Leveraging self-service platforms to improve the customer experience
As customers seek a more emotional connection with businesses, trust is becoming an increasingly important part of ensuring long-term growth. In fact, 89% of UK residents claim that trust in a brand is a factor when making purchasing decisions.
Providing a quality customer experience is the most effective way to build trust—but this is easier said than done. Increased customer expectations for baseline service norms mean your business has to be available at any time to drive an emotional connection.
In this highly competitive and multifaceted environment, technology is fundamental to ensure value differentiation against the competition. So how can companies do this effectively?
Empower your customers with self-service platforms
There’s no disputing that today’s customers want control. According to Zendesk, 81% of customers try to answer their own queries before reaching out to support channels. By implementing data-powered, self-service platforms, you can improve your brand’s customer experience and build a community, while also freeing up your support staff for more difficult queries.
The best self-service platforms for your business
Effectively driving customer trust in your organisation requires the right tools. Here are the three most effective self-service platforms to drive customer trust in your organisation.
Help centres
Help centres are a one-stop point of contact that provide customers with the information they need. These smart knowledge bases go far beyond the traditional FAQ page, gathering insightful data on customer activity to continuously improve the service. Zendesk reports have shown that up to 90% of customers would make use of this service to answer their queries.
Online communities
The psychological benefits of forming part of a community have had a key role in human evolution, and this personal interaction is essential in creating and maintaining trust.
This is equally true for your business. Besides being another source of customer information, online communities are a space for customers to interact and engage with your brand. As customers are more engaged, they provide your company with invaluable feedback and insights which can be leveraged to improve your service.
Customer service portals
Customer service portals provide your customers with a more engaging, personalised space. Here, customers can create their own profiles and manage their activity, including all previous interactions, requests and tickets. Not only does this empower your customers to take control, but it reduces the number of simple, time-consuming queries your team has to deal with.
Leveraging technology to optimise your self-service platforms
The benefits of leveraging CRM software to provide self-service platforms speak for themselves. But achieving a level of service that actually produces results and drives loyalty requires planning, training, and the right tools.
Integration
Self-service platforms cannot perform in isolation and must be integrated seamlessly into your current BAU processes to be effective. This will allow for smooth information-exchange across channels that drives the overall customer experience.
For example, Zendesk’s self-service help centre helps agents effortlessly use customers’ previous queries to personalise their next interaction. This keeps customers emotionally invested in your brand, enhancing their experience as a result.
AI-powered tools
AI-powered technology has opened up new opportunities to empower your customers, and your employees. Tools such as Zendesk’s Answer Bot provide clients with relevant information to settle their queries, freeing agents up to take on more complex matters. What’s more, as it is a self-learning system, it will become more powerful the more its used.
Customisation
A highly personalised service increases the chances of customers engaging with you on an emotional level. The data you gain from self-service platforms can give you invaluable insights that can be applied elsewhere to offer relevant, valuable up- or cross-selling services at an opportune moment.
Internally, all self-service solutions can be adapted to the specific needs of each business. No two companies are the same, and building tailored, individualised solutions helps ensure you have a multifaceted and wholly integrated tool that performs as expected.
A negative experience can lead to over 70% of customers losing trust in a company, so every organisation needs to focus on leveraging effective technological resources to stay ahead of the competition. As CRM implementation specialists, redk can help your company implement effective, best-in-class tools that foster customer trust and drive lasting growth.
redk and Zendesk work in perfect tandem. After assessing your company’s needs, redk walks with your company every step of the way to provide tailored advice on Zendesk that ensures successful implementation into the long term. With our ongoing support, we help establish cutting-edge best practices to effectively train your staff and streamline internal procedures. This dedication has recently been recognised by Interempresas Media at the 11th Comunicaciones Hoy Awards Ceremony, where redk and Zendesk won an award for the best customer experience solution.
