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''Technical support is assuming a more predictive role''

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CIOL Bureau
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How often have you heard the words, “Our systems are down, we’re sorry for the inconvenience”? Imagine a scenario where a global retail giant that conducts most of its business online, experiences a few minutes of technical breakdown and is unable to connect with its customers. Or else, a bank that is unable to process customer transactions for a few seconds because of a small technical glitch. These few seconds of disruption could cost the companies in question millions in revenue and more importantly, irredeemable customer loyalty. 

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Today’s highly challenging and intensely competitive business and technology environment requires every market leader to maintain high levels of customer satisfaction in order to sustain themselves. Product purchase decisions of customers across the globe are increasingly becoming dependent on the quality and reliability of their technology vendors’ support functions. Quality technical support has therefore become the key differentiator that sets a company apart from its competitors to achieve business excellence. 

Support service providers have to be geared to satisfying varying requirements of customers ranging from enterprise behemoths, medium sized companies to home users. Tech support today plays an integral, if not the most critical role in determining the lifespan of the product in the market. It ensures that the customer’s experience with the product is complete and seamless and thus guarantees a growing customer base.  

With multiple technology vendors, most organizations today have complex ecosystems comprising of several enterprise products and platforms. Supporting a customer in this environment of technical diversity requires expertise not just of one’s own product but of several other products that exist in the market. This has created a paradigm shift in service delivery, putting the thrust on a more engaged and intimate partnership with customers. 

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Technical support is progressing from a quick fix to a more proactive, diagnostic tool. A relevant analogy here is perhaps that of the healthcare industry where nearly sixty percent of medical consultations carried out today are proactive in nature. Similarly, technical support has evolved into a tool for early diagnosis and prevention.  Technical support engineers have become integral to ensuring the “health” of customers’ technology infrastructure.  In fact, until a few years ago, about 90 percent of the calls to Microsoft’s support centers were from customers seeking technical assistance or asking questions about a product. Today, about half those calls are service related and come from industry partners as well as customers.  

Contrary to popular belief, increased dependence on technology does not minimize the customer’s need for support. The fact that the IT services market is predicted to grow to $762.3 billion by 2008* is testimony to that. As a result, technical support is assuming a more predictive role and is fast becoming an indispensable business division within product companies.  

This article has been authored by Manish Sinha, Managing Director, Asia Pacific and India, Customer Service and Support, Microsoft Corporation.

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