When a customer calls for assistance they have a 65% chance of receiving an answer to their problem during the first contact with support. When a case is not resolved on first contact, recent research shows that it can take one or more days to receive an answer. As the time it takes to receive an answer increases, customers become increasingly dissatisfied with the service they receive. The implications of not closing cases on first contact extend beyond customer dissatisfaction. Cases that are not closed at first contact cost more than double to resolve. Maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of the support staff is therefore critical for customer satisfaction as well as expense control.
Currently the most popular medium for providing support is over the phone. Although effective in many situations, the phone alone has certain limitations. Problem description and diagnosis can be challenging and time consuming because of the difficulties in describing problems. Resolution and restoration can be problematic because of the inability of the caller to implement or install patches or fixes.
The effective use of remote support overcomes these obstacles and brings added benefits. Through the application of remote support technologies it is possible to significantly improve the support transaction process, reduce service delivery costs and increase solution effectiveness. Whether you are just getting started with remote support or have been providing remote support services for years, there are 5 key goals that that you must address in order to minimize the concerns and maximize the impact of remote support. They are:
_ Map remote support offerings to customer needs
_ Reach new audiences
_ Choose the right technology platform
_ Address security and privacy concerns
_ Achieve cost efficiencies
This paper is based on the findings of a recent survey conducted during June of 2005 on remote support practices and experiences of 391 enterprises of all sizes and across a wide range of industries and company sizes. Respondents were asked about their current uses of remote support, their experiences in using it and their future plans for the use of remote support technologies.
Key Findings
_ Over a third of companies (34.8%) indicate that they use remote support in more than half of all service transactions.
_ Remote support capabilities are most often used to supplement a live support transaction.
_ Over three quarters (78.7%) of companies that offer remote support indicate that they use it to view and control remote computers.
_ Nearly two-thirds (62.4%) of remote support customers believe that remote support can help reduce service delivery costs.
The Cost of Service Delivery
Quality customer service continues to be a major factor in determining overall customer satisfaction. Achieving service excellence continues to grow in importance and not only affects customer satisfaction but can also positively impact financial performance and provide a competitive edge. Few dispute the value of providing high quality service but the real issue is how to provide it in a cost effective manner. For a time conventional wisdom suggested that the way to reduce service delivery costs was to migrate customers to lower cost service delivery mediums such as e-mail and selfservices.
Today, the telephone continues to be the dominant method used to deliver service for over half (58.1%) of new support cases. Another 23.7% of support cases are handled via electronic mail. However, expanding the service delivery medium has not necessarily resulted in improved customer service. While it appears that the use of electronic mediums for service delivery may reduce initial service delivery costs, the quality and effectiveness of service delivery has proven to be challenging with electronic mediums. Regardless of the medium used to deliver support, the same types and complexity of issues continued to be reported by customers.
