The 5 Benefits of Implementing Customer Self Service

Your company exists because of its customers. If no one is buying your product, you don’t have a business.

21:27 03 July 2020

Nevertheless, while customers, in general, will help get your enterprise off the ground, it’s happy customers that will give you sustainable, long-term success. Happy customers stay longer, give your business stability, and ensure you have a reliable revenue stream. 

 

Yet, there’s never been a time when it was harder to keep customers happy than today. The normalization of speedy, accurate service has raised consumer expectations and placed a heavy burden on businesses. Customer self-service is proving to be the key to meeting these steep customer demands. That’s especially so during a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic when resources are stretched. This blog post on Salesforce delves into how just a couple of updates to your self-service portal can take care of the potential flood of inquiries.

 

Here’s a look at the key business benefits you can derive from self-service.

 

 

• Customers Expect Self-Service

 

 

Think about the products you use and the service providers you interact with. When you visit their websites, install their mobile apps, or call their phone lines, you are likely to encounter a self-service option. Self-service is no longer a novel, fringe concept that is only provided by the largest organizations. It’s been mainstream in some shape or form for decades now. 

 

Your customers, therefore, expect you to make available self-service options. And not just any self-service will do. It must be well-thought-out and have a logical flow that leads them to what they want when they want it. The lack of self-service is setting yourself up for customer disappointment.

 

 

• Empower Customers

 

 

There’s something inspiring and confidence-boosting around finding an answer to a problem on your own. Businesses often make the mistake of assuming customers prefer to talk to someone each time they have an issue they need addressed. In reality, the average consumer is pressed for time and just wants to move to their next task for the day. 

 

Self-service gives your customer the ability to resolve their own issue. They don’t have to call, send an email or visit your offices then wait until one of your customer service agents is available to address their problem. Self-service enhances the efficiency of your business and transfers problem-solving action to your customers.

 

 

• Eliminate Repetitive Enquiries

 

 

If you’ve run a business or customer service department before, you will have noticed that certain inquiries seem to come frequently. Questions that so many customers and prospects seem to have and those that are easy to deal with are prime candidates for self-service. By placing these in your site’s FAQ page or coding them into your chatbots, you can save both your business’ and customers’ time. 

 

A good example of this type of inquiry is a password reset. Self-service, in this case, would mean your customers don’t have to call the help desk anytime they forget their password. A password reset button, as well as a link to a quick guide, would do the job without the need for your staff’s intervention.

 

 

• Less Support Staff and More Strategic Action

 

 

Self-service allows your business to serve numerous customers without the need to have a large team of customer service agents. The more your customers can get answers through your self-service portal, the less work will be coming to your staff for manual resolution. You’ll have fewer phone calls, emails, and tickets. 

With your service agents less engaged in tackling routine inquiries, they will have more time to focus on more strategic actions, such as process reengineering and updating documentation. 

 

 

• Personalized 24/7 Support

 

 

In the past, delivering 24/7 support was a huge and costly project that many businesses understandably balked from. That’s no longer the case. Self-service is the quickest way to ensure your business provides 24/7 support. Customers have access to your self-service portal around the clock, even after your staff have closed shop and gone home. 

 

No one needs to wait for the next day to get an answer to their query. And because you already have plenty of historical data, including past transactions and queries by the customer, you can customize self-service portals and anticipate future inquiries.

 

 

Happier customers mean happier employees and a healthier bottom line. Develop the right self-service infrastructure and your business will be well on the way to edging out the competition in your quality of customer service.