What You Need To Know About Help Desk Service Level Agreements?

If you want to ensure maximum customer satisfaction through your help desk, it is essential to ensure that you have the correct service level agreements. With an appropriate service level agreement, you can always provide unlimited services to your clients.

This guide provides all the information you need to know about help desk service level agreements. If you do not have a clear understanding of help desk service level agreements or hope to provide a better solution through your service level agreements, it is recommended that you pay special attention to the points described here. 

What Is A Service Level Agreement?

First, let's understand what a service level agreement is. A service level agreement can be easily defined as a signed commitment between a service provider and a customer or client. The Terms of Service mentioned in the Service Level Agreement may include general requirements and specific terms that may determine certain aspects of the service provided. They include responsibility, availability and quality. Both you and the buyer accept these aspects of the service so that you can proceed smoothly. Therefore, it is identified as a basic benchmark that both parties can examine to ensure that agreed services are delivered.

Service level agreements can be divided into two main categories: customer-based service level agreements and service-based service level agreements. In both types of service level agreements, the service provider agrees to provide the customer with the exact service as agreed. Otherwise, the service provider will have to pay.

For call centers, telephony reference points are often added to service center contracts. One of the most common is the total number of calls received that were answered within a defined period of time. In general, the industry maintains the 80/20 rule. This means that more than 80% of the calls received will be answered in 20 seconds.

Based on this, it is also essential to identify other important aspects, such as average response speed and dropout rates. The overall average response rate is 28 seconds. On the other hand, the average dropout rate in the world is approximately 5% to 8%. The service level agreement clearly defines that these criteria must be met.

If you are a service provider, it is important to ensure that these criteria are met when providing the service. It will help if you are rational at all times. You should not commit to service levels without the proper infrastructure, staff, technology, and infrastructure. This leads to disappointed clients.

If you do not meet the criteria agreed in the service level agreement, you must reimburse your customer. Or you could even lose your client's entire business if you violate the contract. This can lead to large financial losses.

You should always investigate when signing a service level agreement. Then you will have a clear understanding of the bandwidth of your call center. Next, you should consider the appropriate service level agreements that your team can provide. It's best to consider the worst case scenario when defining your SLA. This takes a long time. You should also follow a trial and error approach or consult an expert. The time, effort, and money spent on this are worth the positive benefits you can receive in the long run.

How Do I Create A Winning Service Level Agreement?

Now you know the basics of service level agreements. With that in mind, you also need to understand how you can create good service level agreements.

First, you need to make sure you manage all expectations when a particular SLA occurs. If you can't provide a particular service to your customers, don't promise when creating the SLA. Ignoring this fact is likely to have many long-term negative consequences.

Industry standards, such as the 80/20 rule, should also be reviewed when defining service level agreements. Then provide the right service through your call center to achieve the expected call volume. To stay current with the services you have agreed to, you must conduct an ongoing investigation. You should also focus on analysis and testing. It's helpful to keep all of these things in mind when creating a service level agreement to avoid the hassle.

The next thing to do when creating a service level agreement is to identify priorities. Each company that uses call centers has its own goals. Therefore, you should consider your goals before moving on and defining your SLAs. Most companies, especially, tend to pay special attention to customer satisfaction. On the other hand, you can also focus on reducing the churn rate. You must ensure that the service level agreements you define are in a position to make a significant contribution to positive long-term business progress.

You should also consider your customers when defining their service level agreements. He runs a business and knows that achieving his business goals is essential. However, you must also take the appropriate steps to balance customer satisfaction. Otherwise, you will not be able to survive in the industry for a long time.

You can refer to the following questions to see how they work instead of creating a winning service level agreement.

1-How do you prioritize you

2-How many seconds does the abandonment rate tend to increase while customers wait in line?

3-Does the increase in the abandonment rate negatively affect your business?

Once you find the answers to these questions, I think it is an easy task to create an effective service level agreement.

Last but not least, you should consult the contact center. Human resources play an important role here. They will move your call center forward. Therefore, you should ask yourself if you have enough agents to deploy in your call center to meet demand. You must also pay attention to your workload in order to productively manage your assigned responsibilities.

It will help if you never ignore those who work hard behind the promises. They can contribute significantly to the level of service you provide.