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FAST-GROWING COMPANIES
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO
SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT FOR
2013 desk.com. All rights reserved.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE AGE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
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I. INTRODUCTION
7/29/2019 Salesforce-Desk_Self-Service Support for Fast-Growing Companies
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I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
I. INTRODUCTIONTHE RISE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
Self-service support is on the rise customers want it and support teamsneed it. If you are a fast-growing company, can you afford to not takeself-service support seriously?
Its ocial...consumer expectations of customer support has reached new heights that nobody believed possible.
Whats worse, is that fast-growing companies are feeling the brunt of this force as their rapdily-growing customerbase has forced management teams to make massive adjustments in a short amount of time. But should that stop
them from providing absolutely stellar customer service? Absolutely not.
One form of customer service on the rise is self-service support - a cost ecient and eective way to provideaccurate product information to customers. In fact according to Forrester, 72% of customers prefer self-service toresolve their support issues over picking up the phone or sending an email.1In this Ultimate Guide, we will be
touching on the foundation of self-service support primarily, what this level of support means to fast-growing
companies as well as their customers and organization.
We hope you walk away with the following insights:
A rm understanding of the various types of self-service support and their benets
The agent productivity advantages and monetary value of investing in self-service support tools
Steps on getting started with knowledge base content and how to keep it fresh and relevant Examples of awesomely designed support centers and what makes them eective
How to measure the success of a support center and ROI of self-service support
You will be exercising both sides of the brain as you learn about the nitty gritty numbers of the ROI of self-service
and the creative aspect of designing a great experience for your customer. Complete with visuals, case studies as
well as concrete facts and gures, we hope you enjoy this guide and walk away with a better knowledge for your
self-service support eorts!
1 Forrester Research, Do Your Customers Want to Telephone Your Service? 2010.
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I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
Self-Service
Self-service is the act of a customer resolving hisor her question using product information provided
by the company.
Self-Service Support
Self-service support is an organizations eorts to
supply their customer base with accurate product
information in hopes that they can resolve their ownquestions. Self-service support tools may range
from a support center, FAQ, instructional guides or
step-by-step videos.
Support Center
An online support center (also known as a
customer portal or help center) is a self-service
portal for customers to seek a knowledge base ofinstructional articles, FAQs, how-to videos and
more. They typically contain product or service
information that allow customers to actively resolve
their own questions.
Knowledge Base
A knowledge base is an entity within a supportcenter. The content of a knowledge base is
unchanging information presented in a logical order
and is written in an manner determined by the
company, rather than the user community.
FAQ
FAQ or Frequently Asked Questions are predominately
found in a support center. An FAQ is a perfect format forcustomers that typically have the same problems.
Community or Forum
The basic structure of a community or forum is a setof discussions written and promoted by the users or
consumers. They encourage product usage as well as
provide users with the opportunity to collaborate withone another.
Tickets or Cases
A ticket or case is an incoming inquiry from a customer.
Agents
Agents are a businessess team members that receive
and resolve tickets or customer inquiries. They are anessential component of a customer support strategy as
they are the individuals that serve the customer day in
and day out.
I. INTRODUCTIONSELF-SERVICE GLOSSARY
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A support center is an online resource for all product information and is the beating heart of self-service support.
With a well-constructed support center, customers can accurately resolve their problems at all hours of the day.However, a support center is only as good as the tools that populate it. Unfortunately, not every size ts all so it is up
to the company to make the necessary strides to nd which tools are the most eective for them.
Some adequate self-service support tools include:
Video
There is no better way todescribe a step-by-step
process than through a
video.
FAQ Frequently AskedQuestions
Create an FAQ to avoid
repetitive questions from
customers.
Community
Provide customers the
opportunity to connect
and interact with fellowusers to encourage the
usage of best practices.
Knowledge Base
A knowledge base
holds all of the product
information within a
support center.
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
I. INTRODUCTIONWHAT IS A SUPPORT CENTER?
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II. SERVING IN THE AGE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
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In todays world of speed, immediate solutions and interconnectivity, customers expect resolutions to their
problems in the snap of a nger. SNAP! Unfortunately, these expectations have forced fast-growing companies toquickly resolve customers problems or risk losing their business. Expectations including:
69% of customers said they were on hold too long when seeking help from a company
41% of consumers expect an email response within 6 hours
30% of consumers that tweet a customer service question expect a response within 30 minutes
71% of online chat customers expect assistance within 5 minutes
One can only imagine the stress of meeting these expectations with limited personnel and a rapidly-growing
customer base. That is why fast-growing companies are investing in support centers as they realize the cost benet.According to a study from Gartner, the self-service industry has grown from $600 million in 2011 to $1 billion in
2012.2Self-service support oer benets to customers and companies alike. Companies benet by providing
cost-eective alternatives while customers can solve problems on their own time.
Fast-growing companies that invest in self-service
support, such as an online support center, have noticed
numerous benets including:
A decrease in ticket volume
An increase in customer satisfaction Better use of their product or service
More collaboration between users
An increase in agent productivity
[Self-service support] is a critical necessity
for agents who rely on standardized answers
to eciently answer customer inquiries. Itis also important to customers, as 60% of
consumers use web self-service knowledgeto nd answers to their questions. Expect
companies to adopt best practices inknowledge management.
