I was reading a twitter post this morning from someone lamenting the fact that the service desk they had just called did not fix their problem.
Now the service desk wont always be able to resolve the problem they are dealing with, however, it got me thinking about how many service desks are actually aiming to resolve problems at the first point (argue what the first point is amongst yourselves), and how many are just logging and passing to a resolver group. I also was wondering what a reasonable first point of resolution rate may be, and does it differ with different customer groups?
Help desks should always be trying to resolve the problem while the caller is still on the phone, for issues where the callers is unable to complete a task or do their job. This needs to be a focus for many reasons (financial being a strong one), but the main reason is for good customer service.
When the caller is on the phone, they need help, they don't want to be told that someone will call them back. This is the point that can make or break the desk, no matter what happens to that incident, the caller needs to feel like they are getting service, even if you don't fix the problem.
