The Uncompromisables
Now that you have the list of all the features that you absolutely cannot live without, you’re all set to embark on your quest to find the helpdesk of your dreams. Just remember that it’s not easy, and you might have to trial quite a few products before you find the Prince. But we assure you that the search is totally worth it. When you find the helpdesk that actually makes you actually anticipate customer queries….well, even ice cream pales next to it (okay, it doesn’t).
But before you pull up Daddy G and start typing out every possible combination of “helpdesk” and “awesome” that you can come up with, there are still a few more pearls of wisdom that we’ve been hoarding away, just for this moment. This, unlike the feature list yonder, is a list of vendor-related questions that you should first ask yourself before you start the search. The Spendor list (we like making up words) is a list of questions that you need to find the answers to before trying out a helpdesk and after your trial. To make things easier to remember, we’ve split the list down into three divisions:
- Questions you need to ask yourself ASAP
- Questions you need to ask yourself at the end of your trial
- Our much-ruminated-upon pearls of wisdom.
Before the trial
Pay-by-agents versus pay-by-tickets: Some helpdesk providers charge based on the number of tickets created in a month. Plans are usually based on ranges - up to 100 tickets, upto 500 tickets, upto 10000 tickets and so on. If you’re a small business which follows the all hands on deck approach (your entire team’s on support) and you don’t receive a lot of tickets every month, well, pay-by-tickets is your best option.
Most of the pay-per-tickets helpdesks usually allow their users to avail all of their functionalities right from the most basic plan. So, this is a win-win from all angles except...except your I-don’t-receive-a-lot-of-tickets situation might be ephemeral. There might be a whole host of reasons why a business might not receive a lot of support queries. We list a few:
- The app might be in beta. So, it might not have a lot of users and hence, not a lot of support queries.
- The app might be so simple that a well populated knowledge base is enough to solve most customer queries.
- The business has a small, well-established presence with preferred clientele.
The first two situations we’ve listed are temporary - they’re liable to change the minute the app shifts out of beta or if the business decides to redesign it. The third is a situation that only the business can afect. A lot of businesses prefer paying-by-tickets because they have their whole team on hand to provide support and it just isn’t financially feasible for them to pay through the nose every month for the team.
But the thing is, in most businesses, not everyone’s on support all the time. There are hardcore support personnel who wade into the trenches every day to take down problems. And then there are the temporary agents who login only once a month and take care of the tickets that demanded their presence. It doesn’t make a lot of sense for you to pay for a full seat for the temporary agents especially when they only login a couple of times a month. Some helpdesk vendors provide a workaround for this by charging you a nominal amount (a dollar or so) for each day that a temporary agent logs in. Which works out pretty well for businesses with the whole team on support. So, before you pull up Daddy G and start searching, take a moment to dig deep and find out what will suit you best.
A customer facing portal versus an invisible helpdesk - A customer-facing portal is basically a self-service portal with a knowledge base and community forums. A portal set up to engage with your customers, answer their questions and stimulate discussions. This is in contrast to a helpdesk which is...invisible because it does not have a customer-facing portal. To the customer, your helpdesk is indiscernible; you might as well be using Gmail or another email service to support him.
Most businesses prefer to have a customer-facing portal to demonstrate their commitment to making their customers happy. Not to mention, the added advantages that a knowledge base (reduced volume of tickets) and community forums (better customer engagement) bring to the table. Some businesses choose an invisible helpdesk because they want their support to be as personal as possible. To make it seem like it’s going from one inbox to another, no automation in the middle. Some helpdesks do allow you to integrate features like the knowledge base and community forums to your website though. Depending on your choice, you should look for products that can be “invisible”, products that give you the capability to hide the ticket ID in the subject line.
Before the Invoice
Do your agents need to undergo extensive training to use the helpdesk?
Anything that takes longer than a week for your agents to get accustomed to is not something that should figure high on your list.
How hard is the transition from your current support system to this new helpdesk?
Points to the vendor if they’ll help you transfer your data from your old support system to your new one at no extra cost. Bonus points if it’s so simple you can take care of the transfer yourself.
Does the helpdesk provide for a situation where you might need other employees on the team to pitch in?
Does it make you pay for a full seat or is there a payment option for temporary agents? This might not seem like a big deal right now but you’ll thank me when the holiday season rolls around and you need all hands on deck to deal with the inflow.
Will your helpdesk bankrupt you in the future?
If it looks like the plan that suits you best will also be the plan that bankrupts you, take a deep breath, calm down and see what you can compromise on. A lot of helpdesk providers also ofer free/I-can’t-believe-this-is-the-price plans but they’re not very feature-rich so you’ll have to make some compromises. Most helpdesk providers also provide for startup ofers so you can also try to strike a deal with them.
Do you like using the helpdesk?
I know, I know. This is business. Not pleasure. You’re a grown up now and if you don’t like doing something that is necessary, well...bully you. But the world of customer support has changed (for the good) - there are tons of options out there. So, even if the industry’s top players rub you wrong, there’s still a world of helpdesks out there just waiting for you to sign up for a trial. There is absolutely no reason for you to sign your soul away for a clunky helpdesk that not only makes your life more complicated but costs you a bomb also.
Pearls of Wisdom
Look underneath the underneath: Some vendors will specify that a feature that you desperately need, like email notifications, is available from the most basic plan. But not all of the featurettes that you call essential might be a part of the most basic plan. Some of them might be available only on higher plans. For example, while the vendor might state that email notifications are a part of the basic plan, custom email notifications might be on a higher plan. Make sure you check for each one of your essential features in the plan of your choice before jumping in, headfirst.
Check the care-meter: What is the helpdesk’s customer support like? It’s hard to discern, I know, especially when you’re on trial but there are things you can keep an eye out for. The best place to find the answers to these questions is the community forums. Does the helpdesk practice what it preaches? Are they listening to their customers and introducing features that matter to them? Are they sticking to their roadmap? Twitter and the company blog work too. Search for the helpdesk on Twitter; tune into what other customers are saying. Are the unhappy messages drowning out the happy ones? Never settle for anything less than exceptional.
Look to the future: While the future is a big scary creature whose intentions are hard to divine, you do need to make sure that your helpdesk will continue being a viable choice in the years (if not months) to come. So, sit down with your company’s roadmap to the future and based on the milestone, mark out yearly goals for your support. Create an Excel sheet and calculate costs based on features that you need now and features that you will need in the months (and years) to come. If, for the near future, you write down a number that makes you cringe, you need to reconsider the helpdesk.
Ask for a demo if there’s no trial: There are a lot of customer support providers who do not allow you to trial their software before you make a decision. So, you can only get sneak peeks of the product, through screenshots, videos and customer testimonials. If you like what you see, ask for a demo of the product. Most sales personnel should be okay with you accessing their desktop remotely to get a feel of the product. If they’re not, ask them to go through some everyday actions - like closing a ticket, typing a reply, inserting a canned response etc. This will help you get a good idea of how intuitive it really is.
In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Well, this is it. We’ve told you everything you need to know to choose the right online helpdesk. However, we’ll be the first to admit that this is not an exact science and that we might not have explored all the possibilities. So, if you think we’ve missed out on something important, feel free to shoot us an email. Send us one even if you have nothing to say. We love emails. Especially when they’re about a labour of love.