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Support

Work Smarter: Live Chat Best Practices

Is there a sure-shot formula for your business to skyrocket? Well, no, but yes as well. If not a sure shot hack, it’s definitely a consideration.

Even two decades back, most of the businesses especially in third world countries had monopolistic nature. Today, the world is welcoming an open market. Open market means to match the steps with a competitor.

There is one product but several brands to offer the same product. Sometimes, the quality too doesn’t vary much. Then what is the masterstroke? None other than experience, most importantly, customer experience.

The customer is the king in modern times. There are a plethora of options that one has on their plate.

Out of all of them, it is really the customer’s discretion on which service or brand they choose from. Much of this decision comes from how the customer is treated. People today look for two things precisely: on-demand service and customer satisfaction.

The quality is crucial but it can be given a miss by some if they are promised for a better one when they seek redressal.

According to Esteban Kolsky, Founder, ThinkJar, if a customer is dissatisfied then 13% of them will tell at least 15 people that they are displeased with a company’s service.

Especially if you are a company that is hot off the oven, this is murder. The ideal thing is to build your base keeping in mind the likes of your customers. Be it new or old. New businesses need customer testimonials that are organic over social media for footfalls to increase.

On the other hand, the established businesses need the goodwill to be maintained and talked about all over. They would need the customers to become their brand ambassadors.

Many brands have even considered that as an image positioning vehicle as well. Now technology has come to be a big boon and the best of it is that it has multiple options through which a customer or a potential customer feels at home.

A personalized approach is what many people look for and live chats are proving to be ultimate winners in bridging gaps between businesses and buyers. It is the present and is also the future of the customer experience.

Some tactful practices using live chats can prove to be absolutely useful. Few of the best practices with a live chat that businesses can follow are-

Align live chat with business goals

First thing’s first, you need to ask yourself why your business needs a live chat? Is it a type of business that can leverage from a chat system? If they do, then it has to be an omni channel for your business and customer satisfaction.

It can include KPIs, SLAs, customer issue resolution, and reducing shopping cart abandonment. According to CX Trends Report, businesses embed chat solutions for native customers.

This includes having self- service content in an e-commerce website or an embedded live chat window to provide support.

Optimize user experience

Live chat location, access and timing are the three pillars basis which the user experience can be judged. Potential customers draw the basis of their first impressions on what they see on your website.

The website should have a clear indication of where to address in case of any issues. If they are satisfied with the way they have been catered to, depending on the prompt response, or tone or language used, proactiveness, all of them earn brownie points.

Proper intervention and assistance on the customer support chat are well appreciated among potential customers. The frequently your team can extend support and suggestions, the fewer chances are of abandoned carts.

You got to be unobtrusive so that you don’t drive away your potential customers. For a budding business or a business that sees a lot of competition, driving away customers is the last thing that should happen to you.

ALSO READ : Ethical Formalities Of An Ideal System Administrator And A Security Professional

Good user interface

Good user interface

A website that is easy to navigate and has simple language that speaks the customer’s language will always have a benefit of the doubt.

Your website must speak how supreme the customer is for you. Despite having compelling company stories or uber quality products, it will all fall flat if the customer feels that something is off with the environment.

Chatbots and a dedicated team will be wonderful to serve all existing and potential customers and make them feel special and important.

Not just that but you can also embed a pop-up chat box that opens the moment a potential customer lands on your business page.

Staffing requirements

Go for seasoned and experienced agents as they may be well versed with a live chat feature, chat routing, turn of calls, etc.

An agent who holds a better understanding of the process will inherently serve better and bring business. If you hire a novice agent, make sure that their training includes all basics.

Make them familiar with the chat software, language training, how to conduct research on the customer’s chat history, ticket issue, and resolution.

Sometimes there is a mingle between agents and chatbots. Agents pick on from the data and information that is shared by the chatbots.

An agent must inculcate the understanding that repeating the same stream of information will only lead to frustration which will turn off the customer.

Build a chat workflow

A workflow is a masterstroke to ensure that your customer support system is on point.

The process includes ticket escalation path, agent assignment plan, and real-time monitoring, and channel management.

Monitor and improve

There is always a scope of improvement. You must as a business owner have a team in place that will purely look at the live chat analytics and device any improvement plans.

Using this data, average wait times, customer satisfaction, and agent performance can be determined and outlined for the scope of improvement.

Once the live chat is up, it needs a close watch. Before that what’s essential is hiring the right team of agents, establishing the right objectives, training, and workflow creation are the main aspects.

