What Makes Self-Service Really Work?

Why are some companies able to achieve the benefits of Web self-service--a better experience for customers, a cost reduction for enterprise, and a valuable tool for gaining customer loyalty--while others fail?

The recipe for a good self-service experience consists of a handful of basic ingredients. At the core is a healthy knowledgebase that is used by customers and agents. Access methods to this knowledge must be added. And quick, simple escalation choices to agents who have a customer-centric view must be available if a user’s question cannot be resolved online.

Optimize the User Experience to Solve Problems Quickly

In a perfect world, the optimal self-service experience begins up front. The website should be easily navigable. Breadcrumbs and recently viewed pages should be displayed to help orient the user.

If the user is not able to find the right information, he or she should be allowed to escalate a question to an agent using the communication channel of his or her choice. The user’s searches and pages viewed should be captured and passed to the agent so that they can understand the research that the user performed prior to contacting them.

Once the user becomes a customer, any visit to the website should be personalized. The site should have memory of a customer’s transactions and actions. This includes orders, past and pending service requests, and a history of any self-service interaction that was escalated.

Make Knowledge Easy to Find

Too often, searching a knowledgebase is presented as the best way to research an answer to a question. Unfortunately, searches often overwhelm the user with too many answers to consider. Novice users, for example, are often most comfortable with a guided search approach, which leads the user down a particular discovery path. More experienced users may prefer browsing a folder structure. These alternate search techniques should be available to all users.

Self-service sites should also show a list of the most frequently asked questions, service alerts, and new and changed content so that the user has access to the most up-to-date information at all times. To make knowledge an integral part of a user’s life, many sites also allow users to subscribe to content of interest.

Ensure a Great Service Experience With Relevant Knowledge

A knowledgebase is at the core of a self-service experience. In a traditional implementation, a knowledge author writes a solution which is an answer to a question that he believes a customer will ask. This solution is routed to a reviewer, who has the authority to approve it to be added to the knowledgebase or to return the article back to the author for revisions.

The challenge of this offline authoring model is the relevancy of knowledge. Authoring is often performed by someone who is not on the front lines, constantly fielding customer questions and who can write in the language of customers.

The linear authoring flow also introduces a delay between authoring new solutions and having them available.

Alternate authoring strategies include opening up the knowledgebase to power authors so that they can publish directly. This makes information instantly available, which is especially useful when, for example, new hi-tech products are released where agents field repetitive questions for which scripted answers do not yet exist.

Customer loyalty is shaped by great service experiences. The basic ingredients of usability, findability and a healthy knowledgebase baked together help provide users accurate, complete and personalized answers to their questions. If my bank had used these ingredients, I would be a much greater supporter of their business.