Self-Service for B2B Customer Support

Transcription

1 Self-Service for B2B Customer Support

2 Table of Contents 1. Customer Self-Service, How Important Is It? 2. Why self-service is still good customer service 3. Customers prefer self-service and omnichannel support options 4. Adding humanity to your selfservice support options 5. Self-Service Reduces Costs and Improves Performance 6. Driving customers to web self-service support 7. Learn More

3 Customer Self-Service, How Important Is It? Do you remember the first time you walked into a grocery store or department store and saw the automated checkout systems? If you were like many people you were likely taken aback at first what is this and why are there not any people scanning my stuff for me? Why am I doing this myself? Now, the automated system is becoming a norm during trips to the store. While it can be obnoxious for a huge cart full of groceries (especially when it can t get the weight right and yells at you), a light load is a quick scan and exit from the store. If something goes wrong, you have an employee standing by to fix it. There s a lot of correlation between the automated checkout system at the grocery store and a customer self-service portal like the one in Team Support, especially with a strong customer service agent involved. In many situations, it can be much more useful for a customer to help themselves. Don't Forget the Human Touch We won t deny how helpful it can be to have a live human being to call on. If you get stuck in a jam there s nothing worse than looking around and seeing there is nobody around to aid you. That s why the grocery store has at least one employee looking out for you in case there s a problem or you have a question during self-checkout. With online customer service, speed is always a factor. The very fact your customer went online to find the answer to a solution means they want the fastest answer possible. They went to your website, found the help section, and started poking around.

4 If there is a simple answer, they don t want to see Call us at TOO-SLOW as the only option available to them. It s just like the basket full of groceries at the store they only have a handful of items and they re perfectly willing to scan them with no help. There s no reason to send the person with just a few items through the same line as the person with two carts full. So while the human touch is nice, it may not be helpful when there s a simple issue. It s all about options people like to feel like they re in control of the situation, and self-service alternatives give them that. Make It as Complete as Possible The key to providing customer self-service options is to make them as complete as possible. If you re only solving a portion of a problem or leaving out key details for a walkthrough of an issue then your customers won t be satisfied. Remember that part of the beauty of providing things like FAQs, chat forums, and instructional videos is that your agents workload is greatly diminished. If customers can find the answers they need for simple problems without calling the support team, the pesky little issues won t pile up as much and your team can focus on solving bigger issues and improving overall service. Like the grocery store, though, make sure your customers always know you re just a phone call, chat, or away. You don t want them to look around and feel like they re all alone in the world with nowhere to turn. But if you make the self-service part of your support system strong enough, they ll hardly ever need to contact you anyway.

5 Why self-service is still good customer service Offering an option for customers to help themselves can give your customer support reps more time to focus on improving the big-picture aspects of your service strategy. Customer support software makes it easy to give customers what they want and need. According to a Coleman Parkes survey, 91 percent of respondents said they would use a knowledge base if it were available to them, and 75 percent said online support is preferable as long as it is reliable. Creating an online location for customers to seek out knowledge can be extremely useful as long as it is organized into channels. Popular self-service channels include frequently asked questions, a searchable knowledge base and online discussion forums. "Around 94 percent of people have found working with an agent to be difficult." People like figuring things out for themselves When most people think customer support, they picture live interactions with reps. But research from Nuance shows that most people prefer to help themselves. According to their report, 2 out of 3 consumers would rather help themselves than talk to a customer service agent to get answers to their questions. Those people said that they thought self-service was more convenient. Only 6 percent of the people surveyed said speaking to an agent is always more convenient, meaning around 94 percent of people have at some point have found working with an agent to be difficult.

6 When self-service is better It's ultimately more effective to let your customers choose when they need to speak with an agent. Here are some situations in which customers are better off helping themselves: Quick questions When a customer has a quick question, submitting a formal ticket or talking with an agent can seem like too much work. By providing them with an FAQ page or a search function, you'll be giving them a way to access an answer as quickly as possible. Clarifications Sometimes a customer won't really have a question. Instead, they just need something clarified. Calling in or submitting a ticket for these inquiries may not be necessary. Offering self-service channels will save time for your reps and empower your customers to engage with your website and find what they're looking for. While self-service is a good customer service method, you still need to have a qualified and dedicated team to answer more detailed questions. You'll always run into people who prefer to speak with an agent for any and all of their needs as well. Providing both options lets you give your customers everything they want and need.

