How to Give Your IT Department a Good Name

Much of what we do in our IT departments is done for no one to see. Similar to those who work in public relations or those who work in securing the nation’s security, IT pros often encounter success when no ever hears of an incident being avoided. Like security enforcement who protect the masses from terror, death and destruction every day and never receive the credit they deserve publicly, so goes the life of an everyday IT professional who, for the most part, see their colleagues entering the office in the morning and use many of your services within the first half hour without even thinking of you and all the work that you’ve done so that they are able to take you for granted. Perhaps this is a step in the wrong direction for the image of your IT organization. If so, use these five tips to improve the image of your IT department:

Transparency breeds trust

Transparency leads to trust and a better image for your department. So give customers insight in things that have direct consequences for their daily work, like planned maintenance. Introduce a digital service desk to provide customers with a way to track their own calls. This can also be used to share the performance of your department with your customers. You can also use monthly newsletters to communicate what you have been working on.

Be recognizable in your actions

To leave a professional impression, it is important to communicate a consistent, uniform message to the organization. This shows the organization what you stand for, what you plan to do and how your department plans to serve. Think about a standard logo in email templates, or standardized ways of addressing end users. You can also consider recognizable outfits or an accent like a key cord or name tag to improve visibility within the organization.

Use problems to your advantage

Research shows that customers become increasingly loyal when they are treated to their satisfaction after experiencing a problem. Common sense. Focus on solving easy-to-fix problems as soon as possible for the obvious benefit of your organization. Like in a crisis, communicate immediately if problems affect multiple users and if larger projects need action taken upon them. Be clear in your communication that the problem is being worked on and when you expect it to be resolved. When the problem is resolved, check whether it is to the satisfaction of the affected people.

Explain procedures early and often …

Many customers are unaware of what it entails to request a new phone. The only thing they know is what they have to do and how long they have to wait. However procedures often have good reasons. Communicate these so that end users understand why things go a certain way. Read more about this in our self-service portal blog here.

… Then deliver

Last but not least: deliver quality services to your end users. To get more insight in this, consider doing customer satisfaction reviews, and encourage collaboration and learning in your department.