If stories about companies like Amazon or Zappos are any indication, outstanding customer service doesn’t go unnoticed. It’s a lesson more and more companies are taking to heart as they make sweeping changes to their service processes, putting more of a focus on a better support experience.
But increased attention to great customer service comes at a price. It requires more human capital, and the more customers a business has, the more these live agents are caught up solving low-level problems: the type a customer could solve themselves by simply reading a FAQ or help center guide.
This is a problem customer self-service aims to solve. By implementing automated bots, along with knowledge bases and customer support forums, many companies are reaping the benefits of this hands-off approach and customer reaction is positive. So what are these benefits?
The Benefits
Less strain on live agents. One of the biggest benefits of a self-service portal is the weight it can remove from the shoulders of your company’s support agents. There are many issues in need of an agent’s guiding hand, but there are also plenty of problems a customer can solve themselves with a quick glance at a help page. ISPs, for example, don’t need a live agent to tell someone to reboot their router every time their Internet access becomes slow. A troubleshooting page can do the same job.
Lower costs. When fewer agents are tied up by problems with simple fixes, your company can hire far fewer agents as a result. If a self-service solution allows you to get by without a dozen extra customer support specialists, you’re already saving several hundred thousands of dollars a year.
Increased efficiency. A customer self-service portal can act as a filter of sorts, ensuring those who make it through to a live agent have probably taken basic troubleshooting steps already. This enables your agents to move on to more complex solutions.
Around-the-clock support. A self-service solution won’t solve every customer problem, but it can handle quite a few. And if a customer has an issue at 3AM, your self-service portal will be open to help when your customer service agents aren’t around.
Self-Service Equals Happier Customers
Customers like options. When you provide the means for customers to help themselves, and they’re able to easily solve a problem without having to wait on hold for a phone or chat support agent, they’re going to appreciate it. Customers care just as much about saving time as your business does, and most would gladly trade in the time spent waiting for help, or receiving help for a simple task, for the ability to find the answer to their issue and take care of things on their own.
At PhaseWare, automated customer service is what we do. We provide configurable B2B support solutions for companies who want to more efficiently manage their incoming support requests while also serving customers in the best way possible. Contact us today to learn how our software can make your company’s customer support better and more cost-effective than ever before.