What is Self-Service?
Customers enjoy having the control to perform tasks on their own. The fact is that self-service encourages and empowers customer initiative. According to Salesforce, “Customer self-service usually combines knowledge bases with the automated handling of basic administrative tasks.” Nowadays, swiftly responding to customers has become imperative for successful interaction and more importantly, a positive brand reputation. Customers want their experience to be smooth and flawless. Rather than going through the trouble of waiting for a business version of a fairy godparent, customers prefer to take matters into their own hands for solving their problems.
Why is it Important?
Self-service is meant to make customers’ lives easier. Like it or not, the world is evolving into a time of artificial intelligence. To put it simply, robots and technology are taking over the world. Customers don’t need physical agents for assistance. The beauty about self-service is that it offers rapid and on-the-go solutions. In general, customers discover and find forums and platforms to find the required knowledge and solutions for their queries. There are several benefits to self-service platforms, including the fact they are cost-effective. Customers do not need to depend on service reps for answers. According to FreshDesk, other benefits include “increased availability, improved customer experience, increased efficiency of time.” Basically, all the answers to customer queries are located in this magical place called the Internet.
3 Prime Examples of Self-Service Portals
FAQ Pages
At the end of the day, businesses don’t have all the information on the main page of their website, especially about potential negative situations. This is where Frequently Asked Questions, or FAQs, come in handy. FAQs are the starting point to solving a customer’s query. Let’s take the example of PxidaX. For both employee and customer experience, most of the FAQs are technical glitches, such as not being able to create a What Matters Most survey. FAQ pages build trust between the customer and business. By creating a complete and comprehensive FAQ page, customers will be able to trust and stay loyal to your brand.
Community Forums
If not FAQ pages, then community forums are the surefire way of getting queries resolved. Community forums provide answers as well as reviews for your products! Quora is the most popular community forum out there. However, community forums can also be created on social media, especially on Facebook. This is the best way to gain customer support. Let’s face the facts. No one wants to wait for a response to an email or be on hold for hours on end on a phone call. Community forums are the hotspots for peer-to-peer self-service where other customers can voice their questions and concerns on your products and services.
Chatbots
Chatbots help streamline and improve the customer engagement process. Most importantly, they reduce customer waiting time. The response to any question or concern is almost instantaneous. At the same time, live agents are free to focus on conversations that truly need a human touch. Take food order and delivery platform Swiggy as a specific example. Whenever an order is delayed or incorrect, customers do not feel the need to call a customer care number. They can directly access the chatbot via the help section and make their lives simpler by saving time and avoiding the painstaking task of being put on hold for long periods of time. Interacting with a chatbot is like interacting with a live operator that is available 24/7. There is no time limit for the conversation.
How Do We Get Self-Service Right?
When self-service support is done right, it leaves a customer happy and loyal. It allows them to find the necessary information quickly and save time. According to ZenDesk, “self-service increases customer satisfaction and improves both live agent efficiency and the bottom line for companies.” To avoid any conflict with customers, self-service information should be clear, concise, and organized. This shows that the business and organization are honest when it comes to facing adversity. Self-service portals should provide as much detail as possible, even if it means showing a video tutorial for the query provided by the customer.
Gauging the Customer Experience with PxidaCX
Retaining customers is what counts for your business to increase its profits. As cliched as it sounds, the customer is always right. Want to find out how? PxidaCX is the perfect tool for you. You can use this tool to create surveys and allow customers to send true and honest feedback for you to improve your business and its products. Sign up for a free trial today!