Chapter 4: Technical Writing Skills for Support Professionals A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional Second Edition

Objectives Describe the impact of technologies such as the Internet, e-mail, instant messaging, and knowledge management systems on the help desk and its customers and on the role of help desk analyst Understand the most common help desk documents used by help desks to convey information Understand the characteristics of good technical writing and use proven techniques to improve your writing skills A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Technology-Delivered Support Historically, customers called the help desk or walked in to the help desk area when they needed assistance or information Today, companies are providing additional ways for customers to obtain support E-mail Fax IM Web sites A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Technology-Delivered Support (continued) Technology-delivered support services enable the help desk to: Anticipate and proactively meet its customers’ needs Reduce the overall cost of delivering support Prioritize and manage its workload better Ultimately, improve help desk services A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Technology-Delivered Support (continued) The effective use of technologies requires that help desks must: Diligently capture and deliver high-quality information Rethink the skills that help desk analysts must possess Rethink the skills and knowledge that customers must possess Used effectively, technology empowers both customers and help desk analysts Used improperly, technology can frustrate everyone and can alienate customers A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Technology-Delivered Support (continued) Telephone, Internet, e-mail, and IM technologies all play a role in customer support Telephone and IM - Provide immediacy and the ability to interact with a human being E-mail - Provides the ability to send and receive detailed information Web-based services - Provide customers with the ability to perform functions Help desk analysts must feel comfortable communicating via all of these methods and must possess or develop the different skills that each of these technologies require A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

