Customer service is evolving. Customers no longer need to call helplines to have the simplest of issues resolved — but, can instead look them up online themselves. Similarly, CX teams can locate the solution to problems almost instantaneously — exponentially improving efficiency and customer satisfaction. So, what is the key to these modern practices? A comprehensive self-service knowledge base.
Defining a self-service knowledge base
According to research from Gartner, 70% of customers are using a self-service knowledge system at some point in their journey. So, what is a self-service knowledge base? Well, it’s all in the name — it’s a system that enables both customers and employees to take advantage of an all-encompassing foundation of knowledge to locate the answers they require without the need for human interaction.
An example of one of the earliest forms of such a system is the frequently asked questions section found on a website. An e-commerce business, for example, would generally cover issues such as freight, return policies, and even sizing (for clothing retailers) in their FAQs. These would provide a customer with important information via just a few clicks and eliminate the need for a phone call or email inquiry.
Modern self-service
Gartner’s research shows that service executives believe that more than 40% of “live volume” issues can be solved by self-service channels. This shows that self-service systems are the way of the future and as such, modern knowledge bases should be made to reflect the user intent. Modern knowledge bases are richer in content and more intuitive compared to passive FAQs — allowing both customers and employees to use in-built search engines to find precise answers or solutions to their issues.
This is furthered by the system’s contextual awareness which is based on metadata obtained through integrated systems. This allows self-service systems to predict and push the right information to the customer or employee based on their previous history (or triggers from other systems), rather than wait for the user to search and pull the information themselves.
It’s that proactive nature of the system that makes it so efficient. For a customer, self-service systems can mean less time spent waiting on the phone to support teams — which, in turn, frees up CX team members to deal with more pressing and complex issues.
Streamlining processes for employees
Elements like tribal knowledge are encumbering businesses and must be phased out to ensure that all employees hold the knowledge or have access to the knowledge they need with just a few clicks. That’s why taking your knowledge base digital is the way of the future and will improve efficiency across the board. A self-service knowledge base encourages self-learning without sacrificing efficiency.
Tier 1 help desk agents are constantly dealing with common issues that often have simple solutions. An efficient self-service knowledge base can not only cut the number of these tier 1 tickets by providing the customer with a simple self-service solution online but can also cut the time the CX agent spends on the issue by providing instant answers to them regarding the issue and specific customer. A well-kept knowledge management system is key to ensuring all employees can access said knowledge when it’s required. This is a practice that especially comes in handy for new employees.
Onboarding new employees in the digital age
Whether recently hired employees are new to the industry or veterans are starting a new position, every business has a certain way of handling things and that can potentially be a learning curve that recently onboarded employees will have to face. It doesn’t have to be so difficult, though.
With a well-maintained knowledge management system, onboarding becomes an easy and simple process where all essential knowledge can be absorbed by the new team members at a pace and technical level that suits them — whether it’s via detailed articles or nuggets of information that highlight a topic’s vital points. This also greatly simplifies remote onboarding processes.
Improving efficiency across the board
Knowledge management systems act as a single source of truth for businesses — but it’s all for nothing if there’s no efficient method of distribution and that’s where we have to start thinking about the best delivery methods both internally and externally. Thinking about your customers and employees and how the best way for them to find the solution to their issues is crucial.
Live chat solutions, for example, can be helpful and are often easy to build and implement via scalable low-code and no-code methods. These offer customers the chance to resolve their issues by chatting to a bot that will access your knowledge base to provide relevant solutions. If the issue requires escalation, then there’s always your CX team that can take the reins.
Keeping it relevant
A self-service knowledge base is only effective if the knowledge base itself is relevant and well maintained. This means that information must be vetted before going into the system as well as correctly categorized and arranged. This ensures that it can be found quickly and even pushed by the system automatically as it learns from the user’s behaviors and intent.
Additionally, certain topics may require reworking to cater to different levels of complexity. The more information that is fed into your Panviva knowledge management system, the faster it can learn and adapt to suit your employee and customer requirements.
Establish a self-service knowledge base for your business today!
Regardless of your industry, a solid knowledge management system that allows employees and customers alike to find information and solve issues is an essential feature in the digital age. Panviva offers premium KMS products and solutions that are completely integrable with a variety of CRMs and systems allowing for easy and seamless updates across all channels.
If you would like to enquire about our products or are interested in a product demo, then please do not hesitate to contact us today.