Your employees are most productive when they know how to use the tools and equipment needed to operate your scrapyard and when they know how to fix problems that may arise.
That’s where ScrapWare comes in. In this fourth installment in our series, we look at how ScrapWare software’s approach to customer training and support helps simplify scrap metal management in the recycling industry.
The role of customer support
High quality customer support should include a range of services to help customers get the most out of a product and resolve any issues, simplifying its use. In a nutshell, customer support services are designed for problem solving and simplification. For a technology product, like software, it is commonly referred to as technical support, or tech support for short. The quality of support is an essential ingredient to customer success using new technology products. This holds true for scrap metal management software, which often has many employees using it to manage every aspect of recycling operations.
Customer support services should include:
- Employee training and onboarding, to teach new customers how to use the product being installed.
- Answering questions that arise while learning and using the product.
- Troubleshooting to work with a customer to get issues fixed.
- Maintenance and upgrading, equipping customers with new functionality in their product.
- Sharing customer experience with other departments.
ScrapWare is the customer support gold standard in scrap metal management software. And the first step in a customer’s learning experience using ScrapWare is training.
ScrapWare simplifies software training
Everything about ScrapWare is designed to be user-friendly, and our training is too. To make the learning process simple and convenient, users can train at their own pace from anywhere. Many software training programs try to cram everything into one long, dull session. It leaves participants bored and unable to retain the information. ScrapWare takes a different approach. We engage and involve participants through short, interesting sessions. This format lets them build on what they’ve learned and put their new skills into practice. At the end of the program, participants leave knowledgeable and confident in their skills.
Customize ongoing online training
Training is essential to make the most of your software investment. Training that’s tailored to suit your business and employees is even better. ScrapWare allows you to modify the sessions, so they’re personalized to meet your unique needs. You can measure employee progress your way, offer incentives for completion and customize the program so it works for you.
Top-notch tech support keeps you up and running
Once the software is installed and employees are familiar with its use, the other technical support features come into play. When questions come up in the day-to-day use of the product, ScrapWare customers may use a variety of channels to contact the ScrapWare Help Desk for support, either calling, emailing or texting. The ScrapWare Help Desk is staffed 24/7. Since customers may use the software at all hours, every day of the week, it is important that customers have round-the-clock help via multiple channels. In today’s business environment, it is no longer adequate to have a help desk that is only open during certain business hours and only accessible by appointment. “Most of the time with simple data issues, most customers will send an email. If it is a hardware or software problem a customer would like to have resolved ASAP, they will call,” says Caleb Torkelson, a tech support specialist and manager of ScrapWare’s Help Desk.
Troubleshooting issues
The most common areas where customers need help “tend to be either data issues that need to be corrected or software/hardware issues,” says Torkelson. “Usually, data issues are ones that need to be corrected overnight by our programmers, for example, date and time changes or correcting anything on a paid ticket. The hardware/software issues tend to be either issues with the hardware or software not working correctly with the customer’s network or anti-virus tools, or simple training issues where the customer is incorrectly using software or hardware,” he added.
A common method of addressing a technical support problem is for the support professional to log into a customer’s computer remotely. More in-depth issues are handled by remote access, unless it would be quicker to walk someone through fixing an issue over the phone, Torkelson says.
Occasionally, an issue requires input from a programmer on the development team. In these cases, most issues are resolved overnight, unless a more in-depth programming change is needed.
Maintenance and upgrading
Maintenance and upgrades at ScrapWare are free of charge for all customers and happen automatically, usually overnight on a weekend, so no customer interaction is required. As databases and customer needs evolve, these upgrades are important to keep the software as current and effective as possible, says ScrapWare President Joe Floam. Keeping software up-to-date and current avoids the problem of it becoming obsolete, also simplifying scrap metal management.
Incorporating customer experience into software enhancements
At ScrapWare, an important customer support function is sharing customer experiences with other departments, like programming. “Caleb shares with us what our customers are experiencing and what their needs are, so we can constantly be adapting the software to improve its value for them,” says Floam. “For us, customer support is making sure we have customer success with ScrapWare.”
About ScrapWare Corporation: Since 1989, Rockville, Maryland-based ScrapWare Corporation has been the software of choice for the recycling industry. Its ease of installation and simplicity saves users time and money while helping them achieve compliance and maintain accurate business insights. With state-of-the-art functionality tailored to each organization’s unique requirements, ScrapWare is an advanced dynamic software solution that alleviates the most pressing recycling industry worries. For more information, please call (301) 517-8500 or visit https://www.scrapware.com/.