Why do companies extend their support hours?

When does the working day start and end? And just as importantly, who decides this in the 21st century workplace; management, the client or the supplier?

The working culture of 2016 has evolved beyond recognition from what it was a decade ago. We live in a 24/7 world, so the classic 9-5 office life is no longer attainable for many sectors, and IT is one sector that is particularly affected by this.

Support hours are a key feature in any good IT business. Support hours pertain to the time when support (for instance, the technical help desk) is available for clients. These are the hours that build relationships with clients, resolve problems and answer questions. They’re the hours that can make the difference between a one-time purchase and a repeat customer.

Your customers need to be able to reach you whenever they encounter a problem, and problems frequently occur outside the historical working hours of 9-5. Added to this, we are living in an era of instant gratification, so clients expect their queries to be met fast. In fact, 42% of customers expect a response within 60 minutes. Companies that operate during extended business hours can keep providing first level support to better serve their customers and meet those expectations.

So, how can you meet those needs?

There are many methods employed by IT businesses to cope with demand. One of the most popular methods is deploying a live chat system. Integrating a live chat function into your website provides an easy channel through which support can be accessed; when used properly, it reduces response times and backlogged requests while also boosting customer satisfaction.

However, a growing problem faced by many IT providers is finding the manpower to put behind the keyboard. When the economy lulls, so does the funding for staff. This presents a problem to many business owners – you need to support your clients round the clock, but can’t afford to maintain that support. What do you do?

Your technical help desk is one of the most vital departments of your company – any customer facing department is. When employees start getting frustrated about being overworked, companies face the risk of that frustration translating into bad customer service which can have a negative impact on your company’s reputation and therefore sales.

At ProcessFlows, we help reduce the frustrations of overworked and under-resourced employees by providing an efficient and experienced 24×7 technical help desk that can give you many benefits. In addition to high-quality technical service from qualified staff, ProcessFlows will enable your business to flourish at a much lower cost than maintaining an in-house IT help desk.

For more information please call us on 01962 835000 or email enquiries@processflows.co.uk.