural differences continue
to emerge after a sale has been
completed. Cultural backgrounds
can also inuence the
expectations that clients have of
their supplier. TOPdesk support
Amandine Reville: French clients expect
optimal service and accessibility.
Arndt Oberhffken: German clients often ask
detailed questions that can even cause the most
experienced pro to break into a sweat.
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understanding. I have also
noticed that clients want to be
able to accurately anticipate the
course of future events; they
want to know exactly what, whyand when something will happen.
That is why clear communication
and dependability is of the
utmost importance to them.
As it is for everyone, dependability
is vital for German clients. Nice
small talk is not enough because
so much is expected of the
supplier. Arndt Oberhffken,
German TOPdesk consultant,
gives an example: If the planned
deadlines are not met, the
customer will stir up a fuss, which
can have a lot of consequences
for the supplier. The best solution
to a conict of this sort is to be
completely honest and to take
responsibility for the situation.
Freek Takken agrees: The nice
thing about dependability issues
is that they are relatively simple
to resolve. Showing respect
and admitting it if you made amistake is very important. Not
leaving until that the client is
satised, will make you feel
satised yourself. In general,
Freek Takken believes clients to
be very patient, reasonable and
forgiving. Most people do not
want to create a conict; they just
want to reach the same level of
understanding with the supplier.
I have noticed that clients often
ask for advice. IT is getting to
be more and more complicated;
clients do not always know all
the ins and outs and they look
to you as the expert. So you can
view difcult clients as peoplethat are working in your eld of
expertise.
Overcomingmisunderstandings and
errorsWhat do you do if a client isclearly in the wrong? When the
source of a clients displeasure
is yourself or a colleague, you
must clearly admit your error,
says Freek Takken. However,
this irritation can come from
elsewhere. I hardly ever come
across a client who insists on his
or her standpoint, particularly
after I have carefully explained
that the error was not caused
by me or my company. As longas you remain respectful, you
may explain to a client that,
sometimes, there is nothing
you can do to help a situation.
You do not always need to be in
agreement with the client.
The situation is different for
German clients. A German client
is almost never openly held in
error. This goes for French clients
too. Amandine: As soon as a
problem occurs, the telephone
does not stop ringing. Sales
representatives are expected to
be available at any time, even
after business hours. This ismuch less the case for Dutch
clients. Freek Takken: I have never
completely lost my patience or
seen a client go too far. Dutch
clients can certainly be quite
severe. I visited a client once who
immediately started shouting
at me as soon as I walked in
the door. After discussing the
matter for an hour and a half, he
concluded it by saying, Freek, I am
really glad we got to talk. If you
just show respect for the client
as a person, it can still become a
pleasant conversation.
Regardless of cultural
background, a suppliersdependability, honesty and
accessibility are fundamental
determinants in keeping a client
satised. However, a service
management organization can
further improve its service and
better understand its clients by
taking into account the clients
cultural background. Does the
client prefer to be contacted
by telephone or email? Does
the client expect an extensiveexplanation or is one tip enough?
By incorporating these factors
into an organizations practices,
contact with clients can ensue a
lot more smoothly.
Fenneke Gonggrijp: British customers are
inclined to keep business conversations light.
Freek Takken: Clients tend to be very patient,
reasonable and forgiving.
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tips +tricksCustomer service tips from Freek
Takken, Customer Service Manager at
TOPdesk
During initial contact with a client, try not to take a
standpoint immediately. Instead, indicate that you
will investigate the matter and get back to the client;
Prepare your response well;
Always treat the other person with respect;
At the end of the conversation, summarize the main
points and conrm any agreements;
Always speak from your own standpoint. Thus, I
think that instead of You do this;
It is sometimes useful to enlist the help of a
colleague when dealing with a difcult issue. He
or she can give a fresh perspective on the situation
and the client does not have a (negative) history on
which to judge your colleague;
Match the client with the right person. Everyone
has a unique style and way of handling different
situations;
Always attempt to resolve the situation sensibly
and honestly. Admit it if you have made a mistake.Clients appreciate sincere apologies;
Be punctual with regards to appointments.
A handful of the TOPdesk help desk
best practices
Always let the caller speak rst, so that he or she
has the chance to formulate his or her problem or
request;
By summarizing the problem, you can deduce
whether you have understood the clients issue
correctly;
You do not have to have an immediate answer
for everything. I am going to make this into an
incident and get back to you as soon as possible is a
legitimate answer;
Search through old incidents and the knowledge
base to see whether a call is a known problem, which
will prevent unnecessary work;
For large problems, clearly explain what the options
are and tell the client what they can expect;
If there are many steps that need to be explained,
you can rst email these to the client and then ring
them;
Record every step of the process in the Action eld,even if you have sent the caller an email or rang
the customer and no one picked up the phone. That
way it is clear for both parties what steps have been
taken concerning the incident.
TOPdesk UK limitedt +44 (0)20 8846 8516e [email protected] www.topdesk.co.uk
TOPdesk Netherlandst +31 (0)15 270 09 00e [email protected] www.topdesk.nl
TOPdesk Deutschland GmbHt +49 (0)631 624 00 0e [email protected] www.topdesk.de
TOPdesk Belgiumt +32 (0)3 292 32 90e [email protected] www.topdesk.be
TOPdesk Canada Corporationt +1 416 800 2118e [email protected] www.topdesk.ca