The rest will be on keeping the objectives that were laid out in place.

ALSO READ : Role And Responsibilities Of Ideal System Administrator In 2020

Categories
Support

Ethical Formalities Of An Ideal System Administrator And A Security Professional

We are constantly subjected to change. The world around us, the technologies it is always changing, evolving into something more advanced.

With this, our ethics and responsibilities wherever we go are always subjected to constant change to fit into the new world each day.

This article discusses the ethical formalities of an ideal system administrator and a security professional.

What does a security professional do?

First of all, a security professional or an IT security professional is an experienced personnel who deals with the protection of data, servers and computer systems from unauthorized data or damage.

A security professional is also an important job and requires a  great deal of sincerity and dedication.

A security professional is mainly entrusted with the duties of securing important data and networks for a business or an organization. He or she should also be a professional with an excellent grasp in the concerned with a strong IT background like a system administrator.

What does a system administrator do?

A system administrator is a professional who maintains the mechanisms or the operations of an electronic system especially a computer system.

This job requires skilled professionals with an excellent grasp in the concerned subject and with a strong IT background. An aspirant must be able to troubleshoot and resolve any sort of technical problems quickly.

He or She should be efficient. A system administrator candidate must have patience with impeccable communication skills. You have to tutor and update its teams and users on various models and technologies released today.

Role of an ideal security professional

An ideal security professional has a lot of responsibilities on his or her shoulders. He or she is entrusted with a business’ or an organization’s confidential data which shall not be compromised at any costs.

An interested candidate shall positively be competent enough to understand and handle the duties of  an ideal security professional.

Moreover, with changing times, the roles and responsibilities are drastically changing as well. With various technologies on the rise, an ideal security professional must also be prepared for crisis.

Some of the major roles of an ideal security professional or a security administrator is listed below:

  • Monitor security breaches or any potential cyber attacks.
  • Upgrading security for potential Cyber-attacks (firewalls, etc.) and planning recoveries in case of a cyber breach.
  • Updating security software in order to prevent loss of valuable data.
  • Conducting stimulatory tests (like potential cyber-attacks etc.) to evaluate the performance and necessary steps during a real-time crisis.
  •  Keeping track of updates on new IT trends and implementing them for an effective security system.

Code of Ethics of an ideal security professional

A candidate applying for the designation of an IT security professional must be sincere, dedicated and productive.

Listed below are some of the code of ethics which is mandatory for any individual who wants to work in this sector:

  • As a security professional, one must educate themselves thoroughly about the laws and policies and strictly abide by it
  • A security professional must be competent in understanding the responsibilities bestowed upon him. He or she must be firm in decision making and should be of clear intent.
  • As a security professional, he or she must respect his or her colleagues and promote a healthy and a safe environment.
  • He or she must refrain from controversies, and issues that might lead to an inappropriate conflict of interests.
  • Professionalism is mandatory. He or she must promise to treat employees fairly and equally.
  • As a security professional, he or she must be trustworthy. He or she must understand his or her responsibilities and refrain from illegal practices.

He or she must maintain the confidentiality of the data that will or might be accessed by the.

  • A security personnel must maintain the decorum of the workplace. He or she must abstain from the use of obscene language and keep away from biased ideologies.
  • Communication is crucial. An ideal security professional must be an expert in communication skills.

He or she should be able to communicate and teach his or her fellow employees about the new trends and other work-related projects.

  • As an aspiring candidate for this designation, he or she must be patient.
  • An ideal security professional must promise to be honest while business dealings and in every aspect of his work.
  • A security professional must promise to keep themselves updated on the new IT trends and always be productive and innovative by suggesting fresh ideas.
  • A security professional should obviously seek help from his or her fellow colleagues and provide timely reports to his superiors in the management department.
  • He or she should be resourceful as a candidate aspiring to be an IT security professional.
role of ideal system administrator

Role of an ideal system administrator

The responsibilities of a system administrator are diverse and wide-ranging and vary from companies to companies.

Apart from just maintaining servers and computer systems, they also have to cater to duties like programming, scripting and so on.

