topdesk magazine 2008 issue 4

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


2/202

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.


3/20

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


4/204 NEWS

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


5/20CLIENT IN FOCUS

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.


6/206 COLUMN

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


7/20THEME

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


8/208 THEME

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


9/20THEME


10/2010 THEME

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.


11/20TOPDESK 1

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


12/2012 TOPDESK

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


13/20TOPDESK 1TOPDESK 1

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.


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


15/20TRENDS 1

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


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


17/20TRENDS 1

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,


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.


19/20TOPDESK 1

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.


20/20

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

topdesk magazine 2008 issue 4

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