Fielding an effective and efficient Help Desk operation is crucial to many organizations. Satisfaction with a Help Desk, a primary source of customer interaction, is a significant contributor to overall satisfaction of a customer with an organization, service or product. In addition, customer satisfaction is an important driver for business retention. Research has shown that changes in overall customer satisfaction and business retention are often attributed to fluctuations in Help Desk measurements. In addition, areas of derived customer importance help to determine future policies and allocation of resources.

Accurate and relevant performance measurements are needed to assist Help Desk managers tasked with striking a balance between customer satisfaction, cost efficiency, and business value. Quantitative and qualitative measures are important to evaluate the comprehensive performance of the Help Desk. Quantitative measures, such as number of calls or response times, are often used to measure Help Desk performance against management objectives, budgets, and service agreements. Quantitative measures are easily collected, as most Help Desk management systems currently record vital statistics such as repair time and nature of request. Qualitative measures, such as satisfaction or importance, are used to gauge perception of customers towards services or business value. These types of measurements, however, require a more direct data collection effort, such as customer surveys. If a greater number of measures are used, then more information will be available for improvements in satisfaction, efficiency, and value.

Comprehensive results of survey analysis not only explain the overall performance of the Help Desk, but allow for more educated decisions to be made, which reduces time and monetary inputs. Qualitative variables should be analyzed in conjunction with quantitative variables for best results. For example, models can be constructed to show the expected increase in customer satisfaction (qualitative) as a result of quicker response time (quantitative). Therefore, combining the disparate measurements facilitates the decision making process for Help Desk managers.

Tracking Help Desk performance on a frequent and continual basis will allow Help Desk managers to quickly identify trends in improvement or degradation of customer satisfaction. A statistically representative survey is an economical way to assess customer and employee perceptions. Customer surveys can request input on areas, such as: quality and availability of services, indication of value, and technical expertise. Employee, or Help Desk staff, surveys can provide input on available training, workload, and tools. Surveying both customers and employees can identify disjoints in desired objectives and goals, or in perceived and actual performance.

Survey expenditures for performance measurement can be recovered by management in several ways:

Customer problems can often become a source of increased profits. Through feedback, features or products can be created to address customer satisfaction voids.

Customers can be affordably educated on common items of interest. Recurring problem areas or customer requests can be disseminated to the entire customer base through automated-voice response, on-line information, or technical newsletters and announcements.

Evaluations can identify the areas of importance to customers. Based on these areas of importance, management can better allocate limited resources. Management can develop data-proven strategies that reallocate existing funds from Help Desk services that are no longer cost-effective. Staffing and training needs can be better addressed by focusing training resources on areas of greatest concern. Staff training and workload issues are often uncovered by hearing from those who contact them. Customer and employee satisfaction will increase, which reduces staff turnover and costs associated with hiring and training new individuals. Therefore, the benefits of help desk performance measurement outweigh the costs. The money saved through more efficient business procedures and increased customer satisfaction outlasts and over compensates for the costs of the research.