Switching to a new service provider/vendor can be a difficult process. Taking time to evaluate their Special Education software and Help Services can ensure that you contract with a vendor that you will have success with for many years to come. The type of Help Services your vendor offers will serve as a consistent means of support for all users. Your selected vendor should offer several types of Help Services to ensure product and service compliance and to help customers achieve their best results. Help Services are services of any kind that serve as a line of communication with the vendor. These services should include, at minimum – superior customer service, attainable resources for common questions/issues, training options for all users, and communications/collaboration for continued success.
Customer Service – Problems arise, questions come up. Is your vendor going to be there to help assist you or your employees in a time of need?
Customer Service is one of the main areas of Help Services that a vendor can provide. Customer Service is important because it is the lifeline of the connection between customers and the Special Education software vendor. A company with excellent customer service has a team that does more than answer questions and solve customer issues. The vendor you select should have a team of knowledgeable, organized, and well-mannered individuals to help anytime issues or questions arise with their product or services. The vendor should also have many means to reach Customer Service or a general Help Desk. This communication should include options for email and voice calls for immediate response and a tracking or tech-ticketing system to track incoming inquiries.
Another area to consider when evaluating a potential vendor’s customer service is whether the Special Education software vendor would have one specific contact for your team moving forward. A main contact, or Customer Success Manager (Account Manager), can provide consistent responses to your team. Your main contact should have knowledge of the rules and regulations for the process or systems that they will manage alongside your team. Often, this individual will meet with your team on a regularly scheduled interval throughout the terms of your contract to ensure consistent communication and service quality. If you are unable to get in contact with this main individual, you could use the general customer care team or Help Desk as a resource, but it is always nice to have one main point of contact and consistency.
Multiple training options for all users
Training is an important piece of the puzzle to consider when looking for a new vendor. Your selected vendor should offer several different types of training to support all users of the program. Be sure to choose a vendor who offers many different types of training options, including live and virtual.
Another option vendors can provide is regularly scheduled training offered throughout the year to allow training for any midyear hired team members. The recent years events have brought on a repeated turnover of employees, making on the fly training and support necessary year-round.
For team members that are unable to attend scheduled training courses, consider a vendor with recorded training so staff can view at their leisure.
Training sessions typically include a lot of information. Since many new programs can be overwhelming at first, training materials are of utmost importance so that users can reference documents to guide their tasks at later times. Consider asking your vendor if they offer a library of documents, guides, training materials and/or videos that your staff can access anytime they need help. All users should have access to the appropriate, ongoing training and resources available at any time. No matter the size, never be afraid to ask for help when needed.
Continued Collaboration/Communication for Success
A common tool used by vendors to measure customer satisfaction is an annual customer satisfaction survey. Vendors should conduct these surveys annually to gather information and suggestions from their customers to strengthen their product and team to improve their customer service. Be sure your vendor is taking the time to survey their customers on an annual basis. Surveys are a great way to collect data to measure customer satisfaction/success and to find areas where work needs to be done. Customer reviews/interviews are also important as they serve as references for the products and services you are shopping for.
Help Services that Go Solutions offers:
- Excellent Customer Service
- Go Solutions has a team of members ready to answer calls live from Monday – Friday from 8:00am EST to 7:00pm EST
- State Specific Customer Success Manager
- Tech Ticketing system for incoming inquiries
- Attainable Resources for FAQ
- Go Solutions has a library of resources available to administrators and providers.
- Multiple Training Options/Resources
- Go Solutions offers:
- Global Provider Training
- Individualized District Provider Training
- District Administrative Training
- Monthly Medicaid Meetings
- State Specific Customer Success Manager
- Monthly Provider Newsletters
- Quarterly Administrative Newsletters
- Annual Customer Satisfaction Survey
- Recorded Training Sessions
