Certified Help Desk Professional Course

I learned several important lessons from the CHDP course. This course was offered by STI (a subsidiary of Integreo), it was 2 days, a book was included, as was one shot at the certification test. The following is what initially impressed me as useful;

Documentation
Documentation is a valuable tool. It should be written in such a way as to allow even an unexperienced support person to resolve the issue about which you are documenting. Documentation can also be used to create a knowledge base that may allow customers to help themselves at some point. Well written documentation can serve as a reinforcement of technical concepts for the author. Well written documentation is proven to help cut down on response time for future help requests that regard the same issue.

Action Point - Become a better documenter. My requests need to have helpful details and solutions in the activities field.
Action Point - Start using the request system to try and solve problems. Query the activities field of old requests in the hope of finding quick accurate solutions.
Action Point - Consider looking at alternative help ticket software, that might be more effective in creating a working body of knowledge to be used by both CSS and our clients.

Professionalism
Establishing good relationships with clients/customers both internal and external is really important to best-in-class customer service. Different people communicate most effectively through different channels. Some are visual communicators, other auditory, and finally others are kinesthetic communicators. Everyone wants to be understood at his or her own level. Being aware of communication channels can help make you an excellent communicator.
There are six steps in verbal communication: The Idea/Concept, Encoding, Transmission, Receiving, Decoding, Interpretation. Miscommunication can happen in between any of these steps. Each person, both the transmitter and the receiver can have filters or background subprocesses going on that derail the effectiveness of the communication. Active listening is key to retaining information.

Total Contact Ownership
This means that the person who takes the initial request will continue to work on the request and follow up with the customer throughout the life of the request until the customer is completely satisfied with the resolution. The principle parts of TCO are 1. Make sure there is agreement on call back time and frequency so that the support center team knows the status of the customer issue at all times. 2. As the customer champion, you need to be aware of the issues affecting the customer at all times. Don't let the contact be passed around, 1 person is the contact for the request from the time it is opened to the time that follow up is done. 3. Keep the customer informed at all times. Establish expectations, and specific contact intervals until the issue is resolved. 4. Contact and make sure that the issue was resolved to the customer's complete satisfaction.

HIT (High Impact Training)
HIT aims to find solutions for the top 10 issues faced by the support center. STI has shown that with this strategy, technical knowledge is increased, while contact volume is decreased. The top 10 customer issues will account for about 80% of the contact volume. Everyone is then trained how to expertly handle the top 10 issues. This training can be carried out in a variety of ways. Apprenticeships (most applicable to new hires), Documentation (The team's best documentation should be centered on the top 10 issues), Leaning Lunches, informal training session where the department provides lunch if you come and learn, Conference Calls (This is STI's preferred method for escalation, this allows the 1st level tech to hear what the solution was to the problem, Rotations switch with another group to raise awareness and understanding, Role-Playing (practicing the principles

Best Practices for Greeting a client on the phone.
1. Answer Quickly, 2. Have a consistent cheerful greeting, 3. Immediately establish who is calling and gather important information.
How to place a client on hold: Ask for Permission, Tell Client Why, Provide a Timeframe, Wait for a Response before pressing hold, Thank the Customer for Holding.

Marking a Request Complete (Closing a Case Report)
Summarize the Issue
Thank the Customer
Ask the Customer, "Is there anything else I can do?"
Allow the Customer to Hang Up First
Go the Extra Mile, Look for ways to extend customer service to customer care (recommend training, or FAQs, and thoroughly document the case, also don't forget to follow up if it is not a FCR (First Contact Resolution)

Follow Up
Plan Ahead when following up and have supporting materials at hand
Identify yourself quickly, as well as the purpose of your call "I'm following up..."
Verify you are speaking with the right person.
Record the call in the Request system - Every help ticket should have a positive confirmation of closure at the end.