We all know what a help desk representative is – that is the person who mans the help desk system for your IT company. But what is the relationship between help and desk and representative?

Your help desk representative is the one who recognizes the moment when users are most receptive to learn about how they can help themselves the next time the same problem happens. This is where the term help in help desk representative comes from – meaning, you assist the customer. IT support representatives must be able to cope with frustration expressed against them professionally and keep their cool even under stress.
 
The desk in the term help desk representative indicates that your technical representatives have skills and know what it takes to deliver quality service, which puts them in a position of power and authority. Whether your helpdesk provides IT support to internal users or your field service engineer problem solve for external customers, your team should be able to communicate their expertise and technical proficiency in a way that will bring respect for people in their position.

The last word is representative, meaning your technical staff serve as ambassadors of technical knowledge and goodwill to internal and external users of the help desk service. Thus, your help desk representative should satisfy customer needs so that users remain loyal to your organization. This depends on how consistent, customer-focused, productive and competitive your internal and external help desks are. Your technical staff should bear in mind that they are frontliners so their attitude and behavior may imply how the rest of the organization perceives customers.
 
The help desk needs to identify areas for improvement in skills, customize program content to meet service goals, improve team performance, yet maintain consistency through best practices skills training and on-the-job experience. This helps save time and money for both the service provider and the clients. At the same time it reduces frustration in customers and fosters loyalty from them as well.