How to Offer an Excellent Digital Self-Service

Did you know that most of the customers who contact your call center have already visited your website to discover their query and / or try to solve it themselves? In fact, 73% of customers prefer to visit a company’s website before contacting customer service.

Digital self-service is not only convenient for users, it also influences where they choose to shop. Research found that 84% of consumers are more willing to buy from companies that offer self-service options. But only 61% of users say that organizations offer easy and intuitive self-service. This type of digital self-service can include helpful FAQs, virtual assistants powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), and a clear path for agent assistance, all available on the customer’s device of choice.

Digital self-service is a great opportunity to meet customer demands. But to take advantage of it, organizations must develop the right digital self-service strategy and implement effective solutions.

What Are The Most Common Digital Self-Service Solutions?

There are many ways to offer digital self-service, but there is no one “right” solution or combination of solutions. A company’s self-service offerings will depend on factors such as customer demographics and the nature of the problems they need or want to solve on their own.

1) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Page

FAQs may be one of the oldest and easiest to implement forms of digital self-service. But they shouldn’t be dismissed just because they might be considered “old school”, as they can be very effective in diverting customer service contacts and can also help with SEO. Contact center leaders must analyze contact types to identify good candidates for the FAQ page and then collaborate with the web team to have the information aggregated.

2) Searchable Knowledge Base

A searchable knowledge base is a good alternative or supplement to an FAQ page. This feature must recognize natural language, so users don’t have to guess magic words to get the answers they need.

Additionally, both clients and agents can use a good knowledge management system to provide a single source. This will ensure that users receive useful and valuable information regardless of the channel they use. And because 66% of customers use search engines like Google to find solutions to problems, these knowledge bases should be available on them.

3) Mobile Apps

Searchable FAQs and knowledge bases are great for providing information, but mobile apps can take digital self-service one step further by allowing customers to complete transactions on their own and resolve their query autonomously.

4) AI-Powered Virtual Agents

Today, there are many bot options available ranging from rule-based chatbots that can answer simple questions to AI-powered virtual assistants that can understand human language and intent, facilitate digital self-service interactions, and get smarter with its use. User adoption of bots is constantly increasing and companies are using bots in creative ways to improve the Customer Journey.

5) Self-Service Customer Portal

Self-service customer portals can combine all the features just discussed, plus additional features such as video tutorials and access to important documents. This, of course, requires a high level of system integration, but making it easy for users improves customer loyalty and can reduce call center volume.

What Are The Common Goals of Digital Self-Service?

Businesses offer digital self-service and users use it with specific goals in mind.

Typical user goals include:

• Informed decision-making. The data available on the FAQ pages or in the knowledge bases allows users to assimilate the information at their own pace and take the time to make decisions that they feel comfortable with. This is especially true with complex information that may not be fully understood in a conversation with an agent.

• Resolution of your problems. Once someone makes an informed decision, they can proceed to solve their own problem if digital self-service allows. For example, after reading about the airlines’ flight cancellation policies and deciding that rescheduling the flight is in their best interest, a customer could reschedule the flight himself using self-service tools.

• Carrying out simple and everyday transactions. In today’s world, most of us order a pizza, pay a bill, check an account balance, or change an address through digital self-service. Now users can manage simple tasks on their own that used to require the help of an agent.

What Are the Common Goals of Companies Offering Digital Self-Service?

• Cost savings. Cost savings is one of the main motivators for offering digital self-service. Every successful self-service transaction represents an interaction that did not need to be managed by an agent. In this sense, a study indicated that up to 40% of agent-assisted interactions could be diverted towards self-service.

• Support 24 hours. Today’s consumers expect businesses to be available to them 24/7/365, but it often doesn’t make financial sense to maintain a 24-hour contact center. Digital self-service is a great way for organizations to stay connected with customers all the time.

• Response to customer demands. Imagining doing business with a bank that does not offer online services that allow users to set up automatic bill payments, transfer funds to other accounts, or view account history is almost impossible today. Users expect digital self-service in a digitized world, and companies that don’t offer it may find themselves behind their competitors.