As 2023 comes to a close, now is the time to reflect on wins and losses from throughout the year. Maybe you had a banner year—or maybe you’re celebrating just getting through turbulent times. Either way, before you pop that bottle of champagne, it’s time to start thinking about New Year’s resolutions for your customer support team.

Much of what IT service desks “do” in terms of IT support has been industry best practice for decades. For example, the tier-based approach to ticket handling – where a ticket starts with Level 1 support staff before progressing to Level 2 and potentially Levels 3 and 4 when an immediate fix isn’t available. Your organisation might still be using this approach. After all, it has long worked well in reducing fix times and delivering better employee experiences.

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year” doesn’t always ring true for customer service or support teams. Though some industries might slow down during the month of December, others get more hectic and tensions can run high. Ever wonder what to say to diffuse the situation when a customer is ranting and raving about a problem that’s difficult to solve? Here are five pro tips from customer service veterans.