Technology has become one of the cornerstones for the success of most businesses who leverage it in their day-to-day operations.
From offering proactive solutions to troubleshooting devices, or guiding one through complicated software, IT customer service focuses on anticipating issues before they arise, managing, and using IT systems effortlessly to create a smooth digital experience.
Technical support is not only about fixing issues – but also about making technology user-friendly, understandable, and above all reliable for everyone who interacts with any.
It also extends to IT customer support teams that bridge the gap between complex systems and end users, leveraging technical expertise to ensure seamless interactions and efficient problem resolution.
In this article, we will focus on how IT customer service can be essential for any organization aiming to be at the top.
Definition of IT customer service
IT customer service is the support given to users (clients or employees) who experience technical issues or need help with IT-related tasks.
This may involve answering queries for related software and hardware, fixing technical issues, restoring services when they become unavailable, instructing clients on proper ways of using technology and more.
The main focus of information technology customer service is to ensure that all obstacles that a user faces while handling an IT system have been removed, making their experience with your brand better.
Good customer service in information technology involves clear communication, problem solving, and thorough knowledge of technology.
Components of customer service for IT
Organizations can ensure seamless interaction between users and technology by addressing their needs and resolving issues in customer service for IT. It is built on several components that help to deliver effective customer support.
- Co-creation – Mainly about collaboration between IT support teams and end users.
- Cost and risks – Involves costs associated with providing IT customer support, such as software licenses, system maintenance, cloud service subscription and staffing. Risks are like inefficiency in the service, system downtime and data breaches that may affect the organization’s performance.
- Value – Comes from the ability to offer seamless support, resolve issues efficiently, and ensure users can easily access tools and data whenever needed.
- Outcomes – Are as a result of the IT service provided, such as enhanced user performance, improved system performance and more efficient processes.
Common types of IT services that organizations provide
There is a wide range of services that customer support in IT teams provide which aim to ensure that the technology infrastructure of the company runs smoothly and also assist end users. Those services can be categorized into several groups including:
- Network management and information security – Configuring VPNs, installing firewalls, monitoring network performance, preventing cyber-attacks and fixing any other software related issues.
- Data storage and management – Monitoring all the data storage systems that companies have in place such as constructing databases, installing useful data backup systems and maintaining data.
- Help desk support – It is the first customer touchpoint for any tech-related issues, from managing petty inquiries to handling complex problems.
- IT consulting and strategy – Recommending new technologies, resolving challenges, planning for future enhancements, and ensuring that IT framework of the organization is capable of supporting and enhancing efficiency.
- Software installation and maintenance – Involves installing, servicing and upgrading the software, checking if it will work well with the other tools in place, and ensuring it will not have any bugs or risks to security.
- Cloud services – Managing migration of on-premises systems to the cloud, handling security around the cloud, and ensuring accessibility of data across all devices.
Differences between technical support and customer service
Though customer service and technical support are two essential factors within a business that major on helping clients throughout their journey experience, they utterly serve different purposes and require varying skill set. The table below highlights the comparison between these two areas.
Aspect | Technical support | Customer service |
Definition | Assistance offered for any technical related issues to products, services and systems. | Support provided for any client inquiries, complaints, and general assistance. |
Nature of interaction/contact | Often involves troubleshooting, diagnostics, and problem-solving processes. | Usually about answering queries, providing information, and handling complaints. |
Examples of issues handled | Customers reach out for support on issues, such as hardware malfunctions, software bugs and installation problems. | Issues managed are like order status updates, billing issues, and product information requests. |
Response time expectations | The response time may take longer due to the complexity of the issues. | Generally aims for quick replies, making the response time shorter. |
Skillset required | Requires specialized knowledge of the product’s technology and functionality | Needs strong communication skills and a perfect understanding of the company policies. |
Top strategies to improve customer service in IT
IT customer service can be in the form of IT companies offering support to other businesses that use their products or services, which in turn can provide technical support to their individual customers.
It can also be in terms of an IT customer care team directly providing IT-related support to end-users. The following are tips that will help you provide exceptional technical support for your clients:
Manage client interactions with omnichannel support
Every waking day, new communication channels are being introduced to try and ease interactions. Some conversations can easily be missed or simply ignored if either the sender or recipient is not available on that specific channel.
For most customers, it can be frustrating to keep repeating the same details over and over while communicating their issues to the IT customer care agents via a different contact channel.
Organizations can simplify the interaction between clients and their support team by allowing them to reach out through their preferred channels, which may include social media, email, live chat, etc.
