The team at BullGuard were kind enough to answer some questions for us ahead of the IT Service and Support Awards 2018, where they were finalists for the Best Medium Service Desk category.
What made you decide to enter the awards?
At BullGuard, we’ve always been very proud of our support team and considered it a unique selling point of our business. Although we had our customer satisfaction and internal recognition, we wanted to see what else is out there, measure ourselves against the best of the industry and see where we can improve. We want the absolute best for our company and our customers.
What part of the awards process did you enjoy the most?
The best part about this process is having a review of your achievements for the year before and looking critically at what happened during the past 12 months. I think it is easy to lose track of what you have accomplished and remain focused on the daily problems and we all need to give ourselves some credit, a small break and a ton of confidence, from time to time.
In the last 12 months, what has been the most successful initiative your team has implemented to help your business improve its performance?
I think the best initiative that helped our team was the top 5 issues that are weekly discussed across all levels in BullGuard. It put the customer at the center of our conversations and their problems in everybody’s priorities list.
What are your top 3 tips to make a service desk successful?
The most important one is having the right people in the team, nothing can be achieved without proper recruitment and training. The second would be to have company support and commitment to making the customer a priority and thus supporting the team in their initiatives. The third would be to never give up on your goal of being the best, no matter how far that goal may seem at one point.
What one thing do you think really makes you stand out as a service organisation?
I think what stands out here is that everybody has a seat at the decisions table. We rely on the team to take their own decisions, push for whatever issue they feel is wrong, have a voice inside any meeting or discussion, because we know that they are speaking on behalf of the customer.
How are you preparing to evolve your service desk over the next few years? Please share your most exciting plan with us!
The boldest plan is to get to an effortless experience, almost acting like we are reading the customer’s mind with our support journey. It would involve a lot of artificial intelligence, but also understanding our customer as best as possible. And understanding and knowing the customer makes the difference from an average service desk to an exceptional one.
If you could choose any celebrity to work on your service desk, who would it be?
Dalai Lama, because he sees the common ground between science and spirituality and is not afraid to challenge dogma, which is something that we all need in our lives.
What does it mean to your team to be a finalist in the ‘Best Medium Service Desk’ category?
When asked, most of the team members said that they’re happy to see their efforts are being recognised, so I think to most of us this award brings confidence, responsibility, pride and happiness.
What advice would you give to anyone entering the awards next year?
I would tell them to have patience and find their own voice in the process. Although everybody is looking forward to winning the award at the gala, the most important part is the journey to getting there, the time of introspection, analysis and creation. Make the most of it!
The 2019 IT Service & Support Awards will take place on Tuesday 26 March at the Birmingham Hilton Metropole. Entries are now open – start working on your submission today for your chance to be recognised as one of the shining stars of the IT support industry.
