Symptom: The customer service, or help desk function is not sufficiently effective.
When clients turn to the organization for help with questions or problems, they should know where to call. They want a single phone number that covers the organization's entire product line so that they do not have to do the preliminary diagnosis on their own or get caught in finger-pointing among groups within the organization.
The customer service (help desk) function is critically important, and requires a dedicated group for two reasons:
First, the help desk is a full-time profession. Its staff should be excellent at call handling and problem management, and supported by problem tracking systems that gain input from the entire organization as others work on problems. They must be well trained in interpersonal skills to work with frustrated and irate clients. They need documentation (perhaps in the form of a knowledge base for an expert system) provided by the various product experts, and training (including, perhaps, involvement in testing new products), to help them them diagnose and resolve most routine problems with the minimum need for second-level support. Developing the skills, methods, tools, and processes requires an expert in the customer-service profession.
Second, people must be available all of the time, not busy with meetings and projects. And when the help desk needs help, the rest of the organization must understand that supporting the help desk is a top priority. The responsiveness of the help desk is a large part of overall customer satisfaction.
The structure should define a distinct customer-service group, and give it the resources it needs to satisfy customers' inquiries.
