|
Dear
Colleagues and Friends,
Are you
setting new goals for Help Desk service and support in 2006 including
transforming your Help Desk into a Service Desk? Is the executive team
requiring even more out of your organization than ever before,
without the addition of more staff?
Reach
new levels in service operations performance at the 7th Annual Help Desk
Professionals Conference and Expo!
The PC client server
Help Desk industry is now officially 20 years old, if you measure from
the time the first Windows client server help desk groups were formed.
Mainframe Help Desks, previously known as Service Centers, and
Operations have been in existence for 50+ years.
The industry has
focused on maintaining status quo for the past 10-15 years. This
past year, however, we have seen people making aggressive efforts to move
their service and support groups to a more advanced level. IT
spending has increased, staffing salaries have improved, and job
opportunities are becoming more prominent in our industry again. At the
same time,
people are being more cautious and more deliberate in their efforts as they move
to the next level of support.
Improvement efforts are
very focused on changing Help Desks into Service Desks, using radical
leadership techniques to move quickly and efficiently in this direction.
The HDP conference program this year has these primary considerations in
mind.
The subjects
that are the most useful to Help Desks have been included in the
program: Communications; customer satisfaction; measurements;
knowledge management; security; hiring - firing - inspiring; service
level agreements; people empowerment; and the technologies unique to our
industry.
Additionally, we are
including the necessary tools and training to be able to successfully
transform your Help Desks into Service Desks. Attending our
leadership track,
Building a Master Plan for Unparalleled Leaders,
will contribute significantly to making successful change in your
organizations. The ITIL track will give you the processes
and tools you will need to pull this off. Combined with the
Technology and Trends track and the High Touch Focus on People
track, we have a well-rounded, content rich program prepared for you.
High Tech High Touch Solutions
is offering the
highest quality, Help Desk and Service Desk conference available.
PINK Elephant is collaborating with us, to bring to the event,
unique
industry expertise and the training and resources to pursue
various highly relevant ITIL certifications.
Join us so we can together further enhance your service and
support business through sharing in the wealth of specific and
applicable information.
We're featuring some of the most
recognized names!
We have the most recognized names in
the help desk industry in one event.
You will not only have the opportunity to learn from their vast
knowledge and expertise in the field by attending their presentations
but you will also have the opportunity to hold informal discussions with
these folks. And of course, there are many, many more great
speakers delivering presentations at HDP 2005, as well as these folks.
Malcolm Fry - George
Spalding - Pete McGarahan - Brenda Iniguez
- Patrick Bultema - Kurt Johnson -
Char LaBounty - Daryl Covey -
David Stockwell - Mary Kay
Wegner - Brad
Worthley - Bill Price - Eric Rabinowitz
- Rick Joslin - Mary Lou Blakely -
Dru Phelps - Donna Holt
Click here to see the program!
Be sure to sign up early. We limit our event to 350 seats to ensure a valuable learning experience and
afford opportunities
to build strong relationships. The sooner you sign up, the better
chance you'll have to be part of this exclusive opportunity.
This event promises to be
spectacular and unique in many ways! I want you to become some of
the first to fully transform your Help Desk into a Service Desk and make
it truly an indispensable asset to your corporation.
Register now before all of the seats
are sold out and get a great early-bird discount.
I
look forward to seeing you in San Diego.
Ivy
Meadors
CEO, High Tech High Touch Solutions, Inc.
Chair and Conference Owner
Don’t
miss a single copy of the weekly “HDP Previews”:
Each week we will feature a speaker and a vendor who will share
valuable content to whet your appetite to attend one of the most significant Help Desk
& Service Desks event ever. Please pass these on to a friend.
Stay in
touch by joining our mailing list.
If you
missed any previous issues, visit our website at
http://www.hthts.com/hdppreviews2005.htm
TIPS FROM THIS WEEK’S FEATURED SPEAKER:
Eric Rabinowitz,
CEO of Dema Education,
www.dema-edu.com
Eric Rabinowitz has
been a recognized leader in the help desk industry since 1989. He
created the first Help Desk Analyst-training program and was a key
contributor to HDI’s CSS, HDA and HDM certification programs. He has
appeared on television and radio as an advocate for the support industry
and has contributed to several magazines and books. Eric is
a certified Instructor and a much sought after speaker.
Eric is delivering an
extended-length workshop on developing a Service Level or Operational
Level Agreement. This is a working session where an actual outline
will be developed and in-depth discussions will be held during the
session. The completed outline will be the basis from which you
can develop your own more detailed agreement.
"When You Need a Friend It's Too Late to Make
One"
- Mark Twain
WOW- I saw this quote
the other day and my first thought was that Mark Twain is really talking
about the lives of support center managers. How many of us have been
Womped (the sound that a wave makes when it catches you square in your
chest) by a customer complaint when it never would have happened if we
had a friend instead? I’ve spent the last two years studying how to
improve relationships with our customers and staff. What I found is both
obvious and bewildering. We need to get up on our desks and yell at the
top of our lungs, We are Important to the Business!!! Unfortunately,
those that follow my advice will be committed or looking for another
job. For others there needs to be ways to tell the world what it would
be like without us. Like everything else, there should be a process that
we can follow that will assure our place at the table as a full business
partner. You guessed it, there is, and that’s what this article is all
about.
Step 1 – You are
not Support Center Managers – You are Business People first and
foremost. Learn your business, and I’m not only talking about the
support center business. Know what your company does, you know, where it
makes its money. Commit to yourself to read a business book a month.
Take business and product classes that your company offers. Consider
going back to school and studying business. Remember, that there are
millions of support center managers in the world but only one support
center manager who knows your business, and that should be you.
Step 2 – Talk
with your customers. By the way they are not USERS! People use inanimate
objects like hardware and software (is software an object?) but people
using people is not a pleasant thought. These are our customers. After
all, we provide a service that our customers pay for, don’t we? You need
to talk with your customers on a regular basis. When you see them in the
hallway, ask them “How are we doing?” Schedule regular monthly or
quarterly meetings and ask them “What keeps you awake at night, and how
can I help?"
Step 3 – SLA ALL
THE WAY!!! SLAs let you have business conversations with your customers.
What type of support do you need in order to facilitate the business?
When are your busy times? What applications do you most depend on? Do
you have any special needs? How do we know when together we’ve been
successful? How do we measure our results?
Step 4 – Market,
Market, Market and Market even more! When you do something good let
people know. Create a help desk mission statement that is aligned to the
corporate mission statement. Send love letters to customers thanking
them for using your services; write it out, to make it special. Put
together a regular monthly newsletter or e-mail campaign that reminds
customers that you are there to help. Don’t be accused of making your
support center the best kept secret.
By following these 4
steps you will find yourself invited to more strategic meetings, people
will ask your opinion and promotions, job security, and money will
follow. Most important enjoy what you do and have fun.
Resources:
|
