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10 Help Desk Ideas To Improve Service Desk Support

by | May 4, 2023

If you’re in the support world, using a help desk is like second nature. But what if your help desk could do more? What if it could be improved and optimized for better customer experiences and faster resolution times? 93% of customer support teams believe consumers have higher expectations today than ever before. We’ve rounded a list of help desk ideas to help improve the way your support team operates.

Image showing a statistic about high customer support expectations.

Here are 10 help desk ideas that can help you improve service desk support and make life easier for everyone involved:

Image showing ten Help desk ideas.

1. Automate basic tasks

In our fast-paced world, every minute counts, especially for support agents responsible for addressing customer inquiries and resolving issues. Enter automation, the superhero that saves the day (or in this case, time). Your support agents can finally sigh relief by automating tasks such as organizing emails, scheduling appointments, and responding to common inquiries.

Automating routine help desk tasks can save time and energy for your support team. Help desk automation can be extremely helpful. From ticket routing to user onboarding, it helps free up resources to tackle more complex issues. And then, automated processes ensure all requests are handled consistently and accurately.

2. Implement self-service solutions

Support teams are constantly bombarded with queries and issues that need their attention. As much as they would love to be at everyone’s beck and call 24/7, it’s not humanly possible. That’s where self-service solutions swoop in to save the day.

Suppose a customer can answer their own question without the help of an agent or technician. In that case, it’s best to encourage them to do so using self-service solutions like FAQs, knowledge base articles, and other resources. By implementing this, agents can save time and energy while decreasing the time it takes to resolve customer cases.

3. Integrate live chat

Adding live chat to your help desk is a great way to respond to customer inquiries quickly. With this feature, customers can get their questions answered in real-time without waiting for an email or call response.

AI-powered support platforms (like Capacity) balance AI chatbot and live chat support to give users the best possible experience. When the intelligent bot doesn’t know the answer, a live chat agent is instantly notified to step in when necessary. Or, the user can file a ticket for an agent to get back to them on their issue.

illustration of capacity offering a user the choice of "yes" or "no" to the question "would you recommend this product to a friend" as well as a response from capacity saying "great, how would you rate your overall experience with us today" and then four stars out of five selected

Automate Your Work

Capacity’s enterprise AI chatbot can help:

  • Answer FAQs anytime, anywhere
  • Find relevant documents within seconds
  • Give surveys and collect feedback

4. Invest in quality training

As technology advances, it’s becoming increasingly important for support teams to stay ahead of the curve. Help desk automation is a prime example of this – by investing in quality training for support teams, organizations can improve their efficiency and productivity and enhance the customer experience.

And let’s not forget about the impact on employee satisfaction. It empowers support teams with the skills they need to succeed and can boost morale and retention rates.

5. Monitor customer satisfaction

As a customer, nothing is more frustrating than contacting a support team for help and feeling your voice isn’t heard. Monitoring customer satisfaction is crucial when starting a new help desk idea. It allows teams to gather feedback, identify pain points, and make necessary adjustments so customers receive the best possible service. Plus, happy customers are more likely to become repeat customers, which is a win-win for everyone involved.

By monitoring customer satisfaction levels, you can better understand what areas need improvement and where extra resources should be allocated.

6. Implement business process automation

Business process automation (BPA) is key for streamlining help desk operations and promptly handling requests. In the world of customer support, time is of the essence. And let’s face it – no one wants to spend hours doing mundane tasks. Thankfully, with the help of BPA, support teams can streamline their workflows and spend their valuable time where it counts – providing top-notch customer support.

Automating tasks such as ticket assignments, status updates, and notifications can improve response times and allow support staff to focus on complex issues requiring a human touch.

7. Use scripts and guided conversations to respond to common questions

If your help desk receives hundreds of similar customer inquiries, creating scripts or canned responses that agents can use when responding to these questions may be beneficial. This will allow them to respond while providing customers with the necessary information.

Help desk automation platforms like Capacity use guided conversations to help users navigate the conversation and find a specific answer without a human agent.

Image showing a guided conversation on Capacity.

8. Offer multichannel support

Customers should be able to reach out via multiple channels, like email, phone, and live chat. Offering various options will make it easier for them to get their questions answered quickly and efficiently. Some 86% of customers expect seamless conversations with agents while moving from one channel to another.

AI-powered platforms like Capacity have email interceptor capabilities. Simply put, when a customer emails a question to a shared inbox, the platform detects the question and provides an instant answer without a human agent involved.

9. Monitor the performance of your agents

Monitoring the performance of your support agents is having a pulse on the health of your team. Not only does it let you identify any weaknesses in customer service, but it also lets you celebrate the successes of your top performers. Regular feedback can help ensure your agents are always at the top of their game.

Additionally, monitoring lets you pinpoint customer inquiry patterns and identify areas where your team could enjoy extra training. Consistent performance monitoring fosters a culture of growth and accountability within your team.

10. Use AI tools to anticipate and resolve common problems

Imagine a world where the dreaded phrase “please hold for the next available agent” is a thing of the past. A world where help desk problems are anticipated before the caller even dials the number. Sounds like a dream, right? Well, with the help of AI tools, it’s becoming a reality. These intelligent machines can predict and resolve issues, freeing help desk agents to focus on more complex problems.

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools can be used to anticipate customer inquiries before they happen, saving time and resources when responding to them. Additionally, these tools can detect patterns in customer behavior that can be used to address issues before they become a problem proactively.

The TL;DR

These 10 help desk ideas are ways to improve service desk support and make your customers happy. By implementing these strategies, you’ll be able to provide an exceptional customer experience that will keep them coming back for more.

AI-powered platforms like Capacity can answer over 90% of FAQs without human intervention. This frees support agents to focus on more strategic tasks.

Try Capacity for free to see what it’s all about, or request a personalized demo with a member of our team!

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