6 Min
The answer is simple through customer self-service portals. Customer self-service portals are a great way to reach your customers before they reach you. With self-service portals, you can achieve customer satisfaction even during hectic customer service query times.
Table of contents
How do self-service portals work?
Before we get on to how self-service portals work, let us look at what they are. What are self-service portals, and how do they help with customer service?
- Self-service portals are any means that help customers find solutions to common problems on a website or mobile application.
- Self-service portals assist customers through contactless service.
- Through self-service brands can assist customers without human support or intervention of executives at every stage
- Self-service portals with omnichannel presence help customers reach out for help at their choice of platform.
Accelerate your Self-Service With AI and Knowledge Management
How to deploy a self-service portal?
The simplest way to deploy a self-service portal is through a knowledge management platform. Following are the steps :
1. Group common queries
Before building a self-service portal, one has to look at the patterns re[peating between customers. What are the repetitive questions? What do most customers want to know? What are the most frequently asked questions? All these have to be noted and built upon to answer your customer’s common queries.
2. Adopt the proper knowledge management
To have answers to FAQs is not enough when you cannot properly get these organized to disseminate information. Knowledge management software helps you create a central repository of all the new data gathered and developed on one platform.
3. Choose the channels
After you gather data, choose the channel you want this information you created to be available to customers. The medium could be an app, web portal, NLP-based chatbots, and more. A robust knowledge management software like Knowmax would help you disseminate information to multi-channels from one single platform.
4. Ensure consistency
Your customer self-service portals must all reflect the same information. Otherwise, any customer would be left confused on whether the information is correct or not. Deliver the exact knowledge of the product or service across all platforms.
Benefits of a self-service portal through knowledge management
The benefits of self-service are many, and when paired with the right knowledge management software, the benefits become countless.
Here are the key benefits of it
1. Customer-centric
- Your customers feel focused upon or valued if you cater to their needs before they get to you.
- Self-service portals could be for anything, from product information to common troubleshoot queries.
- These portals disseminate answers through Knowledge Management on questions customers might have by just visiting your digital touch-points.
2. 24-hour assistance
- With a self-service portal powered by AI-backed KM, there is no need to wait for someone to answer your call.
- Interactive decision trees and visual guides disseminated through a KM engage customers any time of the day.
- Through a 24-hour self-service portal, the convenience of seeking answers is what your customers will be empowered with.
3. Call deflection
- At the contact center front, a self-service through KM portal majorly helps through call deflection.
- If a customer finds what they are looking for through the FAQs section on a web portal, they wouldn’t call to ask for help.
- This is a win-win for customers who receive answers and call center executives whose call load decreases.
4. Omnichannel presence
- A robust KM has an omnichannel presence with self-service portals.
- Use self-service portals as an extension of your assisted channels.
- This way, your customers will be cared for no matter what channel they prefer to use.
5. Higher customer satisfaction
- As discussed in the starting, customers need immediate answers.
- A self-service portal does exactly that!
- Through self-service portals, manage and answer common queries for first contact resolution to increase C-SAT scores.
Want to know how Knowmax deployed an integrated and AI-backed self-service portal at a multinational telecommunications company
Here is an overview of the case study
Conclusion
Self-service is the need of the hour. No matter the size of your organization, self-service provides customers the option of contactless service with the promise of first contact resolution. The above case study could be you, with your knowledge handled by a trusted and know-it-all knowledge management software. So, what are you waiting for?
