A 12-Step Guide to Choosing The Best Help Desk Software

Choosing the right help desk software for your business can be difficult. Each vendor has their own checkmark page to show that their product is at least 3 brands better than any other product.

The help desk you choose may not provide good customer service, but it is an important initial step in setting up customer support for your business. A good help desk support services will help your team constantly create the quality of customer service you want to offer.

Define "excellent customer service" for your business

Helpdesk Comparison With a deep understanding of shopping, it's easy to forget why you should choose a helpdesk. You don't have to find the "best help desk software" because there isn't a better option for everyone. The right help desk service for you is what helps your team serve your customers more effectively and consistently.

To understand this, you must understand the type and quality of customer service and service it provides. Here are some questions to help you understand:

1. What kind of support do your customers expect?

Your particular customer base will come to you with your own requirements. Do you like email? Do you feel comfortable using self-service tools? Do you expect a response within an hour or a day? Find clues to what your customers expect from you and how satisfied they are now.

2. What kind of experience do you want to offer your clients?

Imagine the ideal customer service interaction from your perspective. Do they need to use the website for help or can they send simple emails? Can I choose to contact support through multiple channels? Can I easily answer my questions with self-service tools?

3. What experience do you want to provide to your support team?

Peanut author Charles Schulz loved his favorite pen, so he bought all the supplies when it was discontinued. The support team may never have the same affection for help desk software, but the support team uses it constantly and relies heavily on it. As the first customer retention line, you must provide your customers with the right helpdesk tools. Clear, easy-to-use and attractive help software saves customers time and effort.

4. What can I change about my current customer service?

Whether you're migrating from a shared Gmail inbox or changing your help desk tools to another tool, this change gives you the opportunity to rethink your approach to customer service.

For example, many small businesses use support trays for all kinds of company contacts. Thus, one or two support teams handle everything from sales contacts to domain renewal notifications and ad serving.

5. Select important features from the help desk

Help desk software with all its key features outperforms service desk tools that implement more "convenience", but does not meet key requirements.

Essential Help Desk Features: If your help desk doesn't run X, you won't be able to create the customer service experience you want to offer.

Non-essential Help Desk Features: If your Help Desk is running X, you can take advantage of it to enhance your customer experience.

6. Create a help desk software evaluation team

If you are just starting out, or are a very small company, you may be the only evaluation team. For larger teams, we recommend the following combination:

junior level customer service representative

• Some advanced help desk users
• Manager or senior leader

The combination of different needs and contexts provides a more effective way to determine if a help desk is really suitable for your entire organization. We also recommend that the entire evaluation team review the same tool at the same time, rather than each seeing different options.

7. Test the customer experience of each help desk solution

How will your customers interact with your chosen help desk? Use some of the typical customer questions as examples to complete the support conversation from the customer's perspective. What do customers see? How easy are those processes? (For example, Help Scouts do not have a portal or ticket number for their clients, so they only receive personal emails.)

8. Test the help desk user experience

The customer service team uses this tool every day of the day. How easy is it to navigate and how fast does it load? Can you find answers quickly? The help desk software you choose is as simple as possible for your team, allowing you to use all your energy to help your customers and not have to fight tools.

 9. Consider scalability

Will this solution continue to work as the business grows? Ask the sales and success teams at the help desk for the solution you are considering for a larger customer support quote. You don't have to pay the higher fees and complexity of unnecessary software, but you don't have to opt for a new help desk in the next 12 months.

10. Review the report options

Testing a report is tricky if you don't have the actual data to report. Demo accounts help you understand what's possible. If you've carefully considered your customer service metrics and why, ask your helpdesk provider how they can help you achieve those results with the tools.

11. Prioritize reliability and support

Who supports the support team? How can I get help if my help desk system is down, functionally confusing, or if I need to start the process again? You need to know not only what support channels are available, how quickly you can get help, and how well your team is doing.

All software products have problems, but some companies are much better at handling those situations than others. Send a sample request to each help desk support team to see how the response is timely, convenient, and easy to use. Responsive and knowledgeable support teams are invaluable if you are unable to help your customers due to help desk issues. You can also check the Twitter feed and first choice status page to see how responsive and communicative you are when a problem occurs.

12. Plan a help desk change

There is a guide to help you switch between help desks and be more prepared. Moving to a new help desk is a great investment in our customer service team, our customers, and ultimately our company. Having a long list of features is helpful, but you should choose with a broad framework in mind. The cost of choosing a tool that works for your team (and your customers) is high, so be sure to make an informed decision.