7 Customers prefer selfservice and omnichannel support options Never underestimate the importance, even necessity, of meeting and exceeding customer expectations when it comes to customer support. As the B2B world slowly comes around, we're seeing more and more studies that support this - like Forrester's recent report on top trends in customer service, and this article from SmartCustomerService. According to research, customers now rely more on self-service than they do on phone. While phone is still (and likely always will be) a popular method of support, customers are going to the web more often as a first resource to try and solve their issues. This means it's more important than ever to offer comprehensive self-service support options like a customer knowledge base, chat, and even community forums. While multi-channel is a term that's thrown around a lot these days, it's important to understand the difference between simply offering different channels for customers to use, versus making those channels unified so that each request is recorded and easily answered in ONE system. This is beneficial to both agents and customers (and as a result the company as a whole) because: Customers don't have to repeat themselves every time they use a new channel or talk to a new agent Agents know all the history a customer has with you as soon as they get a request (no matter where it came from) Companies save time and money by reducing handling times and increasing first-contact resolution

8 The research states that most organizations still haven't implemented omnichannel support - and in fact many don't have agents cross-trained to handle multiple channels at all. With the right system this should be a nonissue, if all channels feed into the same customer support software, all you have to do is train your agents on that software. Of course doing this right, to ensure a superior customer experience, requires a few key components: Hire the right people Provide your agents with the right tools Offer omnichannel customer self-service While the Forrester report talks a lot about contact center environments, the reality is the same for any customer-facing help desk. Customers report that one of their biggest frustrations is having to repeat their question or issue over and over. They want to feel valued, and having empowered agents with the right tools and the right system in place will show them that you do. Gone are the days of siloed customer support, successful organizations can and must collaborate to truly enhance the customer experience. Forrester's Kate Leggett said it best: "Executives don't decide how customercentric their companies are - customers do."

9 Adding humanity to your self-service support options These days, many customers prefer to tackle their own issues before contacting your customer support team. They do this through the use of selfservice support options. It's important that self-service entries are written less like a computer manual and more like an introductory textbook, taking complicated information and introducing it in a manner that is engaging and easy to grasp. Not only does this maximize satisfaction, but it also further emphasizes the fact that your business puts customers first. Here are a few tips for adding humanity to your self-service support options: Apply your buyer personas Many businesses create an idealized customer and use that profile to guide their marketing, design and other business choices. Business2Community suggested taking this persona and applying it to your content, including your self-service support options. Your marketing team already has tons of research on this type of person, including metrics such as how they search for information, how much time they spend on each page of your website and how their eye travels from top to bottom. This will guide the style, tone, look and keywords of each support entry. Keep things clear and simple Short sentences organized in clearly defined sections are easier to read than long paragraphs. Make good use of headlines to summarize each section so your customers have an idea of what they're reading at first glance. Also, break detailed tutorials down into bulleted or numbered step-by-step lists to make the elaborate instructions simple to understand. B2B customer support software that provides self-service options helps your agents arrange, manage and maintain entries so they remain up to date.

10 Be sure not to overwhelm your customers with unnecessary technical jargon. If you must use industry terms your customer might not know, define them on the same page or link to another support entry with additional information. Use anecdotes As Kissmetrics noted, writing stories helps customers better understand the point you're trying to make. Anecdotes present abstract concepts and customer support solutions as the answer to actual queries. Additionally, reallife examples help the customer apply knowledge to their own situation, whether or not the case provided matches their current issue. Include video and images Using videos of your agents, developers or technicians puts a human face on what might otherwise be a boring topic. The actual words might not be the most interesting, but the gestures and facial expressions people make engage customers and help them follow the video content. You can combine these videos with graphics, screenshots or statistics to better illustrate your point. Images are another way to provide customers with the answers they need. You can outline solutions with a series of screenshots which are easier to understand than paragraphs of text. If that's not practical for certain entries, basic pictures of people or custom illustrations break the monotony of a page full of text. Your business needs self-service support options that help customers, not ones that leave them even more confused. Making the right choices in terms of style, tone, content and organization ensures your FAQ section, wikis, knowledge bases or other options are written to meet your customer's needs.

11 Self-Service Reduces Costs and Improves Performance How and Why You Should Be Offering Self-Service Customer Support It can be hard to find the best solution when it comes to handling customer service issues. Self-service is often hyped as the solution to increased customer support requests, but it s not always clear which type of self-service support solution works best in which instances, or which common issues in support like call abandonment and first contact resolution are improved by customer self-service. Software Advice, a leading customer service software comparison and research company, recently completed a study of over 170 customer service managers and supervisors to assess the effectiveness of self-service customer support. Popular Self-Service Channels The research found that the top methods of self-service implementation were: Frequently asked questions (FAQs) page Searchable knowledge base (KB) Telephone interactive voice response system (IVR) Online Discussion Forums Not surprisingly, the type of self-service used by customers varies by industry. For example, customers in the financial industry are more likely to call for support, while customers looking for software support are more likely to seek online answers. So for software companies it makes more sense to implement online support options rather than phone for self-service. It s also important to remember that when a customer uses IVR for support, they are probably expecting to speak with a live representative, not a self-service system.

