For help desks and MSPs

The third call about the same problem decides the contract.

Your technicians were hired to fix things. Then a customer calls in about the problem that came back again, mentions they’re looking at other providers, and the call becomes the renewal. FirstPass lets your team practice that call before it happens, and shows you how the real ones are going.

Talk to us about your service desk → See all call types →
app.myfirstpass.com/live-calls
A help desk call in FirstPass: a customer whose Gong calls keep arriving late, the technician’s replies, and scores on Churn-Risk Recognition, De-escalation, Ownership of the Recurring Problem and Escalation

A support call from our demo team, scored on the Help Desk rubric: the customer’s second billing cycle with the same fault.

The problem

Hired for technical skill. Judged on the phone.

The customer doesn’t remember the fix. They remember that nobody owned it, that they had to explain it again, and that “call us if it happens again” was the plan. Nobody practices those calls, because until now there was nowhere to.

What FirstPass gives your service desk

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Help Desk practice calls: the customer calls in, speaks first, and the problem is usually one that keeps coming back
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Customers built from your services and the problems your team actually sees
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Scored on a rubric made for support calls, not a sales rubric with the words changed
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Skill builders you create, or My Coach suggests, for single moments, like owning the repeat problem or hearing the renewal risk
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Retention calls for the account manager who has to steady the relationship afterward
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Text or voice, on the web and on the phone, any time between tickets
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A low-stakes start: Game Mode’s customer service ladder, with no product knowledge needed
The Dimensions card on a help desk call: Churn-Risk Recognition, De-escalation and Empathy, Ownership of the Recurring Problem, each with what the technician did

Every score says what the technician actually did.

The Help Desk rubric

Six things a good support call does.

Every Help Desk call is scored 1–5 on these six dimensions, with what good looks like at each level. Nothing is being sold; the technician has to settle the customer as well as the problem.

De-escalation & Empathy
Names why the customer is frustrated, lets them finish, and takes responsibility without excuses.
“I completely understand why you’re frustrated, especially since you’ve already tried to get this resolved more than once.”
Ownership of the Recurring Problem
Says plainly that the issue keeps coming back, that it’s the company’s to solve, and aims at the cause, not another quick fix.
“Rather than fixing the symptom again, I want to find what’s making it come back.”
Business Impact Discovery
Asks how the problem affects the customer’s team and work, and uses the answer to set the urgency.
“Can you walk me through how this has been affecting your team?”
Escalation & Follow-Up Plan
Names who owns the fix, gives a timeframe for findings, and commits to a follow-up at a set time.
“Engineering owns this, you’ll have findings by Thursday, and I’ll call you myself at ten.”
Churn-Risk Recognition
Hears “maybe we should look at other providers” as a retention event, and says who will be brought in, and when.
“This is bigger than a ticket. Your account manager will call you before end of day.”
Technical Clarity
Says plainly what is known, what isn’t yet, and why earlier fixes didn’t hold, in words the customer can repeat to their own leadership.
“Here’s what we know, what we don’t yet, and why last month’s fix didn’t hold.”
Difficulty

Same problem. Three customers.

Pick how frustrated the customer is. The facts of the problem stay the same; their patience doesn’t.

Easy
Annoyed but reasonable
Frustrated the problem is back, but willing to give the technician a fair chance. Calms down when the history is acknowledged.
Medium
Frustrated, patience thin
Judging whether this technician will be any different from the last. Accepts a next step only if it has an owner and a time.
Hard
Angry, close to leaving
Has heard “it’s fixed” before and is looking at other providers. Calms down only for real ownership and a concrete plan.
For service desk leads

Hear the calls you never sit in on.

Import your team’s recorded support calls from Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Gong or Chorus. FirstPass scores them on the Help Desk rubric, and Team Coach reads the whole desk at once.

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Team Coach reads your help desk team on its own: what it does well on repeat-problem calls, where it slips, and the skill builder to assign
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Separate reads for practice and real customer calls, so you can see where the two part ways
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Facts checked: what technicians tell customers about your services, checked against your approved facts
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Live calls shows each technician’s practice beside their real calls, dimension by dimension
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Impact shows whether a drill changed how their real calls go
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Assign a skill builder to every help desk technician in one click
app.myfirstpass.com/dashboard/team/coach
Team Coach reading a help desk team’s customer calls: a summary of how they handle repeat problems, what they get wrong about the product, and how they own the recurring fault
One platform, three roles

The technician, the account manager, and the lead.

A repeat problem touches more than one person. Each practices their own part of it.

Help Desk

Technicians

Settle the customer, own the recurring fault, and leave with a named owner and a time for the next update.

Retention

Account managers

The call after the escalation: the renewal that’s wobbling, the save, and the expansion once trust is back.

Team Coach

Service desk leads

One read of the whole desk, the drills to assign, and proof on the real calls that the coaching took.

app.myfirstpass.com/skill-builders/library
Example skill builders for help desk and prospecting calls in the FirstPass library, from our demo team

Short drills for one moment at a time, tagged by call type. These are from our demo team.

Built around your service desk

Your technicians already fix the problem. Help them keep the customer.

We’ll build a demo from your services, your most common repeat tickets, and the calls your team dreads most.

Talk to us →