The Help Desk Analyst’s Role in a Technology-Centric World Analysts must continuously learn new technologies and adapt those technologies to their work Technologies extend the help desk’s ability to gather, organize, and use information Information - Data organized in a meaningful way Data - Raw facts not organized in a meaningful way Information is an extremely valuable resource Help desks rely on analysts to capture the high-quality data needed to create accurate and useful information As a result, writing skills and keyboarding proficiency are important assets A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Enabling Customer Self-Service People have become accustomed to using self-services Self-services - Services that enable customers to help themselves Self-services benefit both customers and help desk analysts Today’s demanding customers have come to expect self-services A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Customer Support Via the Internet The Internet has dramatically changed the way customers expect support services to be delivered Some companies give customers access to secured information via an extranet Internal help desks may enable customers to access a Web site via their company’s intranet Help desks offer many self-services via their Web sites A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Customer Support Via the Internet (continued) Functionality and ease of use are the keys to a successful help desk Web site Well-designed Web sites offer customers: A variety of options The ability to obtain assistance easily when they cannot obtain the information they need The ability to personalize their support experience Web sites enable companies to cost-effectively deliver support to their customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Customer Support Via the Internet (continued) A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using E-mail Effectively to Communicate with Customers 93% of help desks use e-mail Many use primarily for internal communication Some companies use e-mail to: Inform customers about the status of outstanding problems and requests Enable customers to submit problems and requests Automatically acknowledge that a customer’s e-mail has been received, logged, and assigned a tracking number Conduct customer satisfaction surveys Simultaneously inform large numbers of customers about a virus, product change, or new release that might affect them A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using E-mail Effectively to Communicate with Customers (continued) E-mail does not provide many of the capabilities of an incident tracking and problem management system It cannot be used to automatically create trend reports or as a knowledge base Help desk analysts typically log all e-mail requests in their company’s incident tracking and problem management system Including status updates A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using E-mail Effectively to Communicate with Customers (continued) Some companies use e-mail response management systems E-mail response management systems: Enable help desks to manage high-volume chat, e-mail, and Web form messages in much the same way that ACDs enable help desks to handle telephone calls Provide analysts the ability to search and review customer messages and view a history of customer activities on the support Web site A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using E-mail Effectively to Communicate with Customers (continued) Many incident tracking and problem management systems integrate with standard e-mail packages Allows automation of common tasks Downside of e-mail: Can be perceived as impersonal Can elongate the problem-solving process To minimize downsides, use common sense and courtesy A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using Online Chat and Instant Messaging to Facilitate Communication Online chat and IM are: Extremely popular methods of communicating in both personal and work settings Cost-effective, simultaneous ways to communicate Chat - A simultaneous text communication between two or more people via a computer Chat room - A virtual room that provides users the ability to converse (chat) real time with one or more other users Instant messaging (IM) system – A system that enables two or more people to communicate in real time on the Internet A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using Online Chat and Instant Messaging to Facilitate Communication (continued) Help desks are increasingly using IM Many use primarily to communicate with level two service providers Like e-mail, IM does not provide many of the capabilities of an incident tracking and problem management system Analysts are typically required to record status updates obtained via IM in the help desk’s system A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using Online Chat and Instant Messaging to Facilitate Communication (continued) Factors causing companies to look more closely at using IM to communicate with customers: Customers are increasingly demanding real-time communication Analysts can often handle multiple conversations simultaneously Companies are integrating IM into other systems Integrating channels enables help desks to maximize their technological resources while reducing the overall cost of delivering support A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using Online Chat and Instant Messaging to Facilitate Communication (continued) To use IM effectively, companies must: Establish IM guidelines that address the cost, legal, security, training, and management challenges that companies face Spell out the types of interactions that are appropriate for IM Staff this channel appropriately Ensure they can create a written transcript of communications between analysts and customers A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using and Creating Knowledge Bases Few companies have the resources to: Re-create solutions Give analysts adequate training Analysts must help themselves by learning to use and create online knowledge bases A knowledge base can be built using sophisticated technology or it can be a collection of books and documents A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using and Creating Knowledge Bases (continued) Knowledge resources include: Class notes Internet sites Online help Product manuals Incident tracking and problem management system Co-workers and other service providers A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using and Creating Knowledge Bases (continued) Expert and knowledge management systems enable companies to: Consolidate knowledge resources Maximize their human resources Expert system - A computer program that stores human knowledge in a knowledge base and has the ability to reason about that knowledge Knowledge management system – A system that combines the reasoning capability of an expert system with other information sources, such as databases, documents, and policies and procedures A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using and Creating Knowledge Bases (continued) Much of the flexibility and power of a knowledge management system comes from: The search retrieval technology that it uses to retrieve data The quality of the data available Search criteria - The question or problem symptom entered by a user A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using and Creating Knowledge Bases (continued) Search retrieval technologies include: Case-base reasoning (CBR) - A searching technique that uses everyday language to ask users questions and interpret their answers Decision tree - A branching structure of questions and possible answers designed to lead an analyst to a solution Fuzzy logic - A searching technique that presents all possible solutions that are similar to the search criteria, even when conflicting information exists or no exact match is present A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using and Creating Knowledge Bases (continued) Keyword searching - The technique of finding indexed information by specifying a descriptive word or phrase, called a keyword Query by example (QBE) - A searching technique that uses queries, or questions, to find records that match the specified search criteria Search operator – A connecting word such as AND, OR, and NOT “Garbage In, Garbage Out” A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using and Creating Knowledge Bases (continued) Many incident tracking and problem management systems have knowledge management systems built-in, or a knowledge base can be added on Some companies purchase and implement standalone knowledge management systems Knowledge management systems can be used to: Record newly found solutions Retrieve known solutions and procedures Access existing knowledge bases Help desk analysts benefit because the information they need is available when they need it A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Using and Creating Knowledge Bases (continued) Many companies designate a knowledge base administrator (KBA) or knowledge engineer to maintain their system Knowledge engineer – A person who develops and oversees the knowledge management process and ensures the information contained in the help desk’s knowledge base is accurate, complete, and current In smaller companies, an analyst with excellent writing skills may perform this role on a part-time basis Larger companies may have one or more full-time knowledge engineers The knowledge engineer role is: Becoming increasingly important A highly valued position in many organizations A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents The amount of writing done by analysts varies from company to company A number of documents are common Each document has a different audience and purpose Before writing, ensure you understand the audience’s needs and how they plan to use the information The goal of help desk writing is to accurately convey technical information in an interesting way that can be understood by readers