CHAPTER 2: THE USD AS A CONCEPT
The USD as a concept constitutes a coherent aggregate of intranet, phone, email and digital document handling, desk and account management. The demand process is structured according to the front office/back office principle. After reading this chapter the reader will be aware of the definition and meaning of the USD for the enterprise, which tasks belong to a USD and how the USD can be considered in such a way that it is applicable as concept in all enterprises.
2.1 What is a USD?
The USD is the central point of contact for the service organisation. It accepts all customer enquiries, calls and tickets; qualifies them as specific tasks and services and, where appropriate, hands them over to other parts of the enterprise (or to other providers) for resolution. In most cases, the USD takes ownership of the customer question (the demand) and pursues the progress of any resolution through to the satisfaction of the customer. In consequence, additional tasks for the USD include monitoring the progress of any actions, informing and advising the customer about the status of the call and ultimately, closing the customer’s ticket. Where closure is not possible, the USD may maintain a log of known errors.
2.2 Tasks of a USD
The USD for customers and users is the central point of contact. This is different in any enterprise. The principal tasks of a USD are listed in Table 2.1, instantiation is dependent on the capabilities and requirements of your enterprise.
Tasks |
• Receives enquiries (intake), both standard and non-standard • Manages complaints, expressions of preference, information requests, incidents, problems • Provides information (first line customer advice) • Monitors output on the basis of contract or service agreements • Manages the products and service catalogue • Reporting • Relationship management and account management • Product and process management • Contract management • Quality management • Ensures enquiries are pursued thoroughly and correctly • Monitors external and internal developments • Collects information • Monitors and oversees progress |
2.3 The USD and front office
The USD is responsible for the collection and coordination of customer demands; it is therefore ‘the front office’. The back office (which could be internal or outsourced functions), is responsible for proper and complete resolution.
The USD is therefore often seen as managing the back office as a proxy for the customer.
To manage the customer demands and escalate issues to the appropriate area of the enterprise, the USD needs to structure the intake of enquiries in an efficient manner. The USD of a service organisation therefore has five functions:
1. Taking care of the structuring and orchestration of the customer demand (the enquiries);
2. Starting the delivery process (once the enquiries have been received);
3. Managing the integrated completion of the services;
4. Monitoring internal and external developments (for example, by collecting management information); and
5. Presenting the professional face of the service organisation.
Figure 2.1: Concept of the USD
The drawing in Figure 2.1 illustrates the relationship between the USD and the back office. The USD comprises two layers: a layer of coordination and a layer of service delivery. In the layer of service delivery, contact is made with the consumer, client or customer, and products and services are delivered.
In the layer of coordination, the customer demand will follow a defined process and will be escalated to the back office as appropriate. This coordination layer forms the internal organisation of the USD: the employees, the equipment, management instruments and all of the facilities required for the USD to function (perhaps including strong alcohol and counselling).
To meet enterprise goals (which should be set out in a contract or service level agreement), the USD needs to work closely with the back office. This relationship should be clearly defined, as well as evident in the way processes are arranged into working agreements and tasks, and automated or manual procedures.
Layers of service delivery
The layer of service delivery comprises three levels:
1. A virtual ‘mailbox-office’ on the intranet/Internet service site – this is the first level of service delivery, sometimes known as ‘click’ or level 0 support;
2. Call centre functionality (phone, email and digital post) – this is the second level of service delivery or level 1 support, sometimes known as ‘chat’ or maybe even ‘natter’ (or choose your favourite word for people moaning); and
3. Physical locations (desk or desks) and account management – this is the third level of service (‘face’) delivery, also named level 1 support (it is the place where actual assault can take place if the service is poor).
Example: Division between USD and account management
In practice, USD functionality and account management are often divided. This has to do with the differences in competences needed (knowledge, behaviour, skill) and partly because of the different stakeholders within the enterprise. The USD focuses mostly on the operational service delivery. This means that products and services can be standardised.
For tactical and strategic product and services enquiries, where requests might cause substantial changes and therefore substantial costs, most often the account management function is used. In larger organisations, account management might be further subdivided where service management takes control of tactical requests (perhaps identified by the estimated time needed for resolution or the estimated cost), and account management for strategic requests where criteria determine the necessary escalation.
Depending on the ambition and size of an enterprise, the USD might be responsible for the entirety of a given service or simply a single part.
Demands from customers can hit the service organisation through any of the different layers. Directing traffic to the intranet or Internet offers excellent possibilities to cover a large area of the total services through a standard approach, and ensures that much of the service delivery can be handled automatically. Besides the automation, users should consider the ‘Martini approach’ as being a benefit (the possibility to make their enquiries ‘anytime, anyplace, anywhere’).
The physical location, too, can have different appearances. Sometimes different locations are chosen depending on the type of services that will be provided. However, it is wise (even if simply for logistical reasons) to place these together in one geographical spot (like a service plaza). The management structure will dictate how interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary activities and locations will take place.
In cases where more contact with the consumer is necessary (or maybe less), or more clarity about the desired services and where standard offerings fall short, account management should take over.
The different levels of service delivery can be complementary to each other. In some cases, services will be offered on all three levels; in other cases, only one of the channels is best suited, perhaps help desk support over the phone. When a problem is caused by software or hardware it is not recommended (and highly unlikely), for customers to walk to a counter for service. It is much more practical to phone the help desk, where more often than not, they will take immediate action to solve the problem. There may be some specific cases where visiting the desk is mandatory, for example when requesting a user ID.