Below listed are some of the responsibilities which are mandatory for a system administrator to perform:

  • The role of a system administrator includes installation and configuration of software and hardware.
  • The role of a system administrator also includes managing technological servers and technological tools required.
  • This job requires to set up accounts and workstations.
  • A system administrator has to keep the performance of the servers or the machines in check and maintain them accordingly.
  • Also, this job demands for the skills to troubleshoot technical faults and power outages.
  • A system administrator also has to ensure security over the network of servers or the machines by using access controls, backups and firewalls.
  • A system administrator predominantly has to upgrade the systems timely with new and upgraded software or models.
  • A system administrator also has to be a patient teacher. An ideal system administrator should have the expertise and skills to train staff and keep them updated on new  technologies.
  • A system administrator also has to maintain and write technological documentation, manuals and IT policies.

ALSO READ : TOP 10 TRENDS TECHNOLOGY FOR NEW DECADES

Categories
Support

Role And Responsibilities Of Ideal System Administrator In 2020

Anything that is remotely related to tech we think of engineers. Especially software engineers. The first phone call we make every time our laptops hang is to that one software engineer friend. We consider them to be fully aware of all tech related problems.

While we cannot take away from the credibility and hands on experience that they have with tech. It is also notable that not all that is technology is a software engineer alone.

In 2020 we have a plethora of goods and services at disposal. Businesses have boosted and become more personalized thanks to the boon of the development of apps in short technology. While there is a pack of best of the minds working round curating them, there is also a sect of people who compliment them.

We talk of the big daddy which is the system. Sometimes praise and sometimes criticise. The system is however the driving factor in any business. The system determines the process and outcome. The value propositions also ride on the same.

The set up and maintenance of it therefore is one of the most crucial jobs. It is this surveillance that guarantees a hassle-free functioning of the system. The system which is the lord of the majority.

There are very specific people who are in-charge of all the operations dealing with looking after the system and they are called system administrators.

System Administrator

ALSO READ : DATA CENTER MANAGEMENT AND SERVER TECHNOLOGY

The system administrators can be interchangeably called as sysadmins. In 2020, what we observe is that their role is of utmost importance for a company. What is their job description but? They are in full charge of installing, maintaining and supporting servers, responding to and planning for services blackout and other errors.

Whereas, additional duties can include light programming or scripting, as well for systems related projects with project management.

The accounts of the system administrator are considered to be the most crucial. It is the only account that has unrestricted access so anything can be done with the system.

In that lieu, the highly essential skill that is required is problem solving. When the workstation servers go down, it is the sole job of a sysadmin to analyse and restore the functionalities. Even though people might confuse them with the roles of a software engineer, they are not.

2020 has a wide range of tech levied enterprises pitted against each other for greater and better businesses. In such a cut throat environment that dominates the market, it only makes sense that the systems are up to date. The only way this can be ensured is by system administrators.

But the operations that were relevant a few years back are not anymore with technological and infrastructural up gradation. The system administrators in 2020 have a very different role to play altogether –

  • User administration

For every new user to have access to a particular system and its resources, their accounts are required to be set up. Once the accounts are set up, the maintenance of the account and the activities done through it. All of it is handled by the system administrator. Frauds can easily creep in at the digital space in recent times. The sysadmins need to be extra vigilant as a result.

  • Verifying the proper functioning of peripherals

Apart from the software, what comprises the system are the hardware as well. Any anomaly in the hardware can have major consequences as well.

A routine surveillance of the peripherals proves to be an important aspect in the checklist. It also means that in case of a fault, the repairs need to be arranged for and done.

  • Monitor system performance

The system for which sysadmins are a watchdog also needs to look into the performance of it. It is only when a detailed analysis on the performance of the system is conducted that we realise the shortcomings.

As per the system administrator’s analysis which will consider the latest trends and also what the competition is up to. This way the quality of the process will also be kept at. Any problems in the system can also be thus identified.

  • Install software

This is a very vital role of the system administrator. The software can be a newly developed one or an upgrade. It can also be an update of the existing operating system. In an enterprise, there may be some aspects that require staying within the four walls of the company.

Thus, the software is built in such a manner that ensures that confidential matters remain that way. While the development is not in the hands of the system administrator, the role of updating all existing accounts with it is crucial. All the more it adds up to the role of user administration.

  • Backup and recovery

Data today is very liquid. The loss of it is easier than generating it. With such an impending challenge, it becomes a priority that the recovery methods are revisited.

Data is paramount for any existing or emerging enterprises. The loss of which is no less than asset loss. What system administrators have levied up is the provision for data recovery backed by cloud storage’s.

  • Identity Management

Cases of imposters looting company data and hacking into systems have become so common that it is beyond alarming. Password protection and other modes of identity verification have become pertinent for the full proof security of data and assets of any business.

All identification interfaces are curated by the system administrator so that there is no scope of any false entrances in the vicinity of the business.