- Kate Leggett,
Principal Analyst, Forrester
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
II. SERVING IN THE AGE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORTTHE RISE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
2 Gartner, Serving the Self-Service Customer, 2013.
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Investing in self-service support is a huge undertaking for any organization - especially fast-growing companies -that often do not have the time or resources to take on such a huge venture. It requires time, patience and
manpower. However there is clear evidence that the benets outweigh the time and energy spent. Support team
managers or executives uncertain about investing in a self-service support should consider asking the
following questions:
Does our organization have the exibility and time to constantly respond to our growing customer base?
Does it simply seem like there is not enough time in the day to keep up with our ticket volume?
Are customers wishing for self-service support from us?
Do we have international customers that are not getting questions resolved due to time dierences?
If these questions are dicult to answer or if there is a considerable amount of pressure from customers, it might be
time to invest in self-service support, such as a support center. A solid support center gives customers the answersthey need 24/7, cuts down on cases and can also be extremely cost-eective.
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
II. SERVING IN THE AGE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORTUNCERTAIN ABOUT SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT? SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK
At Desk.com, we use our
self-service support tools to easily
create knowledge base articles
and manage our support center.
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A well-built support center that is maintained by a company and is highly utilized by customers, has the potential
to be a huge cost-saver for support teams. The table below is a study from Forrester that represents approximatecosts of specic customer service channels per customer contact. A self-service contact from a customer is easily
the most cost-ecient. To put this into a better perspective, the cost of 25 web self-service contacts equals about
one email contact from an agent.
Self-service support is not only evolving as a cost-eective customer service channel, it has also developed into a
huge demand from consumers. A 2012 study of more than 13,000 consumers by the Customer Contact Council
found that 57% of customers preferred to use self-service over the Web - compared to phone-based
interactions with agents at 42.3%.3 The implementation of a support center is no longer a want, its a necessity.
Customer Service Channel Approx. Cost Per Contact
Call center technical support $12 and higher
Call center CSR $6 and higher
Web chat or callback $5 and higher
Email response $2.50 to $5 and higherWeb self-service $0.10 or less
Source: Forrester Research
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
II. SERVING IN THE AGE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORTUNCERTAIN ABOUT SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT? SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK
3 1to1 Media, Serving the Self-Service Customer, 2013.
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With a rapidly-growing customer base, not only do agents need to be productive, they need to be fast and agile as
well. Customers place a heavy emphasis on resolution times especially when determining where to invest theirmoney. In fact, 82% of consumers in the U.S. said they stopped doing business with a company due to a poor
customer service experience - of these, 55% said a companys failure to resolve their problems in a timely
manner drove them away4. Unfortunately for fast-growing companies, the r ise of customers means the rise of ticket
volumes - a huge problem when executives are performing a balancing act between building a business and
answering customer questions as quickly as possible.
Nothing throws a stick in the spokes of an agents speed better than having to deal with a series of repetitive
customer inquires - password resets, warranty registrations and plenty more. Fortunately, there is a solution to this
problem: self-service support.
Of the numerous benets self-service
support provides, increased agent
eciency is a huge value. Self-servicesupport keeps repetitive customer questions
from ever reaching email or the phone lines
- allowing agents to be more productive.
Though a good self-service experiencerequires time and money investments in
stellar knowledge base content as well as a
strong support center layout, ticket volumescan be dramatically reduced allowing agentsto focus on their speed and more pressing
issues.
One important example of increased agent eciency comes from Desk.coms customer: TicketLeap. BeforeTicketleap added their support center, agents spent 80% of their day on the phone helping one customer at a time.
After investing in self-service support, TicketLeaps team began seeing massive improvements in productivity. Today
agents spend 20% of their time on the phone with complicated cases and 80% on email leveraging articles from theknowledge base.
Primary Benets from Implementing Self-Service Technologies
Increased eciencies 33.3%
Reduced costs 17.7%
Greater customer satisfaction 15.6%
Reduced number of support requests 15.6%
Customer demand 6.2%
Improved protability 3.1%
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
II. SERVING IN THE AGE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORTREDUCE TICKET VOLUME, INCREASE AGENT EFFICIENCY
Source: Supportindustry.com survey, 2009
4 RightNowTechnologies, The Customer Experience Impact 2010 Report, 2010
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III. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENT
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Keep it Simple and Press On
Building support center content is a daunting and rather arduous task - most notably, writing articles for your
knowledge base. The hardest part is getting started. What are customers looking for? Am I making sense? Thequestions are endless. The key to getting started is to keep content simple - keep articles painless and easy to
understand than go from there. Senior Customer WOW Manager of Desk.com, Graham Murphy states:
Make sure youre agging cases that have a need for self-help content. Keep a list and keep writing up those
articles. Iterative improvement is the key. Its not easy to write effective, successful documentation. Its important to
remember, though, that it saves time in the long run. Just keep at it, even one a day if thats all you can do. Just
start.
