Creating a user-centric digital experience with 24/7/365 support
Support is the backbone of an organisation. According to Jeff Sussna, Principla at Ingineering.IT, "Providing a medium through which digital businesses can continually design themselves is IT's new mandate." Increasingly our experience of digital is one of constant, often aggressive changes. This constant development, as well as each customer having a different delivery methodology, pushes digital experience managers to constantly adapt their approach to all the different and new technologies.
One part of such adaptation is human. People working in digital should have a growth mindset and be motivated by change and uncertainty. At the same time, a continuous strategy needs to run alongside continuous delivery which in turn requires continuous service. Today we want to talk about the role IT service management can play in making digital transformation a reality - and ensuring businesses can get the sustained outcomes they are looking for.
We sat down with Jordan McGovern, Client Success Manager at Arekibo, and asked him to share his views on the importance of 24/7/365 technical support in creating meaningful digital experiences for our clients.
What do we mean when we say "technical support"?
By technical support, we mean the process of providing assistance with technical services and/or products for our clients. The goal is to provide clients with the solutions they need when they are having an issue with their website. From my experience, it also means being the first point of contact for clients when setting up projects for new features, where support serves as the connecting piece between the developer and clients.
What does it take to provide good technical support?
Good technical support requires three things:
- Clear communication - a good support team will recognise the needs of a client and provide them with a solution in simple, common-use terms, rather than technical jargon.
- Mutual trust supported by strong skillset - having a mutual understanding of clients' expectations and their reassurance of your technical ability to deliver as requested.
- Responsiveness - offering reliable responses and resolution times, which will increase the trust the client has in your company.
Our support promise is 24/7/365 support. How do we ensure that in real life?
Ensuring 24/7/365 support is indeed not easy. Primarily, it requires commitment and genuine dedication to our clients, and our intent to find the solution to clients' problems as quickly as possible, without compromising on quality.
At the core of our 24/7/365 promise lies a strong technology foundation. We have Zendesk Support set-up specifically for individual clients to suit their needs and speed up the resolution process with troubleshooting forms that will help us provide a first-time fix.
Another important parameter is to ensure that the support delivery process is thoughtfully arranged and works seamlessly. This process needs to be designed around the key stakeholders involved in a support function, to ensure the information flow is constant and uninterrupted, with time accounted for ticket resolution. Zendesk Explore has become a valuable accent to support providing real-time analytics pre-made dashboards to give our clients an insight into the service they are receiving.
In real life, this communication is reinforced by, for instance, notifications wherever a new support request comes in. The notification is received either through the browser desk or mobile app, and then acted upon by me and the team, following our verified process.
It sounds impressive. Could you give us an idea of the volumes and resolution times?
Yes, of course, here are some interesting stats from the last year:
- On average, we were solving 10 tickets per day.
- Our average first response to the support request is 14 minutes, with 1/4 of the tickets resolved in the first response.
- 45% of tickets are solved within 24 hours.
- interestingly, Monday between 10-11am is the busiest day of the week with the most support requests.
In addition to providing tailored support, we are also providing our clients with training. Training can range from CMS, analytics to content and support. Why do you think it is important?
Training is essential for client success. Firstly, we want our clients to take the driving seat when creating and managing their digital presence. Secondly, as mentioned earlier, a change in digital is inevitable. True digital partnership implies not only timely and high-quality delivery, but also looking after the client with concerns to the changes that are arising in the digital arena.
Establishing your client is correctly using the technology, and our product is vital to maintaining a healthy website. Each training session includes features that promote user feedback and collaboration, and this will encourage continual innovation.
Arekibo have a dedicated team providing excellent customer service to our clients. If you are looking to build a digital presence with a tailored 24/7/365 support to underpin your digital strategy and bring your customer experience to the next level, contact us.