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B2B Helpdesk: Key Functions & New Industry Standards

The B2B helpdesk is made up of a core team inside a company’s IT apparatus that assists with issues that arise for a specific type of technological incident or problem. This serves an obvious need of ensuring that such issues are resolved quickly, reliably, and repeatedly—to reassure businesses and their clients that they can continue operating while a dedicated team promptly addresses these specific issues.

Business leaders must understand what a helpdesk truly is, in addition to some key terms and functions, to build out a quality helpdesk to ensure operations run smoothly. It’s worth noting some helpful distinctions that differentiate a helpdesk from other information technology service management (ITSM) functions and departments. This blog post will discuss:

B2B helpdesk functions
How a helpdesk differs from a service desk
Why businesses should develop a complete service desk

Let’s dive into each topic for a holistic overview of how businesses can approach developing or improving a quality helpdesk.

B2B Helpdesk Core Functions

Helpdesks serve a number of vital functions that allow businesses to keep things running smoothly. Some of the most common—and important—B2B helpdesk functions include:

Ticket Routing. Distributing support tickets and questions to the proper associates.
Incident Management. Handling individual issues with IT assets, like a specific software tool or computer going down.
Problem Management. Addressing systemic issues revealed by a cluster of similar incidents resulting from the same core problem.
Asset Management. The maintenance, repair, and lifecycle management of physical IT assets like computers, network devices, and switches.
Limited Automation. Automating the limited functions within a helpdesk’s purview, like categorizing tickets for proper routing without the need for manual review.

While these functions are essential for ensuring an IT department’s success, they are limited in scope. They also fail to provide a client-centered experience for brands striving to extend client support capabilities in a way that improves their customer service experience.

This is where the concept of a service desk comes in—but how is a service desk different from a helpdesk?

Helpdesk vs. Service Desk

A helpdesk differs from a service desk in its scope, as helpdesks are usually built out to deal with a specific issue (like those listed above).

A service desk refers to a service ecosystem that includes a helpdesk, but also includes a service apparatus designed to give a more client-focused experience with convenient tools, like self-service portals and educational knowledge bases.

This is why most modern B2B firms opt for a comprehensive service desk to improve their customer experience. Not only does it provide more streamlined and convenient access to helpdesk functions, but it also personalizes the experience and offers proactive assistance with on-demand educational resources, change management, and release management. These additional functions make the service experience more customer-friendly and sustainable in the long term.

Why Businesses Should Develop a Complete B2B Service Desk

As businesses modernize, their capacity to meet client support needs improves vastly. This has raised the standard of excellence to which competitive B2B firms are held by clients that may be seeking better options near the end of their contracts. This prompts businesses to prioritize a service-centered approach that retains more of their clients and builds reputations that attract new leads.

The Qualtrics XM Institute reports B2B clients of companies that outperform the competition in customer service are seven times more likely to return to the company, eight times more likely to be cross-sold or upsold, and fifteen times more likely to share their experience with others.

According to Price Waterhouse-Coopers, 86% of B2B buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience.

PwC’s report also reveals that 91% of buyers would use an online knowledge base if it were available to them and tailored to their needs.

These metrics make it easy to see why more businesses are investing in a service-centered approach, evolving beyond the traditional B2B helpdesk-only approach. At this point, it has become more of an industry standard to offer a comprehensive service desk, with support from software tools developed for that express purpose.

Elevate IT Support With Vivantio

While each of the benefits we’ve discussed can work wonders for businesses, they won’t help if managers choose a platform that doesn’t offer all the necessary features. Vivantio’s cutting-edge customer service software platform offers everything listed and more, including:

Endless integrations to make implementation easy
Automatic ticket routing to ensure every ticket gets to the proper agent
Workflow designer tool that allows managers to customize the framework of their CS operations without any technical knowledge required
White-label service portals so businesses can maintain a cohesive brand throughout the service process
A holistic view of each client to ensure no agent is left without vital information

For businesses working to bring their customer experience into the modern age, Vivantio is a premium option.

For more than two decades, Vivantio has helped clients optimize their service organizations by leveraging a uniﬁed service management platform. To find out how Vivantio can help you implement B2B helpdesk improvements, contact our team today or register for a free demo.