Operational Best Practices
Support Services Criteria: Core
No.
Section
1.1
Section
Best Practice Criteria
Strategic Management
1.1.1 Business Strategy
1.1.1.1
1.1.1.1.1
1.1.1.1.2
1.1.1.1.3
1.1.1.1.4
1.1.1.1.5
1.1.1.1.6
Corporate Commitment
Service and Support Mission and Values (2 standard)
Internal Communications (1 standard)
External Communications (1 standard)
Executive Commitment (2 standard, 1 advanced)
Compensation Incentives (1 standard, 1 advanced)
Governance Model (1 standard)
1.1.1.2.
1.1.1.2.1
1.1.1.2.2
1.1.1.2.3
1.1.1.2.4
1.1.1.2.5
1.1.1.2.6
1.1.1.2.7
Organizational Goals and Objectives
Comprehensive Scope (1 standard)
Corporate Alignment (1 standard)
Support Staff Alignment (1 standard)
Periodic Review (2 standard)
Planning Horizon (1 standard, 1 advanced)
Communicated throughout the Organization (1 standard)
Performance Management (1 standard)
1.1.1.3
1.1.1.3.1
1.1.1.3.2
Financial Planning
Financial Reports (1 standard)
Operations Reviews (1 standard)
1.1.1.4.
1.1.1.4.1.
1.1.1.4.2
Business Continuity
Disaster Recovery Plan (2 standard)
Disaster Recovery Systems Testing (2 standard)
1.1.1.5.
Quality Initiatives
1.1.1.5.1.
Quality Program (2 standard)
1.1.1.5.2
Results of Quality Initiatives (1 standard)
1.1.1.5.3
Support Quality Management System (1 standard)
1.1.1.5.4
Support Quality Continuous Improvement (1 standard)
1.1.2
Product Lifecycle Management
1.1.2.1
Customer Input into Product Design (1 standard)
1.1.2.2
Support Input into Product Design (1 standard)
1.1.2.3
Product Updates (3 standard)
1.1.2.4
Support Readiness for New Products (1 standard)
1.1.2.5
Pre-Release Testing (1 advanced)
1.1.2.6
Service Participation in Release Process (1 standard)
1.2
Section
1.2
Marketing and Sales
1.2.1
1.2.1.1
1.2.1.2
1.2.1.2.1
Support Marketing
Support Marketing Plan (2 standard, 1 advanced)
New Service Offering Definition Process
Voice-of-the-Customer (1 standard, 1 advanced)
1.2.1.2.2
1.2.1.2.3
1.2.1.3
1.2.1.3.1
1.2.1.3.2
1.2.1.4
1.2.1.4.1
1.2.1.4.2
1.2.1.4.3
1.2.2.
1.2.2.1
1.2.2.2
1.2.2.3
1.2.3
1.2.4
New Service Planning Process (1 standard)
Service Planning for New Products (1 standard)
Service Offerings
Service Level Commitments (1 standard)
Service Collateral (1 standard)
Pricing
Pricing Model (1 standard)
Discounts (1 advanced)
Pricing Change Process (1 standard)
Support Sales
Forecasting (1 standard)
Performance Tracking (1 standard)
Renewal Sales (1 standard, 1 advanced)
Reference Management (1 advanced)
Cross Sell, Up Sell (1 advanced)
1.2.5
Social Media
1.2.5.1
Social Media Executive Sponsor, Strategy and Goals (1 standard, 2
advanced)
1.2.5.2
Organizational Ownership of Social Media (1 standard)
1.2.5.3
Guidelines and Policy for Social Media (1 standard, 1 advanced)
1.2.5.4
Profile of Social Media Target Audience (1 standard)
1.2.5.5
Social Media Channel Presence (1 standard)
1.2.5.6
Monitoring Social Media Conversations (1 standard, 1 advanced)
1.2.5.7
Social Media Management Tools & Processes (1 standard, 1 advanced)
1.2.5.8
Social Media Support Processes (1 standard, 2 advanced)
1.2.5.9
