A Customer-Centric Service Desk Is Key to Small Business Expansion, According to Info-Tech Research Group

Centralizing all tasks in one place is essential for efficient workload management in a service desk, as it simplifies managing and prioritizing requests.

TORONTO, April 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Small enterprises face similar business challenges as their larger counterparts but with limited resources. As a result, designing a service desk that can support small businesses consistently and maintain the right balance of documentation can be difficult. Further, the substantial workload can prevent small businesses from prioritizing documenting tasks, which can be critical as the organization expands. To help businesses develop a customer-centric service desk that addresses these challenges, global IT research and advisory firm Info-Tech Research Group has published its latest industry blueprint, Right-Size the Service Desk for Small Enterprise.

Info-Tech's resource explains that the significance of ensuring a satisfactory customer experience is often disregarded in small IT teams as they support multiple end users. To transition from a help desk to a service desk, the firm advises the focus shift toward becoming a customer-centric service desk, which requires technicians to alter their approach toward providing support.

"The key for small enterprises to deliver services effectively lies in adopting a customer-centric approach that focuses on self-service options for users," says Sandi Conrad, principal research director at Info-Tech Research Group. "This approach also means identifying the information the business requires for setting expectations and service level agreements and communicating incidents and changes."

The blueprint suggests businesses should make the best use of their team to develop an efficient service desk. When establishing a team's roles and responsibilities, it's essential they clearly understand their primary duties and when and where to escalate issues. Work should also be divided based on patterns of intake and the categories of incidents or service requests. As well, the firm emphasizes the importance of recognizing team members wearing multiple hats and ensuring they don't burn out or struggle to keep up. Finally, determining the most appropriate areas to outsource based on work type and required skills can be helpful for small businesses.

Info-Tech suggests that businesses define employee roles as listed below to prioritize both customer service and productivity:

First contact – customer service, general knowledge
Assigned to answer and respond to phone calls, chats, and emails as well as troubleshoot and create knowledge articles for end users.

Analyst – experienced troubleshooter, general knowledge
Answer the phone when first contact isn't available, respond to emails, troubleshoot, create knowledge articles for first contact, and escalate to other technicians or vendors.

Analyst – experienced troubleshooter, specialist, and Engineer – deep expertise, specialist
Consult with peers, answer phones only when necessary, troubleshoot, create knowledge articles for anyone in IT, and escalate to vendors.

Vendor, Managed Service Providers
Communicate regularly with analysts and management, escalate points per contract terms, and meet SLAs.

The firm's blueprint explains that managing a high volume of issues and requests can be daunting and more challenging as the volume increases. To effectively manage the workload, it is crucial to designate a single solution that can handle work orders, incident reporting, asset data, and more. By doing so, all work-related tasks will be centralized in one place, making managing and prioritizing requests easier.

To learn more about the research and recommendations for the service desk approach that best benefits small businesses, download the complete Right-Size the Service Desk for Small Enterprise blueprint.

For more information about Info-Tech Research Group or to access the latest research, visit infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn and Twitter.

Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world's leading information technology research and advisory firms, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals. The company produces unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For more than 25 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with IT teams to provide them with everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software and over 200 IT and industry analysts through the Media Insiders program. To gain access, contact [email protected].

SOURCE Info-Tech Research Group