Why Help Desk Software is Better Than Email Support

Good customer support is essential for business success. Most customers won’t do business with brands that provide poor service, even if they have a great product. Companies that provide amazing support often eclipse brands with better products but below-average support.

When it comes to supporting your customers, the traditional method is to use email. At the time, that was enough. However, email support today is less than ideal. While you can certainly resolve issues over email, people have nuanced needs that aren’t easily handled over email. Instead, you need computer support software.

A help desk will allow your customer service representatives to provide a high level of customer support by streamlining communications and tracking requests from initiation to completion.

Why email support is a thing of the past

Before software developers started creating comprehensive solutions for customer support, email was the primary method of online support. Customers would fill out a contact form on a company’s website or email them directly. However, the exclusive use of email for support poses several problems:

Support agents should use a separate task management system to track unresolved email support requests.
It is not easy to track support requests in an email account. Even when you apply labels and tags to know if they are resolved or should be forwarded, it’s still complicated.
Only one agent can work on support requests. If multiple people are using the same account, it gets confusing.

Using email for support is deprecated and a help desk is the best option. You can, however, use an IT support solution that also works via email. For example, when a ticket is opened, replies are sent to the recipient’s email, and the recipient can directly reply to the email to respond to the ticket. In this case, the support request is handled through the IT support software, and it is simply copied to the customer’s email for their convenience.

Why IT help desk solution is ideal

Email doesn’t provide the kind of support that today’s customers want, need and expect. For example, 90% of customers Expect an immediate response of a business when submitting a support request. 60% of customers say they’re unhappy with a company that doesn’t respond within a minute.

According to a Harvard study reported by Inc.com, you risk losing the sale if a customer has to wait more than fifteen minutes for a response. It is simply not possible to meet the expectations of today’s customers by providing support via email. However, you can meet these expectations through a help desk.

Helpdesk provides immediate solutions

A help desk provides customers and potential customers with immediate responses that satisfy their need for instant answers. For example, one of the main characteristics of a help desk is the chatbot. When customers ask a question through your chatbot, the bot can respond with immediate answers, including self-help links to your FAQ section or knowledge base. If this information does not resolve their issue, they can submit a ticket.

Using a help desk also makes it easier for your support representatives to manage and track customer service requests. This, in turn, provides a higher level of support for your customers. For example, all requests can be prioritized so that urgent issues are dealt with quickly. You can also automatically assign tickets to departments, so customers don’t have to go through multiple agents to find the right person.

Another benefit of using a help desk is using questions to improve your business. For example, when customers ask the same question, you can find a way to answer it before your customers contact you. For example, you can include the answer with your product or service and add it to your FAQ section.

More complex and nuanced support cases are a great resource for determining what you can change in your business to improve it.

Step away from email and implement a help desk app

If you still rely on email to support your customers, it’s time to upgrade to an IT help desk solution. Your customer service representatives will be better equipped to provide the exceptional service your customers want and deserve.