What are the most common service desk quality issues and how can you address them?

2 Service level agreement

A service level agreement (SLA) is a contract between you and your customer that defines the expectations and standards of your service, such as response time, resolution time, availability, and quality. To measure SLA compliance, metrics such as first response time (FRT) and mean time to resolution (MTTR) can be used. To improve SLA compliance, it is important to set realistic and achievable SLAs that match your resources and capabilities. Additionally, you should monitor your SLA performance to identify any gaps or bottlenecks. Prioritizing requests based on urgency and impact can also help, as well as escalating issues to the appropriate level or department if needed. Lastly, customers should be notified of any delays or changes in your SLA.

3 Service quality assurance

Service quality assurance (SQA) is the process of ensuring that your service meets the requirements and expectations of your customers, as well as the standards and regulations of your industry. To measure SQA, metrics such as error rate, which measures how often your service fails or causes problems for your customers, and customer retention rate, which measures how many of your customers stay loyal to your service over time, can be used. To improve SQA, it is important to define and document your service processes and procedures, train and coach staff on best practices and skills, review and audit performance and quality regularly, implement corrective and preventive actions to address any issues or risks, and continuously improve your service based on feedback and data.

4 Employee engagement

Employee engagement is the level of dedication and enthusiasm that your staff have for their work and your organization. This is important for the quality of your service, as well as the productivity, retention, and satisfaction of your staff. To measure employee engagement, consider metrics such as employee satisfaction or employee turnover rate. To improve employee engagement, recognize and reward staff for their achievements and contributions, provide opportunities for learning and development, involve them in decision making and problem solving, create a positive and supportive work culture and environment, and encourage them to share their ideas and feedback.

5 Service desk efficiency

Service desk efficiency is the ratio of output and value to input and cost of resources, reflecting how well you use your time, money, and people to deliver service. You can measure service desk efficiency by metrics such as cost per ticket and tickets per agent. To improve efficiency, you should automate and streamline processes and workflows, use tools and software to manage and track service requests and performance, optimize service capacity and allocation based on demand and workload, analyze data to identify opportunities for improvement, and benchmark your service against best practices and industry standards.

6 Service desk effectiveness

Service desk effectiveness is the extent to which your service achieves its intended outcomes and goals, such as customer satisfaction, SLA compliance, or SQA. It reflects how well you deliver value and quality to your customers. To measure service desk effectiveness, metrics such as first contact resolution (FCR) and customer loyalty can be used. To improve service desk effectiveness, it is important to align your service with customer needs and expectations, focus on the root causes and solutions of customer issues, measure and monitor service outcomes and impact, learn from successes and failures, apply best practices and lessons learned, and seek feedback from customers and stakeholders.