Why customer self-service fails

Some of the most common reasons why some customer self-service fails:

  • It’s not easy for a customer to find the intended self-service resource.

  • The knowledge base or FAQ wasn’t straightforward and easy to understand. It actually ends up confusing the reader.

  • The self-service option in itself didn’t work as intended.

In the previous topics , we discussed how to write FAQs and knowledge base effectively and the overall value self-service can bring to your organization. This page will take you through how you can make your customer self-service effective and valuable for your users.

using self-service data

Making customer self-service valuable

There are several ways to improve the customer self-service experience and make it relevant to the users, such as, gamification, adapting the content based on user interest, tooltip tours, etc. The self-service experience needs to be meaningful because when and how a customer engages with a knowledge base or an FAQ is as important as the content itself.

Building a contextual self-service experience

If a customer is having trouble setting up the product, no amount of content about using your product effectively is going to be helpful. Your customer self-service content needs to be contextual. Though marketing team works on content, and product team works on the UI aspect, you want your customer to have a seamless experience. And more importantly, the user flow needs to be based on what they are looking for.

To do this, you’ll need to focus on the following areas:

Content based on context

Based on the content consumed frequently by a customer, you can start populating relevant information as suggested content. For example, if a user consumes information regarding a specific feature of your product, you can design a flow in your self-service, suggesting them more information about the feature and also list closely-related features that might interest them.

Enabling user to take specific actions

Your user might not realize the potential of your product, just because they signed up. Customize your user’s self-service content and the overall experience with appropriate CTA buttons, form descriptions, or triggered chats based on the information they are looking for. Enable them to successfully complete specific actions, explain technical issues and encourage them to engage with your self-service portal more often.

Expanding their usage

Placing the content at the right place at the right time, can encourage the user to take specific actions. For example, once a customer signs up for a free trial of your product, you onboarding content can help them see the entire value of your product, so that they end up becoming a paying customer at the end of the trial period. You can start with sending out a sequence of in-app messages such as getting started with the product, followed by information on advanced features based on the customer’s progress.

Proactive Retention

Effective customer self-service can go a long way in retaining customers for a longer period. Make use of your self-service to proactively engage your customers by offering training, best practices, and involving them in community events.

 

Next topic - Building video tutorials for customer self-service

What next?

Personalizing customer responses

Personalization refers to tailoring your service or product according to your customer’s need, and making customer interactions relevant. There are two key parts to being able to offer personalization - knowledge about the customer, customer context.

Read more

personalizing customer suppoer