No matter what line of business you are in, if you fail to serve your customers you will quickly be out of business. From manufacturing and online companies to the service economy and retail, the customer is king. Providing top-notch customer service is critical to success, and companies that ignore their customers do so at their peril.

Supporting the people who provide that service is just as important, and no company can afford to provide poor help desk services. If you run a call center, every minute your representative is down is money out of your pocket. You need a help desk that can find the problem and fix it without delay.

The Value of Outsourcing

These days that does not necessarily mean an in-house help desk made up of company employees. In fact, outsourcing your help desk services is often the best way to go. Outsourcing your help desk services gives you additional flexibility and freedom compared to using your own employees.

When you outsource your help desk services, you can respond more quickly to changing needs. Whether you are bringing a new client on board, introducing a new product, or opening a new location, your support needs can change in the blink of an eye. If you are still relying on in-house help desk support, you will need to vet applicants, hire people, and perform extensive training. All that time could be better spent actually serving your clients and supporting your existing staff.

Ramp Up Quickly

If you were using outsourced tier 1 help desk services, you can ramp up your business with a simple phone call. In a matter of minutes, you will have all the additional support you need, without ever reading a single resume or hiring a single new employee.

Outsourcing your front-line help desk services also frees your existing IT professionals from the drudgery of dealing with easy-to-fix problems. Few professional IT people enjoy manning the phones, and in many cases, that job is actually a waste of their considerable skills. Outsourcing your help desk services means that support calls are handled by highly-trained professionals who can identify problems quickly and get your people up and working fast.

24/7 Operations

Chances are your company does not operate on a 9-5 basis. If your IT support ends at 5 p.m., your customers could be very frustrated as they try to buy your products and use your services. Outsourcing your help desk services allows your company to respond promptly, no matter what the time of day.

IT company answering services are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The availability of round-the-clock support can transform a frustrated website visitor into a happy and loyal customer. If your customer-facing website is open 24 hours a day, your help desk should be too. Outsourcing your help desk services can help you reach that goal.

Dedicated and Knowledgeable Support

Help desk support is a specialized career and one that many IT professionals simply do not understand. Your in-house IT people might have the best of intentions, but chances are they lack the customer service training needed to bring every call to a successful resolution the first time around.

When you outsource your help desk services, you know your customers and your employees are dealing with professionals who have not only good intentions but solid problem-solving skills as well.

Outsourcing your help desk services also makes managing your call queues, managing the customer service department, and dealing with problems that much easier. Instead of trying to help operators with their computer problems, managers and supervisors are free to work behind the scenes and make their departments better and more efficient.

Fast Remote Service

Outsourced help desk service typically means providing support remotely, which can get users up and running much more quickly. Your in-house IT might spend 20 minutes locating the affected user and logging on to the computer. A remote help desk representative can log on to the system in a matter of seconds, identify the problem, fix it, and be on their way.

That means your operator is back to work much more quickly and able to serve customers without missing a beat. The operator gets happier callers and faster resolution, and your company cements its great customer service reputation.

Lower Costs

Last but not least, outsourcing your help desk services also gives your company lower tier 1 support costs. Instead of worrying about hiring yet another IT person, you can outsource routine calls to experts and put the money to work elsewhere in your business.

Predicting costs can be difficult, especially in a fast-growing service-based business. Outsourcing your help desk needs is one way to make costs easier to predict for the long run. No matter what the nature of your business, outsourcing your help desk function can boost your profits, improve your customer service, and maximize your efficiency.