Improving The
Quality Of Post-Sales Technical Support Through Virtual On-Site Technology
By Eric Jensen, Citrix Online, A
Division of Citrix Systems, Inc.
In today's competitive business climate, the need to 'do more with
less' is forcing technology companies to cut back on critical technical
support resources. In the near term, these cuts move dollars to a
company's bottom line. But in the long term, customers are lost, selling
costs go up, investments in brand equity are squandered and revenue can
decline. For years, technical support managers have made these points to
upper management, but the evidence cited has usually been anecdotal.
This has changed recently, with studies and surveys focusing on the
long-term benefits of quality support. For example, a new study from the
Sam Walton School of Business found that the quality of post-sales
technical support was the most influential factor driving customer
loyalty.1 This loyalty, in turn, was the
most influential factor driving as much as 20 percent of a technology
company's revenue and profit. In addition, it has become an
industry-accepted reality that it costs five to ten times more to acquire
a new customer than it does to retain an existing customer.
Despite these facts, two out of every three technical support
professionals surveyed by Gartner Research in 2003 reported declining
budgets, while almost one-third reported difficulty hiring and retaining
staff with adequate IT knowledge and experience.2
In the same survey, more than half of the respondents reported a
significant increase in the number of new applications and products that
must be supported, and an increase in the number of applications and
infrastructure classified as critical by end users.
VOS Support Technologies On The Rise
In light of shrinking budgets, businesses are rapidly adopting virtual
on-site (VOS) support technologies to make technical support staff more
efficient and productive. In fact, according to the Gartner survey, 70
percent of all businesses using support tools will increase their use of
'e-support' technologies in the next year, with VOS technologies at
the top of the list.
Businesses find VOS technologies to be more productive and easier to
use than traditional phone and e-mail support methods for resolving
technical support incidents. The primary drivers for technical support
centers in adopting VOS support solutions have been to improve customer
satisfaction, deliver immediate payback for the investment and contribute
longer-term positive return on investment (ROI).
VOS technologies fall into the following categories:
- Remote control tools that provide the ability for a remote technical
support representative to access and control an end user's device to
better perform technical problem diagnosis and troubleshooting,
- Remote monitoring and management tools that enable an application or
infrastructure vendor to receive problem alarms and initiate a support
case without end user intervention, and
- Remote support tools that enable a technical support representative
to chat with an end user, run diagnostics and access the diagnostic
output.
The most effective VOS technologies enable your technical support
representatives to remotely view some aspect of the problem without
having to travel to the end user or spend significant time on the
phone or trading e-mails with the customer.
But how do you distinguish between run- of-the-mill remote support
tools and best-in-class VOS tools that will produce measurable, positive
results? Too frequently, CRM software investments have led to never-ending
implementation cycles with no investment payback or positive ROI in sight.
When evaluating VOS tools, consider the solution's real-time performance
capabilities, security and how it can optimize your support operation.
Real-time Quality Of Service Capabilities
It is counter-productive to engage your customer in a remote support
session only to wait to download software, wait for files to transfer and
wait for action to occur over a slow connection. Not only is the customer
unimpressed by this support experience, but support costs go up as
handling time increases. Key questions to ask about real-time performance
are:
- What is the total size of all downloads that must occur for a
technical support representative to remotely diagnose and troubleshoot
problems?
- What is the average file transfer time over a high-speed connection?
Over a lower bandwidth connection? Is the vendor willing to sign a
service level agreement to guarantee this average file transfer time?
- How persistent are the connections between technical support
representatives and end users? On average, for every 1,000 sessions,
how many sessions are dropped? Again, is the vendor willing to sign a
service level agreement?
Security
Security is a top issue for technology users these days. This issue is
particularly important if you are supporting end users in the healthcare
or financial services fields, and must meet Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act
requirements. Some key questions to ask about security are:
- What kind of encryption technology is employed by the
remote-solution vendor? For example, there is a significant difference
between Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Data Encryption Standard
(DES) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption.
- What other security measures does the VOS support solution vendor
put in place to ensure that support staff can only perform activities
for which your end users have granted permission?
- After the support session, does software remain on the end user
devices without their knowledge?
Increasing Productivity Through Continuous Improvement
As budget pressures continue to mount, technical support centers will be
expected to be more productive, supporting more products and more end
users while providing higher service levels with the same ' or reduced
' number of staff.
Remote support solutions offer an opportunity to take technical support
center employee productivity to the next level. Key questions to ask about
how a remote support solution will enable you to optimize your support
center are:
- Is real-time, centralized customer feedback gathering and reporting
offered as part of the solution? Can I customize the feedback
gathering to my particular needs?
- What kind of reporting is available and what technical support
center 'best practices' experience has been leveraged to create
this reporting?
- What access will I have to the best practices experience and lessons
learned from others who have been using the same tools?
Remote support solutions using VOS technology are being rapidly
adopted, and many analysts foresee a time in the not-too-distant future
when VOS support solutions are a required set of tools for any technology
company. Although most technical support managers face a long 'to do'
list and declining resources, implementing VOS will very soon become a
strategic piece of your support strategy.
Eric Jensen, GoToAssist product marketing manager, works closely with
Citrix Online customers and engineering teams to build secure, scalable
virtual on-site support solutions designed to enhance service levels and
increase customer satisfaction.
1 Competitive Edge: High
Quality Tech Support Key to Financial Success for Computer Companies.
Walton School of Business, University of Arkansas: October, 2003.
2 E-Support and Support Automation Solutions:
Where Is the Value? User Wants and Needs. Bob Igou, Gartner Group,
November 22, 2002.
[Return To The April 2004 Table Of
Contents] |