12 What Should You Measure? If you offer customer self-service, you should be monitoring and evaluating each of your channels on a regular basis. Your knowledge base should be actively maintained as new information and updates become available, and while an FAQ page likely won t change as often as your KB articles, it s important to track page visits to understand if it is being used. Here are some of the most popular metrics used to measure channel performance: Surveys & User Ratings Surveys and user ratings are the best metrics because they go straight to the source (your customer) and are focused on customer satisfaction. Either follow up to a self-service event with a survey, or include ratings on your articles/self-help documents to gather feedback from customers. Return visits to the support page It s helpful to measure the number of visitors returning to a support page within a set time frame as this can measure effectiveness of the page. For example if the issue is solved on the first visit, the customer won t need to return to that page. Page views & average time spent Measuring the number of page views and time spent on your support pages, knowledge base, etc. can be effective at measuring the growth of the channel over time. However they don t tell you if the page is actually meeting customer needs, so don t misunderstand the purpose of these metrics. Ticket deflection If your customer service software offers it, make sure you implement ticket deflection and keep an eye on the metrics this can show you how many times a ticket was started and not completed thanks to a recommended article. If it doesn t offer ticket deflection, maybe it s time to switch software ;)

13 Self-Service Reduces Costs and Improves Performance Many surveys over the past few years have shown the increasing popularity of self-service from both company and customer perspectives. The report from Software Advice validates that self-service really does have a positive and measurable impact on both quality and quantity of customer service issues requiring an agent s attention. Over 75% of respondents confirmed that First Level Resolution, First Contact Resolution, Cost Per Contact, and Cost Per Incident were improved. Speed to answer was reported as improved by 80% of the respondents, and 65% reported improved (reduced) call abandonment rates. An important note as you implement an effective customer self-service program, the types of calls you will reduce are typically the easier, faster ones. So if you assess your self-service and agent support individually you will likely see metrics like Agent Time Per Incident and even First Contact Resolution get worse, because your agents will be working on more complex issues that take longer to resolve. However if you use an integrated support system this shouldn t be an issue because those will be offset by the improved time to resolution on self-service support. Best Practices: Don t just track metrics for the sake of it just because they re easy to track doesn t mean they re effective. Add a like/dislike option or ask customers to rate articles to your knowledge base Always collect customer feedback (ie: agent ratings) when a ticket is closed With so many great survey and ratings tools available it s easy to implement customer follow-up initiatives, but try to find one that integrates with your support system so all your metrics are in one place. Remember that the most successful metrics are those that focus directly on the customer experience

14 Driving customers to web self-service support It's no secret that customers prefer self-service customer support options, even in B2B. Yet many companies still rely on phone and and ignore the benefits of providing self-service alternatives, namely cost savings and increased performance. Many times the options are there, but the company doesn't know how to change customer behavior and drive customers to use their web and self-service features. Here are 4 tips to get you started: 1. Answer the Right Questions It's simple: If your online self-help resources aren't answering the questions your customers need answered, they won't use them. Examine your support ticket issues to identify the most common ticket issues. These can become the basis for an online FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your support site, or a list of articles to populate your knowledge base. Many training requests are also addressed easily through self-service options like training videos, tutorials, and technical documentation. 2. Display Information in an Understandable Way Remember that all customers are not created equal, so your self-service support resources need to be written in a way that all customers can understand. Try not to use too much jargon or highly technical language - unless of course all of your customers are highly advanced users who will understand it. Step by step tutorials or instructions are a great way to present a lot of information in easily digestible bites. Using headers and lists is another way to break up information so it's easier to consume. Images and video are also excellent ways to provide clarity where text alone may fall short.

15 Also remember to include relevant links within knowledge base articles or online support documents. In many cases one topic may lead to another and you want to make it easy for your customers to find information. 3. Promote Web Self-Service Options Just because you build it doesn't mean they will come. You have to let your customers know about the self-service options available, and promote them at every opportunity. Display links to resources prominently on your support site, and make sure your site is responsive so it works on any device. Customer support software that supports ticket deflection (providing suggested articles to address an issue without creating a ticket) can also be a huge help in promoting customer self-service support. Make use of existing channels to promote your self-service options. Remind callers that they can access your resources online, and include links in your outgoing support s. You could also have your agents inform customers of these options when they complete a ticket. Finally, you may want to make a more aggressive switch and direct customers to online support as the primary option (keeping in mind you should always offer one-on-one support options like phone and if the issue can't be resolved without agent assistance). 4. Don't Ignore Self-Service Just like your website or customer support software, self-service is not something you can "set and forget". It takes ongoing effort, including monitoring usage and examining content for relevancy and recency. For software support especially, make sure articles are up to date with current versions and revisions. It's a good idea to include the date on support pages so customers know whether the information they are reading is applicable. In the end, providing customer self-service and web support options is about making your customers lives easier. Provide information in a way that is easy to find and consume, and as always remember that self-service should be an option that is provided in combination with other omnichannel support alternatives.

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