An organisation can choose to use all distribution channels, or only one or two, depending on the organisation’s need and desired quality of service.
Example: Customer at the desk
Ever been kept waiting while a clerk takes a call? Well, unless a service contract stipulates something else, someone standing at a service desk counter should always be attended to first, and callers should be placed on hold or asked for a number where they can be reached.
A client on the phone can never see how busy it is at the desk (unless they happen to be using FaceTime).
Layers of coordination and back office
Calls from customers will be taken by the USD and need to be recorded and processed, and sometimes they will require action in the back office. The processing of the call depends on the management and monitoring procedures, and the enterprise (of processes and procedures) between the USD and back office. Back office can be divided into different levels of support, but mostly levels 2 and 3 are distinguished. In practice there are several versions for functional or organisational implementation of the USD.
Often, the desk’s employees also take care of some of the call centre tasks. In these situations, a distinction can be made between the first and second lines of support. The first line of support is responsible for the desk and takes care of emails but takes no calls by phone. The second line of support does not work at the desk but takes phone calls as their principal task and can provide backup to the desk.
In some cases, the call centre functionality is situated at a location removed from the service desk. This is also the case for account management functions and sometimes for management oversight of the entire function.
Keep in mind that account management is often not considered part of USD management. It can have a different responsibility, or perhaps be absent completely. In the last case, (especially in smaller organisations) these account management tasks are undertaken by senior employees or USD management.
From a conceptual point of view, account management tasks should ideally be part of the responsibility of the USD function. When the different levels of service delivery are not managed unilaterally, their coordination, synchronisation and tuning become more difficult. As a consequence, this leads to a lack of clarity for customers (who do I call? Ghostbusters?) and a reduction in the quality of services.
The way in which the resolution processes are actioned and managed depends on the organisation of the back office. Fundamental to the design of delivery of services is that standard processes are followed wherever possible. Of course, not all questions or calls by customers can be foreseen. Therefore, agreements must be made about the coordination between front office and back office or redesign/work around of the processes to avoid problems with delivery of specific services.
Example: Channelling customer questions
Customer demand may move through many different channels and may even go directly to the back office, despite efforts to eliminate such action. It will be the task of the USD manager to arrange the process in such a way that the demand is channelled to the right place in the back office when a call is processed by the USD (routing methodology). In all cases, the swift and comprehensive resolution of enquiries or problems will be valued most by customers.
2.4 Process of service delivery
Coordination tasks of the USD include:
1. Receiving and recording the call, and understanding the issues (resolving the call where practical);
2. Providing information about products and services;
3. Handling, controlling and delivering products and services;
4. Directing the call to the back office and/or account management for resolution (routing);
5. Monitoring progress and closing; and
6. Reporting on performance and quality with regard to the action taken.
1. Receiving and recording the call
A customer can place a call at the USD in different ways: service portal, phone, email, digital post or by visiting the desk. The USD employee can also settle a call in different ways. Depending on the nature of the customer question, the USD employee will accept the call, record the enquiry and, where the resolution is known, resolve the enquiry.
2. Providing information about products and services
When a customer has an enquiry for the USD, the USD clerk checks whether the request can be handled directly (for example, an enquiry or the reporting of a visitor) or whether the question should be recorded and processed in the back office. In some organisations, the USD is set up to resolve as many enquiries as possible immediately; others are set up merely to record enquiries and process the action elsewhere.
Whether a request is handled directly is, of course, also dependent on its urgency or its special nature. If the boss is stuck because of an elevator malfunction, then action would be immediate; leave them there for as long as possible. Well, that would not be the action but we all would like it to be the action (or inaction). In the event of a disaster or emergency of some kind, such as large-scale water damage to computer facilities, regular activities might be shelved while the focus is shifted to the coordination of recovery activities.
3. Handling, controlling and delivering products and services
Once a call is taken by the USD, it is important that the employee becomes the owner of the enquiry. This means that all data relating to the enquiry must be complete and clear. All essential information should be identified using a predesigned, computerised entry screen according to specified procedures. We should always avoid a repeated call to the customer to complete missing information.
4. Directing the call to the back office and/or account management
Of course, not all calls can be handled and delivered by the USD. When the USD cannot process the enquiry, it must be redirected to account management or the back office. Each contact needs to be routed and distributed to the right place. To do this, the back office and USD must have an established agreement about the division between front and back office.
5. Monitoring, progress and closing
Monitoring progress is an important responsibility of the USD. The customer should always be informed in a timely way about the situation, especially when it takes time to resolve and to close an enquiry. It should be easy to track the status of all enquiries. A management information system (MIS) or service management software (SMS) can be a great help with monitoring progress. Within IT, it is often called an IT service management tool; while within the service management world, the SMS is usually a specific service desk software tool or part of an integrated software suite that includes an asset management or a view of the configuration management database (CMDB). In the facility industry it is called facility management information system (FMIS).
In the call centre, usually the SMS is the contact centre software in conjunction with the customer relation management system (CRM). Upon completion, the USD or the back office must close the call. If necessary, the USD must make sure that after care is offered.
6. Reporting on performance and quality
The USD should have, based on its position in the organisation, access to all operational information concerning requests, calls and status of requests/calls, and understand the quality of delivery. Next to that it will have direct contact with users and can check how the USD organisation is perceived. The information a USD reports will be an important part of all management information for the manager.
In Table 2.2 there is a simplified fact sheet of the proceedings of a call. This sheet can be used solely with text or combined with symbols.
Table 2.2: Example of a Simplified Fact Sheet ‘Standard Calls’
