The consumer has become more savvy, the analyzes on new behaviors affirm, he knows how to look for the answers to his doubts on his own and would like to be more and more independent in his choices and customizations. In addition, before putting himself into question with a phone call, he wants to exploit all possible channels for an interaction free from direct dialogue.
All these signs, then, were further accentuated starting from the first months of 2020. The lockdown and the various limitations have emphasized this desire for independence, creating an imaginary watershed between the companies that have run for cover or that have been born with the right attitude and those who have underestimated the issue.
Thus, the most attentive companies to customer relations will have noticed an increase in traffic on the FAQ page, the most common questions and answers regarding a service or a product, or, in general, a greater use of so-called self-service services. .
According to the report State of Service of Salesforce, 78% of respondents reported an increase in the use of self-service services.
How to build a good self service
Self service services involve various tools and contents, from help pages and FAQs to personal pages to communication services supported by chat bots.
Regarding the FAQ page, for example, it is essential to build it following a precise analysis of the most common requests. It is therefore advisable to have the possibility to collect these requests coming from the different channels (call center, email, contact form on the site, etc.), group them and analyze them.
From this base a document of questions and answers is built which, we point out, if built in an SEO perspective, will also be appreciated by Google, enhancing the site in indexing.
The same files, however, must be considered a resource in the making, a perpetual beta, to be constantly updated.
Since the same information could be useful to both a prospective chatbot and new entrants to a contact center, it is important to build a unified knowledge base. That is a digital container of information that automatically feeds the machine learning engine at the base of any chatbot.
All service professionals must have free access to the container and must be free to update it, but following a standard model. Many software for interacting with customers contain a module suitable for the purpose or a collaboration tool in which to automatically load and then structure the information coming from the dialogue with customers.
Next, all the tools that fall within the self-service tools must be clear and extremely easy to navigate. The consumer must quickly find the answers to their doubts, the limits of an offer, the conditions of purchase and, above all, all the channels of interaction in a single interface.
The knowledge base is a fundamental tool for operators
All operators need to be able to pool the new information they get from customer interactions. Thus, a knowledge base platform becomes a fundamental tool for the operators themselves, especially in a contact center where turnover is often very high.
Having an updated and well-structured knowledge base at least partially relieves those responsible from the necessary training for new operators. All the more so if customer assistance is delegated to an external company. It will also make life easier for service professionals, save time, and provide truly valuable support service.
Ultimately, setting up a knowledge base and a model of collaboration between operators aimed at the unified collection of information is now more necessary than ever. The consumer wants to be independent in purchasing choices and wants clear, simple and immediate answers to all his doubts, otherwise he will run away and we will never see him again.
These topics will also be explored on March 25 during the Salesforce Service Edge event, register for free!