How does CRM fit in with your Help Desk?

It is known that satisfied employees are productive employees. Since the BYOD movement began, the Help Desk has been tasked with finding solutions to support it. Being apart of an enterprise's IT support team can be extremely stressful, but employees are getting frustrated as well, due to long ticket time resolutions and a constant back and forth to solve their problems. Industry experts in IT Operations have said that IT, in general, is 5 to 6 years behind the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) industry. Leading analysts also believe that the majority of help desks are not quite sure about top call drivers, and the associated metrics. Companies need to start creating long-term plans to keep up with the times and ensure that their employees are getting what they need to be successful, productive, and efficient. 

One method for improving your Help Desk is by implementing a self-service, Virtual Agent as a first line of defense. According to a leading analyst firm in 2013, 40% of IT Service Contacts can be resolved via self-service. Having a Virtual Agent at the Help Desk will decrease support costs, decrease the number of tickets sent to the help desk each day, and increase employee morale. To find out more about self-service at the Help Desk, click here. 

Fidelity, the world's largest provider of financial services, did a complete makeover to their Research Triangle Park (RTP) campus. Not only did they create a more collaborative work environment for their employees, they were also able to provide better service to their employees at the Help Desk. Fidelity's IT Management worked with the CRM side of the business to  generate ideas and create a plan to better satisfy employees, that can be applied to internal support. Fidelity decided to replicate the Apple Genius Bar, but named it "Guru Bar." This "guru bar" works a lot like Apple's Genius bar, except the "guru bar" is used internally, for employees to get the answers to all their technology questions. This system allows for a closer, more personal relationship between the business and the employees and gives employees the opportunity to give feedback.

CRM is important for external customers, but it is also important internally, for the employees. Don't let your IT management fall victim to being 5 to 6 years behind. Do you agree that employee support is far behind customer support? Do you think it's important to increase First Contact Resolution (FCR) at the internal help desk?