A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Trouble tickets: Typically logged electronically at the time the request is received Well-written tickets provide: The information other analysts and service providers need to solve problems quickly A historical accounting of steps taken to solve a problem Analyst should clearly record: All of the information the customer provides All steps taken to diagnose and resolve the problem A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Most tickets are made up of two basic parts: Data field - An element of a database record in which one piece of data is stored Text field – A field that accepts free-form information Text fields are used to collect detailed information Many companies establish standards for how to enter certain words or phrases into text fields Standards help analysts write consistently and minimize confusion caused by inconsistent terms A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Strive to understand how the data you collect is being used in an effort to ensure that you are entering information as accurately as possible! A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Accuracy is important: Entering inaccurate date and time data can make tickets appear late Customers increasingly have the ability to check the status of outstanding tickets Trouble ticket data is often automatically forwarded to customers via e-mail A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Accuracy is important (continued): Trouble ticket data is used by other service providers to diagnose and solve problems Trouble ticket data is used by management to: Create reports and analyze trends Justify resources and measure performance Fully understand your workload and your contributions Identify improvement opportunities A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) E-mail Messages: Well-written e-mail messages: Are as clear and concise as possible Convey a positive, friendly tone Provide as much of the needed information as possible the first time Try to anticipate follow-up questions a customer may ask and volunteer the information! A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Well-written answers to the most common customer queries Well-written FAQs: State both the question and answer clearly and in a language that is appropriate to the audience Use jargon and technical terms in the answers, as long as the terms are defined for the reader FAQs are a basic self-service FAQs enable customers and co-workers to find solutions and answers to questions on their own A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Knowledge base solutions: Must be accurate and complete Solution - A definitive, permanent resolution to a problem, or a proven workaround Typically stored as records in a separate file than trouble tickets Enables a one-to-many relationship Solutions do not: Describe things to attempt when diagnosing problems or responding to inquiries Contain the details of a single specific problem A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Many help desks develop standards that describe how to write solutions Standard solutions contain two types of information: Fields that are used to index the solution and link it to the type of problem being solved Text that describes the solution The description of a solution may contain links to online documents, or a multimedia presentation of some kind, such as a video or audio clip A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) When working in a help desk: Strive to use all available knowledge resources Contribute to the creation of your company’s knowledge management system Respect the fact that your coworkers and other service providers are just as busy as you are; look in the knowledge base for answers to routine questions Seek help if you have difficulty finding solutions or using your company’s knowledge management system A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Reports: Entry-level analysts may not prepare reports but senior analysts and managers often do Reports may be statistics or detailed accountings produced from the data collected in an incident tracking and problem management system Creating this type of report requires: Knowledge of the system The available data Knowledge of the reporting package used to pull the data out of the system A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Reports may also reflect the results of a study, the status of a project, or the analysis of statistics Preparing these reports requires: Writing skills An understanding of the recipient’s expectations. Common reports an analyst may create include: Progress reports Requirements reports Feasibility reports A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) When asked to prepare a report for the first time: Find out exactly what is expected in terms of format and content Ask to see a copy of a similar report Prepare an outline and ask for feedback and approval prior to preparing actual report Be open to and ask for specific, constructive feedback A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Policies and procedures: Help desk staff are often involved in the development of policies and procedures. Policies and procedures may be used by customers, the internal support organization, or simply within the help desk Procedure - A step-by-step, detailed set of instructions that describes how to perform a task Many companies develop a standard format, or template, that is used to prepare procedures A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Well-written procedures: State every step explicitly State the result readers can expect when a task is complete Let the reader know what to do if they do not get the expected result May include information about what not to do May include detailed warnings A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing Help Desk Documents (continued) Many help desks create and maintain a Help Desk Analyst’s Guide A Help Desk Analyst’s Guide: Spells out the policies and procedures of the help desk Contains information analysts need to do their work Ensures the knowledge and experience of help desk management and key staff members is always available Is often used to orient new help desk staff members Should be considered a “living” document Helping to create a Analyst’s Guide is an excellent way to practice and improve your writing skills! A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Improving Your Writing Skills Well-written materials are: Simpler to comprehend Provide needed information Leave a good impression Writing becomes easier with practice Hone writing skills by paying attention when you are reading Excellent books and classes are available A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Technical Writing Best Practices A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Technical Writing Best Practices (continued) Know your audience: Determine the skill and education level of the intended readers Reader should understand your main ideas Define technical terms the first time you use them Strike a balance between a very simplistic writing style and one that is highly technical Tip: Know how much information your reader wants and needs A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Technical Writing Best Practices (continued) Use the active voice The subject of a sentence causes or does the action Our help desk analysts update our Web site every Tuesday Use simple language Communicate more efficiently and effectively You can use these procedures to fix the problem A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Technical Writing Best Practices (continued) Be concise The fewer words you use, the better Attempts to resolve this recurring problem have not been successful Be specific Readers of technical writing seek detailed information, such as facts, figures, data, recommendations, and conclusions how good, how bad, how fast, or how slow A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Technical Writing Best Practices (continued) Avoid or define jargon, technical terms, and acronyms Use terminology that is compatible with the readers’ technical background Define technical terms or acronyms the first time you use them Turn up the brightness on your monitor A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Technical Writing Best Practices (continued) Break up your writing with lists and short sections Numbered sequence: Check the following for a blank screen 1. Is the monitor plugged in? 2. Is the monitor powered on? Bulleted list: Consider the following when establishing a help desk: Your company’s goals Your customer’s expectations A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Technical Writing Best Practices (continued) Be consistent Inconsistencies cause confusion Once you have used a name or title, do not use a different name or title to refer to the same thing A technician will be on-site tomorrow afternoon. The technician will fix your printer and monitor. Use the same grammatical construction for each item in a list A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Technical Writing Best Practices (continued) Inconsistent Reasons companies establish a help desk include: To provide customers a single point of contact Minimization of support costs Minimize the impact of problems and changes Consistent Provide customers a single point of contact Minimize support costs A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Technical Writing Best Practices (continued) Check you work for accuracy and completeness People use the answers, solutions, and procedures to do their work, use software, and operate hardware Ask a coworker or subject matter expert to review complex documents for accuracy and completeness Check your grammar, punctuation and spelling Proofread every document to eliminate any errors When in doubt about grammar, punctuation, or spelling rules, check a style guide or dictionary, or ask an experienced coworker for feedback A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

