Scale support with Self-Service.
Your self-service channels are an important first line of defense in customer support. When a customer needs help recovering an online account or an update on their order status, they often turn to your help center, customer portal, or community before reaching out directly.When it comes to setting up and maintaining self-service channels, here’s what every service leader needs to know.
What is self-service?
Self-service definition: a fast and easy way for customers to find answers to simple questions about products, services, and policies. Key self-service channels include your help center, customer portal, and customer community.Self-service channels are a win-win for customers and companies. Customers like them because they provide convenience, flexibility, and always-on support. In fact, 65% of customers use self-service channels for simple matters.
The three key self-service channels
Each self-service channel serves a different – and important – purpose:
-Your help center, also known as a knowledge base, is often the first step on the customer’s journey. Customers visit your help center to find answers to common questions. Examples include how to manage a subscription or review your privacy policies.
- Your customer portal is a branded website where customers can access information and complete actions. If you’re a bank, customers may go to your customer portal to order a new debit card. Or if you’re a retailer, your customers may log in to your portal to see their order history and loyalty status. The goal is to give customers a seamless, timely, and personalized brand experience.
- Your customer community is a digital gathering space for peer-to-peer support. Customers come together to share ideas, answer questions, and solve problems. Customers feel like brand insiders and subject matter experts, which drives loyalty.
Knowledge articles, how-to, and frequently asked questions (FAQs) are common self-service content. If a process involves many steps, you may also create diagrams or videos for more context.
Your self-service channels are either unauthenticated, authenticated, or a combination. Unauthenticated self-service channels share public-facing content. This content can help anyone who uses your product or service. There is no need for a user to create an account. With authenticated portals, a user logs in to receive more personalized information. An example would be a retail account. A customer logs in to update their shipping address or check their loyalty status.