  • Research
Research

Whether it was a decade ago or now. One thing that remains common is that system administrators need to keep their research intact. The technological space is booming and how.

In order to be able to provide the optimum kind of service to the business, it is imperative that thorough research on trends is done. One of the distinctive qualities of a system administrator is how well are they aware of the industry’s changes and progress.

Like every other profession, skills are a given for a system administrator as well. But one thing that sets the game apart is that of the tech. Many appreciate the artists but few, the captain of the ship.

Categories
Support

5 Ways How White Label Tech Support Can Help Your Hosting Business Gain Its Momentum

The term ‘White label’ was first coined from the image of a white label that appears on the packaging of products. You fill in the details of your product on a white label. Outsourced phone services do the same thing.

A top-notch white label tech support service can help you accomplish expert technical skill and excellent customer service customized to your needs, at affordable pricing.

Customers are without a doubt the biggest assets of an organization. Ensuring customer delight is the ultimate goal that can lead to business success.But, what exactly does it mean ?

Customer delight is not just about making them say a “Thanks”; rather creating a “wow” factor to the customer, with your services.

An excellent white label tech support can make it a part of your company culture. An exceptional customer service experience that exceeds your customers’ expectations, can affect them in the most positive way.

Challenges that agencies face while offering support

Offering support services to clients may not be the primary or even secondary capability of a web agency (or business) but they need to do it none the less.

Setting up a support team can definitely drive business costs to go up-considerably, and would require some shifting of focus from the core business areas as well.

Furthermore, subject matter experts might be called upon, from time to time, to get involved with tasks and issues that would be totally unrelated to their areas of expertise and that may lead to a less than satisfactory result from the customers’ point of view.

On top of that, raising an entire support in-house comes with a significant learning curve attached to it.

White label tech support and its benefits

Here, we will look at 5 ways how having an efficient white label tech support team can help your business to grow more.

Focus on your business

With an efficient tech support team to assist you, you will get more time to focus on your core business activities better.

Support calls take away your focus from the core business activities such as sales or marketing, product engineering, etc.

With a top-notch tech support team you need not worry about customer support, as tech support teams working as an extended arm of the agency, can address all the support requests from clients, site performance of the servers, and security issues while ensuring the desired outcomes are fulfilled.

Minimize cost

Offering a competitive 24/7 tech support is costly. It includes various costs such as salary, infrastructure costs, utility costs, accounting costs, and more.

Hiring services from a white label support provider can help you minimize the costs incurred in staff and infrastructure, because they generally do this by sharing the facilities with multiple companies.

Compete with market leaders

By providing pleasant customer experience, your support team can boost your company’s branding and client base.

This would send out more references from your client base and effectively widen it. Furthermore, large businesses can provide a wide range of costly tech support, which borders on the impossible for small businesses.

However, with a white label tech support that is at the same time cheap yet efficient, your business can easily compete with the forerunners of the field, although this would require time and dedication.

Round the clock support with increased uptime

A good and well-established customer service should be able to deliver round the clock support. Let’s say you are out of office or busy with other calls, or even if your power or phone is down, your customers cannot reach you.

This would definitely create a negative impression about your support services to the customer. With  white label tech support you can positively avoid this kind of a situation as these support teams are equipped with solutions to all of these problems and can thus provide a 24/7 customer support.

Web hosting expertise

webhosting

Web hosting comes with service disruptions ranging from PC and ISP issues to server and network issues. There is no avoiding these issues; it is a packaged deal.

Some of the common web server issues include, directory password protection issues, enabling cron tasks, etc. With an efficient tech support team, handling about hundreds of support calls per day, they can easily and quickly isolate the problems and fix them.

A tad bit more

I have discussed about the benefits you can get from having a white label tech support team and how it can help you gain business momentum.

However, i would like to add a titbit about how you can actually gain customer delight because that is the main thing that can boost your business momentum.

A steady quality support is what brings about real customer delight. Quality, more often than not, refers to a set of standards or measurements for the service. And meeting these quality standards can ensure customer delight.

Here are some steps to ensure that :

  • Primarily, the basic support functions need be executed properly. This means fulfilling customer expectations by providing timely and error-free solutions.

  • A vital aspect is to perform an in-depth analysis of the problem and coming up with an absolute solution to it, rather than providing a makeshift band-aid solution. Customers do not like to face the same problem again and again.

  • It is essential to prevent any issue from happening or to avoid repetition of the same problem and in order to do that performing proactive tasks is important.