E-mail Best Practices E-mail has transitioned to a serious business tool Companies are under tremendous pressure to respond to e-mails quickly and professionally E-mail absorbs a significant amount of time during a typical work week E-mail is a written document and so technical writing best practices apply A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

E-mail Best Practices (continued) A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

E-mail Best Practices (continued) Manage customer expectations The help desk must communicate its policies E-mail response times may be dictated by a SLA Acknowledge the person Just as you would if you were interacting in person or over the telephone In business, it’s best to take a formal approach A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

E-mail Best Practices (continued) Use a meaningful subject line: A generic subject line may get mistaken for unsolicited e-mail, or spam "RE: Backing up your data (ticket 335262)" A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

E-mail Best Practices (continued) Personalize your response: Use the customer’s name respectfully Dear Ms. Boyet Dear Professor Levy Dear Rae A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

E-mail Best Practices (continued) Personalize your closing: Use a positive tone and make it easy for the customer to obtain assistance in the future "Your ticket number is 58026. Please refer to that number if you need to contact us again concerning this matter. If we may be of further assistance, please contact us by e-mail or by phone at 1-800-555-4567 between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. Central Standard Time. Sincerely, Karen Dingman Customer Support Help Desk" A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

E-mail Best Practices (continued) Be practical and be patient E-mail is not always the best way to communicate Use common sense Check your grammar, punctuation, and spelling Form and accuracy matter The quality of an e-mail message constitutes a “first impression” Be forgiving When necessary: Simply ask for clarification or missing details Tactfully point out errors and offer specific suggestions A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

E-mail Best Practices (continued) Avoid lengthy discussions and debates Limit the number of subjects in a message Clearly distinguish a change in subjects Consider restating your requests at the end Verify that you have answered all of the customer’s questions in the order they were presented Anticipate any additional questions the customer may ask When needed, pickup the telephone or schedule a meeting A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

E-mail Best Practices (continued) Verify your distribution lists periodically Make sure you’re sending messages to the correct recipients Many companies provide easy ways for customers to opt out of mailing lists and specify their preferences Standardize your signature Include all the ways to contact the help desk Use the help desk’s telephone number and e-mail address A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

E-mail Best Practices (continued) A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Writing for a Global Audience The Internet and e-mail make it possible to interact with customers worldwide at any time of the day or night How you use expressions, dates, times, and even numbers can confuse your customers Avoid idioms Internationalize dates, times, and numbers A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Chapter Summary The Internet, e-mail, and IM: Complement the telephone and onsite services as a way to communicate with customers Extend the help desk’s ability to gather, organize, and use information Enable companies to provide self-services that customers can use to obtain the information they need, when they need it Information is a valuable resource, and people with good writing skills can capture it easily and accurately A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Chapter Summary (continued) In a help desk, good writing skills are needed to log trouble tickets, send e-mail messages, develop answers to FAQs and knowledge base solutions, prepare reports, or prepare policies and procedures When preparing documents, always be aware of the document’s target audience and purpose Learning the rules of writing will provide you the foundation needed to write any document and to make a positive impression with your writing A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e

Chapter Summary (continued) Writing improves and becomes easier with practice It also helps to know the rules Technical writing best practices E-mail best practices In today’s digital age, good writing is quickly becoming a critical success factor A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Help Desk Professional, 2e