With the right omnichannel support tool, you can integrate these communication channels into a unified system to allow support agents to easily access client data, interactions or issue histories across all customer touchpoints.
Having an omnichannel inbox assists IT customer support teams to better manage and respond to issues consistently, regardless of the channel through which the client initiates contact.
Easily resolve issues with self-service options
How good would it be to feel like “yeah I did this by myself!” A self-service option would make this become a reality, allowing clients to fix some of the IT-related issues on their own.
For IT, the ideal self-service options can include a comprehensive knowledge base software with content such as:
- How-to-guides, tutorials, user manuals, and frequently asked questions (FAQ) to solve simple recurring issues such as installation and resetting passwords.
- Troubleshooting guides for simple technical issues such as solving software errors, failed updates or connecting to a network.
- A feedback portal for customers to discuss and share ideas on how to solve certain issues.
A well-organized knowledge management system assists in reducing dependency on IT support teams which allows them to focus on more complex and technical issues.
Personalizing of the IT support for enhanced user experience
It’s every person’s dream to do business with a brand that knows exactly what you want, your dislikes and how to satisfy you. Wouldn’t you agree?
To make the future interactions better, organizations could consider using customer data from previous interactions to always be up-to-date on the precise issue, the tone of the conversation and progress of the resolution process.
For most IT customer support teams, using pre-written auto-reply messages, canned responses and customizable email templates are mostly used to provide fast solutions to frequently reported problems.
Focusing on the unique circumstances of each individual client enables IT customer support teams to create a support experience that feels extraordinary and aligns with the specific user requirements.
Personalization may also involve customizing solutions for specific technical issues such as assigning tasks based on agent roles and skill level.
Encourage knowledge sharing and collaboration among agents
There is a common phrase that goes like ‘’Two heads are better than one’’. Given that most support issues in the IT industry are technical and complex, sharing ideas and collaborating on completing tasks is a necessity for most support teams.
Having IT customer service tools that can facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing enables companies to offer seamless communication, information exchange, and easier issue resolution between their IT customer support team and end users.
Collaboration tools such as team chat apps, shared inbox software or video conferencing enable support teams to work together in real-time to resolve issues faster and more efficiently.
Platforms like internal knowledge base and instant messaging systems allow IT support agents to document solutions, best practices, and troubleshooting guides for easier access and future reference.
Proactively determine and resolve customer issues before they arise
For any business to have a competitive advantage over others, they should always be one step ahead. IT customer support teams can enable this by not just reacting to client issues as they occur, but proactively anticipating or determining and resolving potential issues before they even arise.
Having an efficient IT help desk system allows for better monitoring and management of customer interactions in a centralized platform to ensure support teams provide quick and correct responses for all support requests.
IT teams could use tools such as automated alerts, system health checks and data analysis software to identify or predict early warning signs of issues, enabling them to take preventive measures.
Staying ahead of potential problems helps IT customer service teams reduce the downtime and ensure a smoother and reliable experience for all end users.
Utilize automation and AI assist to streamline workflow processes
Automation streamlines processes like triaging support tickets to prioritize tasks, sending SLA notifications to ensure deadlines are tracked and met, sending follow up emails and status update to reduce manual workload for teams.
Empowering clients to track the progress of their requests helps in holding the support teams accountable and also assists with engaging with customers to ensure smooth issue resolution.
AI assistance tools such as AI Copilot can help in instantly generating intelligent ideas or suggestions on how to resolve some technical issues. Support teams can also use AI for sentiment analysis in customer interactions to tailor the responses accordingly.
Additionally, support teams can use AI to summarize, rephrase, translate, elaborate and generate accurate content to be updated in the knowledge repository for self-service purposes.
AI assist works 24/7, meaning that one can get assistance even after business hours, which today is a must for companies operating globally.
Request feedback for continuously improvements
How would you know if your IT services is truly meeting customer needs? You can actively seek the client’s point of view in order to understand what they really want or desire.
IT support teams can acquire feedback from surveys, social media, follow-up calls, or through feedback forms, which helps them collect useful information that can be used for planning future strategies.
Some of the information IT customer service teams would ask from end-users are:
- Was the issue resolved to their satisfaction?
- How would they rate their support experience?
- How easy was it to get help?
- How satisfied were they with the response time to their requests?
When you ask clients for feedback, it demonstrates that you value their opinions and are actively seeking for ways to improve their experience with your brand.
Feedback assists IT customer care agents to identify areas of strength and weaknesses, and where improvements can be made to ensure that the service meets the clients’ needs.