  • Customers should be handled in a more compassionate manner and provided with a more personalized solution helps win them over.

A ‘delighted’ customer will feel the positive experience and remember it., talk about it to others and will definitely come back for more. All in all having a white label tech support will help you in all these manners.

Categories
Support

How white label tech support can help your business gain its momentum?

The term ‘White label’ was first coined from the image of a white label that appears on the packaging of products. You fill in the details of your product on a white label. Outsourced phone services do the same thing.

A top-notch white label tech support service can help you accomplish expert technical skills and excellent customer service customized to your needs, at affordable pricing.

Customers are without a doubt the biggest assets of an organization. Ensuring customer delight is the ultimate goal that can lead to business success. But, what exactly does it mean?

Customer delight is not just about making them say a “Thanks”; rather creating a “wow” factor to the customer, with your services. An excellent white label tech support can make it a part of your company culture. An exceptional customer service experience not only exceeds your customers’ expectations but also affect them in the most positive way.

Challenges that agencies face while offering support

Challenges with support

Offering support services to clients may not be the primary or even secondary capability of a web agency (or business) but they need to do it none the less. Setting up a support team can also definitely drive business costs to go up considerably, and would require some shifting of focus from the core business areas as well.

Furthermore, subject matter experts might be called upon, from time to time, to get involved with tasks and issues that would be totally unrelated to their areas of expertise and that may lead to a less than satisfactory result from the customers’ point of view. On top of that, raising an entire support in-house comes with a significant learning curve attached to it.

White label tech support and its benefits

Here, we will look at 5 ways how having an efficient white label tech support team can help your business to grow more:

  • Focus on your business

With an efficient tech support team to assist you, you are likely to get more time to focus on your core business activities better. Support calls take away your focus from the core business activities such as sales or marketing, product engineering, etc. With a top-notch tech support team, you need not worry about customer support, as tech support teams working as an extended arm of the agency, can address all the support requests from clients, site performance of the servers, and security issues while ensuring the desired outcomes are fulfilled.

  • Minimize cost

Offering competitive 24/7 tech support is costly. It includes various costs such as salary, infrastructure costs, utility costs, accounting costs, and more. Hiring services from a white label support provider can help you minimize the costs incurred in staff and infrastructure because they generally do this by sharing the facilities with multiple companies.

  • Compete with market leaders

By providing a pleasant customer experience, your support team can boost your company’s branding as well as client base. This would send out more references from your client base and effectively widen it. Furthermore, large businesses can provide a wide range of costly tech support, which borders on the impossible for small businesses. However, with a white label tech support that is at the same time cheap yet efficient, your business can easily compete with the forerunners of the field, although this would require time and dedication.

  • Round the clock support with increased uptime

A good and well-established customer service should be able to deliver round the clock support. Let’s say you are out of the office or busy with other calls, or even if your power or phone is down, your customers cannot reach you. This would definitely create a negative impression of your support services to the customer. With white label tech support, you can positively avoid this kind of a situation as these support teams are equipped with solutions to all of these problems and can thus provide 24/7 customer support.

  • Web hosting expertise

Web hosting comes with service disruptions ranging from PC and ISP issues to server and network issues as there is no avoiding these issues; it is a packaged deal. Some of the common web server issues include directory password protection issues, enabling cron tasks, etc. With an efficient tech support team, handling hundreds of support calls per day, they can also easily and quickly isolate the problems and fix them.

A tad bit more

I have discussed the benefits you can get from having a white label tech support team and how it can help you gain business momentum. However, I would like to add a tidbit about how you can actually gain customer delight because that is the main thing that can boost your business momentum.

Steady quality support is what brings about real customer delight. Quality, more often than not, refers to a set of standards or measurements for the service. And meeting these quality standards can ensure customer delight.

Here are some steps to ensure that:

  • Primarily, the basic support functions need to be executed properly. This means fulfilling customer expectations by providing timely and error-free solutions.
  • A vital aspect is to perform an in-depth analysis of the problem and coming up with an absolute solution to it, rather than providing a makeshift band-aid solution. Customers do not like to face the same problem again and again.
  • It is essential to prevent any issue from happening or to avoid repetition of the same problem and in order to do that performing proactive tasks is important.
  • Customers should be handled in a more compassionate manner and provided with a more personalized solution helps win them over.

A ‘delighted’ customer will feel the positive experience and remember it., talk about it to others and will definitely come back for more. All in all, having a white label tech support will help you in all these manners.