Running a helpdesk worth its salt demands a significant amount of time, expertise and valuable resources. But given the palpable, ongoing tech worker shortage paired with ever-widening skills gaps in IT, many managed service providers (MSPs) struggle to keep their helpdesk functioning efficiently while also providing a positive customer experience.
If this sounds a bit like your business, and if any (or all) of the below signs ring true, it’s probably time to outsource your helpdesk!
Unlock time and resources
Find how outsourcing your helpdesk can give you flexibility and benefit both your clients and your staff
Download guide1. You have a ticket backlog you wish would just vanish
Is your kill rate killing you? The average number of tickets a service provider typically has varies wildly depending on the size and nature of the business, as well as how long it takes to resolve one ticket. While an occasionally backed up ticket queue is nothing to worry about, a regularly lengthy one needs to be addressed. After all, technicians who are overworked and stressed out do not tend to make ideal representatives of your company.
Tracking your ticket volume can provide insight into how many tickets your team can resolve in a day, week, month and year—without getting overloaded. If you don’t have enough people or resources available to tackle all the tickets coming in via multiple channels (i.e. emails, web forms, live chat, social media, phone, etc.), outsourcing may be the solution you’ve been looking for.
2. You’ve fielded complaints about lengthy resolution times
Your average resolution time measures how long it takes you to resolve issues reported to your help desk. It helps you to assess whether you’re meeting customer expectations and resolving issues quickly enough to sustain a good reputation. Any struggle to deliver the best possible customer experience can signal a danger of losing business.
Partnering with a third party to help speed up your resolution times could be the way to vastly improve your customers’ experience and relieve unrealistic pressure on your team at the same time. While your business’s average resolution times may vary now and then, resolution times of six minutes or less are considered ideal.
3. Staff turnover is high
It’s a cutthroat job market out there, which means discovering, recruiting and training new staff is a highly labor and resource-intensive affair. This is especially applicable to running a helpdesk, where you need experienced technicians who are always at the ready to respond to client problems.
Saddling your current employees with after-hours on-call work that leaves them feeling burnt out is a direct contributor to high turnover and low morale. If your business has been suffering under the weight of substantial staff turnover, an outside partner with just the right resources might be just what you need to survive—or even thrive.
4. Automating and documenting your processes is a struggle
Helpdesk services and overall resolutions run a lot more smoothly if your business has well-documented processes and procedures. Maintaining a simple set of records that describe internal and external processes in your organization can help you to categorize and streamline operations, unify approaches, set cross-company standards and map out solutions to various issues efficiently.
Equally important to an efficient operation is the automation of certain helpdesk service elements such as ticket triage and prioritization. Automation enables your business to grow productivity, reduce operating costs and raise profitability—while giving you and your staff more time to focus on customer satisfaction and building strong, long-term client relationships. If either of these elements is missing from your setup, choosing to outsource your helpdesk could be the path to harnessing untapped potential.
5. You wish you could free up time and resources for other facets of your business
Chances are high that your helpdesk doesn’t exactly represent the most lucrative or interesting facets of your MSP. Chances are also high that you have more engaging, higher revenue-generating activities you’d rather devote more time and attention to. If you feel you’re spending too much time and personnel-power trying to reach the summit of a veritable mountain of tickets, a little external support in the form of flexible, competent workers you can hire only as needed, and expertly automated ticket triage (for starters) may be just what the helpdesk ordered.
6. Your helpdesk is a source of stress
While a certain level of stress is normal in any workplace, only you are properly qualified to judge whether it’s too much and therefore detrimental to your wellbeing. For instance, if you’re losing sleep over your helpdesk and sacrificing valuable time you had hoped to spend on other important projects, outsourcing may be your next step and ultimate game changer.
Seeing the signs? Sherweb can help
No one’s denying that opting to outsource your helpdesk is a significant decision. Perhaps you want to grow your business a bit more before you take that leap. Even if you’re only considering outsourcing your helpdesk, a consultation call is a fantastic way to answer any questions you may have, bust common myths about outsourcing and clarify exactly how the whole thing might work in your favor.
As an expert partner, Sherweb can help you determine how you might optimize your helpdesk even if outsourcing isn’t the right choice just yet. Drop us a line to start a conversation or check out our partner guide for more information about how we can assist your MSP business!