Managing Social Media Cases (2 standard, 1 advanced)
1.2.5.10
Social Media Advocate Program & Incentives (1 standard, 1 advanced)
1.2.5.11
Social Media Technical Support Metrics (1 standard)
1.2.5.12
Social Media Support Customer Satisfaction (1 standard)
1.3
Section
1.3 Delivery Processes
1.3.1
1.3.1.1
1.3.1.2
1.3.1.3
1.3.1.4
1.3.2
1.3.3
1.3.4
1.3.5
1.3.6
1.4
Section
1.4
Service User’s Guide
SLAs (1 standard)
Contact Information (1 standard)
Support Process (2 standard)
Local Language Support (1 standard)
Customer Profile Management (1 standard)
Customer Privacy and Data Security (3 standard, 1 advanced)
Cooperative Support/Multi-Vendor Process (1 standard, 2 advanced)
Link to Engineering (1 standard, 1 advanced)
Root Cause Analysis (1 standard, 1 advanced)
Talent Management
1.4.1
1.4.1.1
1.4.1.2
1.4.2
1.4.3
Compensation Management
Job Descriptions (1 standard)
Compensation Guidelines (1 standard)
Performance Reviews (1 standard, 1 advanced)
Rewards and Recognition (1 standard, 1 advanced)
1.4.4
1.4.4.1
1.4.4.2
1.4.4.3
1.4.4.4.
1.4.4.5
Recruitment Process
Requirements Identification (1 standard)
Candidate Sourcing (1 standard)
Structured Screening Process (1 advanced)
Hiring Evaluation (1 standard)
Applicant Tracking System (1 advanced)
1.4.5.
Training Programs
1.4.5.1
New Hire Training (1 standard)
1.4.5.2
Continuing Education (1 standard, 1 advanced)
1.4.5.2.1
Support-Specific Education, Training & Certification (2 standard, 1
advanced)
1.4.5.3
Training Effectiveness (1 standard)
1.4.5.4
Support Quality Coaching (1 standard)
1.5
Section
1.4.6
1.4.6.1
1.4.6.2
1.4.6.3
Staff Development
Master Plan for Skills Development (1 standard)
Individual Development Plans (1 standard)
Career Paths (2 standard)
1.4.7
1.4.7.1
1.4.7.2
1.4.7.3
Communication and Feedback
Individual Meetings (1-1s) (1 standard)
Group Meetings (1 standard)
Employee Feedback (1 standard)
1.4.8
1.4.8.1
1.4.8.2
Employee Programs
Team Building (1 standard)
Wellness Programs (1 standard)
1.4.9
1.4.9.1
1.4.9.2
1.4.9.3
Retention
Retention Reporting (1 standard)
Active Performance Management (1 standard)
Exit Interviews (1 standard)
1.4.10
1.4.10.1
1.4.10.2
1.4.10.3
Tools and Technology
Customer Communication (2 standard)
Customer Profile Management (1 standard)
Tools and Technology Planning (3 standard)
1.5 Voice of the Customer Metrics
1.5.1
1.5.1.1
1.5.1.2
1.5.1.3
1.5.1.4
1.5.1.5
1.5.1.6
1.6
Section
Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Transactional Surveys (2 standard)
Handling of “Negative” Survey Responses (1 standard)
Handling of "Very Positive" Survey Responses (1 standard)
Periodic Surveys (1 standard)
Using Surveys for Continuous Improvement (1 standard)
Customer Satisfaction-Based Incentive Plan (1 advanced)
1.6.
1.6.1.1
1.6.1.2
Operational Metrics
Core Metrics (2 standard )
Comparison to TSIA Benchmark
1.6.2
1.6.2.1
1.6.2.2
1.6.2.3
1.6.2.4
1.6.2.5
Core Metrics Delivery
Availability (1 standard)
Metrics Dashboard (1 standard)
Tailored Metrics (1 advanced)
Metrics Subscriptions (1 advanced)
Evolving Targets and Metrics (2 standard, 1 advanced)