Is your Service Desk a SPOC or a SPOF?
Is your Service Desk a “Single Point Of Contact” or a “Single Point Of Failure”?
What does SPOC mean?
SPOC (Single Point of Contact) is a term used primarily in information technology and business organization. It literally means “single point of contact” and denotes a person, team, or tool that serves as a central reference to handle all inquiries or communications in a company.
In practical terms, instead of going to different departments or multiple people to solve a problem, users contact only the SPOC. This simplifies work, avoids confusion and ensures that requests do not get lost, making everything more efficient.
Identifying an efficient SPOC is crucial to improving service effectiveness and customer satisfaction.
In the context of a Service Desk, the SPOC serves to expedite problem resolution, allowing users to know exactly who to contact.
A well-designed SPOC facilitates the integration of information and ensures rapid resolution of issues, optimizing available resources.
It is also a key element in improving operations transparency and governance, as it enables accurate tracking of all requests and progress.
Implementing a robust SPOC is an essential step toward a more agile and customer-focused organization, ensuring clear and effective communication.
Excellent Product or Excellent Service Desk?
Let’s take a quick example to understand what I am talking about.
Company A has a product full of features and with an attractive interface, but does not have an efficient Customer Support.
Company B has a less technologically advanced product, which costs slightly more, however, its Help Desk assists users whenever there is a problem with the product.
Which company do you think creates the most usefulness for its customers?
Help Desk Spoc: The Single Point of Contact
The Help Desk is the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) with users and often becomes the first (and only) way of communication between our company and the customer. Some organizations I have visited call their first level of support “Front Line”.
The Help Desk team is essential to give an excellent impression of the entire user experience, be it with the product or with our organization.
Companies can have all sorts of miraculous solutions, but if the user feels discomfort in contacting support and is doubtful towards us, consequences can be disastrous on our business.
Employees Training: Beyond Technical Skills
In order to become a SPOC, a Help Desk is required to do not just its work and a friendly talk.
Each employee must be well trained on all functionalities of the applications, but also on the Service Catalog offered: the Service Desk does not only need communication skills to manage angry customers, but has to be trained with business skills, such as:
- Understanding the impact of an error / failure
- Identifying the real urgency of users
- Knowing the service, including SLA and Service Catalog, to determine how to respond to requests, promptly classifying them
Amaze the customer right away
It is obvious, technical skills can greatly help the initial analysis of the problem, but having an internal Knowledge base can ease the diagnosis and improve the service.
In addition, providing clear and complete documentation helps users helping you solve the problem.
On the contrary, if problem-solving skills and a real attitude towards service management are missing your Service Desk risks transforming from a SPOC into a SPOF.
To impress your customers and make your support a point of first satisfaction (and not a point of first failure), I would recommend the following:
- Adopting a modern tool for accessing the Help Desk, so that operators deal with what really matters
- Training Front Line operators on efficient customer communication
- Taking care of the service organization and creating a shared culture of the Service Desk processes, beyond the purely technical knowledge
Do you want to start improving your service today?
Experience now the benefits of an integrated IT solution. Free demo.