Trust Enablement

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Customer Self Service – How To Do It Right

Customer self-service can provide businesses with scalable support and customers with the power to quickly find the answers they need.Customer self-service can provide businesses with a scalable support alternative and customers with the power to quickly find the answers they need.

However, when done poorly, it can lead to customer frustration.

So.

How do we do it well?

First.

What is customer self-service?

Customer self-service enables customers to find the information they need, troubleshoot common problems, and generally help themselves without having to contact customer support.

Customers can also use self-service to submit support tickets or request refunds and returns.

Types of Self Service

Businesses have several options available to them when it comes to providing self-service.

The most common?

Knowledge Bases

A knowledge base is a collection of information organized to make it easy for customers to find answers to their questions.

The Best Call Center Knowledge Base Software

The following are some of the best knowledge base software for call centers:

Freshdesk

Freshdesk offers a FREE option which comes with:

  • Unlimited Agents
  • Email & Social Ticketing 
  • Ticket Dispatch 
  • Knowledge Base 
  • Ticket Trend Report 
  • Datacenter Location 
  • Team Collaboration

And the higher tier plans add more capabilities.  Read their Trust Enablement profile.

Help Scout

Help Scout’s base package is priced at $20/user/month and includes:

  • 2 Mailboxes, 1 Docs site – Additional Mailboxes are $10 each/month and Docs sites are $20 each/month
  • Up to 25 users
  • Live chat
  • In-app messaging
  • Beacon help widget
  • Custom reports​
  • Automated workflows
  • Customer properties​​
  • API and 50+ integrations

And the higher tier plans add more capabilities.  Read their Trust Enablement profile.

LiveAgent

LiveAgent also offers a FREE pricing tier, coming with:

  • 7 days ticket history – Each ticket can be viewed for a maximum of 7 days upon being received. After 7 days, the ticket will no longer be available.
  • 1 chat button
  • 1 phone number
  • 1 email address
  • Basic reports
  • Customer portal + forum
  • Customer Service

And the higher tier plans add more capabilities.  Read their Trust Enablement profile.

Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk is the last best option, also offering a free pricing tier:

  • Email Ticketing
  • Customer Management
  • Help Center
  • Private Knowledge Base
  • Predefined SLAs
  • Macros
  • Multi-language Help Desk
  • Mobile Apps
  • 24×5 Email Support

And the higher tier plans add more capabilities.  Read their Trust Enablement profile.

Communities

A community is a platform where customers can interact with each other and ask questions or give advice.

Ticketing Systems

A ticketing system is a platform where customers can submit support tickets and request refunds or returns.

AI-powered chatbots

An AI-powered chatbot is a computer program that simulates human conversation.

Social media

Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook can also be used for customer self-service.

Tips for Providing Great Self Service

No matter what type of customer service you provide, you can do a few things to ensure that your customers have a positive experience.

Make sure your self-service options are easy to find and use

This seems obvious, but it’s important.

If your customers can’t find your self-service options, they’re not going to use them.

Use videos, screenshots, and other visuals

Text is great, but sometimes a visual is worth a thousand words.

When possible, use visuals to help your customers understand what they need to do.

Ensure your customer service team is trained

Ensure that support staff understands the self-service options and expectations around these options.

Use data

Use data to understand which self-service options are being used most and to improve the service overall.

Include customer surveys to dig deeper into how customers feel about the service provided through self-service, and identify additional opportunities to improve.

Provide a mobile self-service experience.

More and more people are using their smartphones to access the internet.

If your self-service options aren’t mobile-friendly, you’re going to lose customers.

Final Thoughts

Customer self-service is a great way to provide support and improve customer satisfaction.

How are you using this approach in your business?

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