Ensure your IT team is knowledgeable about the products and services
Every organization wants their IT customer support team to offer the best possible service since they are the face of the company, and always in direct contact with customers.
They need to be well-informed with every detail about the product or service and the business in general.
Frequently training of IT support teams updates them on the latest feature updates, company or industry policies and standards, changes in pricing plans, how to use new technology, skills and best practices.
This customer service training could be inform of online courses, regular workshops, mentorship programs, on the job training, among others.
A trained customer service team, especially in the IT industry ensures the solutions are fast and accurate since most of the issues are usually critical and need immediate attention.
How to measure success in information technology customer service
Calculating success in customer support should be mandatory to assess how well IT customer care agents are meeting clients’ needs and business objectives. Below are some effective ways of measuring success:
Average ticket resolution time
The average time a support agent takes to handle an individual ticket is known as the resolution time.
Have an efficient time-tracking system where your support team can easily track their average handling time per ticket.
A shorter time is a very good sign of service delivery and indicates your IT support team is very efficient.
NPS, CES, and CSAT score
For any company to be successful in the long run, it must measure how clients perceive their business as well as their experiences.
Popular metrics used include Net promoter score, customer effort score, customer satisfaction score.
- Net promoter score (NPS) – Measures client happiness and loyalty towards your brand by asking them how likely they are to recommend your IT business to others.
- Customer effort score (CES) – Evaluates how easy it is for clients to resolve their IT issues or complete a task related to IT.
- Customer satisfaction (CSAT) score – Used to know how satisfied clients are with the products and services provided by an IT organization.
These metrics assist brands to identify areas where improvement is needed and develop strategies that align with the customer needs.
First contact resolution (FCR) rate
FCR is a key performance indicator in information technology customer support that measures the percentage of client problems or inquiries solved on the first interaction without needing to follow up.
According to AmplifAI, 45% of clients would prefer their support issues to be solved within the first interaction.
High first contact resolution means that your support team has high problem-solving skills and can easily address clients’ needs; this will enhance customer satisfaction.
Social media metrics
Social media has become very popular in today’s century. Most consumers will often post their experience with brands on social media whether it’s good or bad.
The information provided by clients will assist IT businesses to know which social media platforms their customers are most active on, how these customers perceive them, whether they are happy with the products or services offered and more.
Challenges of customer support in IT
Every IT service has its own unique set of challenges that may significantly impact the efficiency of support teams. Here are detailed examples of what IT customer support teams face during service delivery.
- Threats to data security and privacy measures – Organizations in the IT industry are prone to facing different IT-related insecurities and cyber threats such as hacking, virus attacks, phishing, malware, AI-deepfakes, spyware, among others.
- Communication barriers – Sometimes there may be miscommunication between support teams and customers due to language, culture or time-zone differences, or agents using industry jargons.
- Difficulty in managing high volumes of support requests – During high seasons, IT customer service teams often deal with an overwhelming number of tickets which may cause queues to build up and the response time to increase.
- Keeping up with the technological changes – The field of information technology constantly changes, making it difficult to keep pace with software versions upgrades, the incorporation of new systems, and combating cyber-attacks.
- Complex technical issues – Some IT problems can be complicated, and often need more time to resolve or be escalated to more skilled personnel to handle them.
Enhance user experience with effective IT customer service
The backbone for any business in the IT industry to always stay connected and productive is IT customer service. It is a dynamic field where every interaction can be a chance to innovate, adapt, and strengthen the interface between technology and its users.
Combining both technical support with personalized support, efficient tools, and a proactive approach, IT support teams can be able to transform challenges into opportunities for connection and growth.
Exceptional IT customer service is not only about fixing issues but empowering users to thrive in a tech-driven environment.
Contact us to set up a 30-minute live demo or schedule a free trial to explore how BoldDesk can assist you to tailor your services and secure the future of your business. For further assistance contact the BoldDesk support team.
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Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Benefits of customer support for IT
Customer support for IT is important for organizations that rely solely on technology to operate efficiently. Below are its advantages for your company:
- Improved communication – Companies may enhance communication by offering clients multiple channels to contact their support team enabling fast replies and quick issue resolution.
- Increases user satisfaction – Offering both timely and effective support that meets clients’ expectations, makes them have a positive experience with technology which overally elevates the user satisfaction.
- Competitive advantage – Providing superior IT customer support helps organizations to position themselves better in the marketplace and streamline their service operations.
- Cost efficiency – Automating routine tasks and offering self-service options helps companies to reduce the need for human resources, which cuts the costs and improves the service provided without sacrificing customer satisfaction.