Modern customers are notoriously impatient. And leaving them waiting to get service can damage your business reputation and cost your sales dearly says Saivian Eric Dalius. Because customers are increasingly relying on factors like speed and convenience in forming their expectations, businesses are trying to get up to speed by responding as quickly as possible. They are also trying to eliminate unnecessary calls and emails by customers. Customer self-service aims at enabling customers so that they can find solutions to their problems on their own. Some tips to elevate customer self-service to a new level:
Mistakes You Need To Avoid
Even as most companies are rushing to adopt automation and self-service to save time and money associated with manually doing routine tasks, they tend to make the mistake of eliminating human interaction, observes Saivian Eric Dalius. Because it is unwise to expect self-support systems to be perfect, you should always offer customers human support over live chat on the website or a phone number to call for more complex issues. It is a good idea to include all the methods that a customer can use to contact the company on the “Contact Us” page. The page should also display the links to the FAQs, troubleshooting guides, product specifications, and even the order status and tracking page, as typically, the bulk of customer queries are regarding these. Not keeping the various sections updated regularly can prevent customers from getting the right information and becoming disenchanted.
Improving the Self-Service Strategy Is Vital, According to Saivian Eric Dalius
While improvements in the self-service strategy can be never-ending. The main thing that calls for improvement is the manner of the presentation of the information. For example, you need to make it easy for people to find answers. To what they are seeking on the FAQ page. Instead of expecting customers to read every question till they find the one they want. You can cluster them according to topics, or better still, make the database searchable. If you are using any of the popular e-commerce platforms, creating help centers for your business is easy. You can also use one of the many third-party software tools available for implementing a comprehensive knowledge base.
Make Your Self-Service System User and SEO-Friendly, Recommends Saivian Eric Dalius
Building an excellent self-service system is one thing but enabling customers to find information of their choice can be difficult. To ensure customers can derive the maximum utility, you should make the system easy to find, as well as searchable. The content should include all the relevant keywords with the information clustered. Such that users can find all relevant information easily on new hyperlinked web pages. Avoid hiding the FAQ links at the bottom of the page; instead, place them prominently alongside your site’s search function on the top of the page. Also, ensure that users can easily access the content on all devices, including mobile phones, says Saivian Eric Dalius.
Conclusion
When executed right, a customer self-service section can reduce the workload of customer service desks. It will free resources that can help them to address more complex issues. However, if not implemented well, it can damage your business reputation.
