![]() Self explanatory user resources cut out the support desk lead time in establishing first contact.Ĭustomers get the benefit of a well crafted solution to their problem or answer to a relatively simple question.Īnd a less pressured support team (no longer swamped with repetitive low value communications) now has the luxury of time availability to dedicate a patiently tailored 1-to-1 support for difficult cases (not covered by DIY resources). ![]() The combination of these two efficiency drivers quickly rack up profitability, through a kind of just in time leanness. Save support desk intervention for issues that can’t be ‘fixed’ with self-help.The true advantage of self-service portals is to: To present self-service portals as an alternative to manned customer support is to miss the point. So, if we are to be convinced by the cases presented by these studies, it is clear to see that self-service portals can be profitable by: raising the order value, keeping customers for longer, increasing price premium and lowering costs. ![]() Various commercial studies including those quoted by Genesys, American Express and CallMiner identify the following advantages gained by businesses offering a self-service portal: ![]() Advantages of providing a self-service portal to your users If it’s an employee portal, the content might be training related, or perhaps general housekeeping, like facts about entitlement to paid leave. If users are customers, a self-service portal would typically help them with onboarding and general housekeeping procedures, common 1st-time user FAQs or troubleshooting scenarios. Quick resolutions to many common user problems are within only a few clicks away. Here’s a quick table of contents to highlight what you’ll learn What is a self-service portal?Ī self-service portal is an entire website (or part of a site) that replaces certain support assistance that users otherwise would have received from staff of the service provider. In this article, we’ll take you through our recommended route for making your own self-service portal using the world’s most popular web builder, WordPress. So, it’s clear self-service portals are both popular with today’s customers and profitable to your business.īut how should you go about building a self-service portal? And what is the best platform for achieving this? (Plus, a more nimble, agile and resourceful support team effort for tackling tougher customer issues.) Greater responsiveness to dealing with user issues – thus driving customer satisfaction. This provision leaves only the final 20% burden of customer support to staff. These are either stand-alone websites, sub-domains or on-site resource centers that do 80% of the repetitive service-based problem solving. Self-service customer portals are fast becoming the norm for 1st line support for consumers and business users. In short, we’ve gotten accustomed to solving our problems with the help of digital systems.Īnd in a retail or business services context, the business world is learning to take advantage of this to the benefit of the bottom line. Research confirms that on average we spend as much as 6 hours each day trawling the internet using apps like Google and Facebook. In fact, international keynote speaker and agency founder, Steven Van Belleghem, claims as much as “ 56% of customers now prefer to use a self-service application (app) above having personal contact”. …often without direct contact with support staff, thanks to digital libraries, search algorithms, automated programs and apps.Īnd if studies are to be trusted, customers are happy finding their way around if you make it hospitable for them. Today’s customer whether B2B or B2C is used to getting things done by themselves in the digital world. In the opinion of some, this take on things, might further de-personalize an already ‘distant’ online retail experience.īut some might argue that the service delivery landscape is entirely different today than say in the 1960s when Sam Walton cut his teeth in the retail trade. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” Sam Walton ( Source)Īnd now in this internet era of business, Sam Walton’s “…somewhere else” just multiplied.īusinesses now with the current array of tech tools available are advancing in smarts for keeping satisfaction optimal by engineering highly targeted, ready-made support resources. In days gone by where customer service was very much still a contact sport, founders like Sam Walton (Founder, Wal-Mart) held a healthy fear of doing right by the customer: Perhaps more so now than ever in this age of computerized automation and low touch retail environments – expectations laid upon the personal touch are the highest they’ve ever been. ![]()
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