The best tip is to star t with a small set of very broad topics or categories and work down from there. Over-structuring
with too many categories that are too specic can lead to confusion for your authors as well as your readers. Over
time, opportunities for more forum headings or categories will become clear that will in turn, grow your knowledgebase organically.
Identifying New Content
Once the basic knowledge base articles are created, count on
more to follow in time. A great practice is to empower agents
to recommend new knowledge base articles from repetitivesupport cases. When similar case inquiries pile up, agents can
ag the tickets as a candidate for creating a support center
article. Once this practice has been implemented, there will be a
signicant drop in repetitive questions.
At Desk.com, we empower agents to ag knowledgebase content candidates using our labels feature. When
a Customer WOW agent experiences multiple customer
inquiries with the same question, they label them as
Support Center Candidates where the ticket is then
evaluated as a possible new piece of content.
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
III. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENTITS A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT
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Breaking down the different types of customers and addressing their
needs individually is really important. Also, a solid foundation of good
documentation reinforced with plenty of product visuals helps customers
learn more effectively. Documentation is an essential tool for the entire
company when addressing features of the product, whether or not that is
in a support setting.
Talton Figgins, Support at Disqus
We had tried creating text how tos in the past and we found that our
customers, with their busy work days, that they didnt want to take the
time to read and try the steps on their own. With video, weve seen a lot
more interest from customers knowing that they can see exactly how to
do what they want to do, but keeping in mind that were still here to help
them out in case the video doesnt match their situation exactly.
Corey Maertz, Support at DealerFire
I started when Rdio was in beta so I had the unique ability to create
knowledge base articles as support cases came in. I think it can be really
overwhelming when youre starting to write ar ticles not knowing what youre
going to put in there. You need to slowly track that stuff and pay attention
to it and put it in your knowledge base daily rather than feeling like you have
to have everything right at the get go. It will help you and it will help your
knowledge base have everything that people are actually asking about.
Madelyn Taylor, Head of Support at Rdio
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
III. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENTHOW ARE THE PROFESSIONALS DOING IT?
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The rst step of researching and preparing knowledge base content is to categorize customers habits, common
problems and preferences, using the words and phrases they would use when searching for help.
Content is King
Completing any task in a fast-growing company requires eciency and organization. Building knowledge base
content is no dierent - the key is to lay out content in a simple and visual way such as a diagram. Putting
together a diagram of knowledge base content is an absolute must for organization. Below is a simple, yet eectivediagram for building knowledge base content.
Keep the customer experience in mind through a series of broad topics (marked in purple). These can be
specic products that may require multiple articles, getting started resources, FAQs and much more. Once this has
been accomplished, designing the website will be a piece of cake. Remember, the design and layout of a supportcenter should be built around the content - a support center should not be designed and then lled in with content (it
wont make any sense to the customer).
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
III. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENTPUTTING TOGETHER KNOWLEDGE BASE CONTENT
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Getting started with content is 50% of a self-service support strategy. The other 50% is maintaining the knowledgebase content so that it is fresh and constantly relevant to the customers needs. If one loosens the reins and forgets
to update content, customer satisfaction will immediately go down and it is much more dicult to catch up than to
constantly maintain. Below are a couple of methods to always having fresh and relevant knowledge base articles.
Add an Expiration Date
One the easiest and most eective tips is to put an expiration date on knowledge base content. Product features
change as well as interfaces - its easy to forget to go back and refresh ar ticles. However, once a date is on the
calendar, teams are most likely to uphold a content refresh initiative.
Include a Rating System
Another very simple and important way to maintain fresh content is to implement a rating system into knowledgebase articles - meaning readers can rate their satisfaction with the content. A rating system is a key and almost
mandatory feature to have in knowledge base content.
Customer service evangelist Greg Meyer suggests: Identify the top 10 highest rated and lowest rated knowledgebase articles that your customers use, and rewrite them on a content calendar.By refreshing your highest rated
articles, you are keeping popular posts fresh.
Using Desk.com, readers are able torate knowledge base articles. Our
Customer WOW team constantly
monitors these ratings to gauge the
health of articles and determine if itneeds a refreshment.
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
III. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENTMAINTAINING FRESH, RELEVANT CONTENT
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1. Curate your content thoughtfully and organize it
clearly
2. Provide a feedback mechanism, (and listen to the
feedback)
3. Review content frequently to make sure information
is up to date and useful to customers
4. Moderate forum discussions; it is important that the
brand has a strong presence
5. On your website, guide the customer to self-help
options. Provide a single entry point for help options,
dont confuse them with too many choices
6. Always keep Search front and center, easy to and
easy to use
7. Oer one nal try to match the request with suggested
answers before an email submission
8. Recognize the user; dont bother them by collecting
extraneous information as if they were strangers
9. Use links within the product or application that point
to self-help choices, and keep that information current
10. Provide mobile self-help options
11. Provide an easy and clear escalation path. Dont
make it dicult to contact you directly
Getting started with content and your support center layout is an enormous undertaking. However, with a solid planand a little elbow grease, the benets are endless. Here is a list of eleven best practices from professionals that have
years of experience in the eld of customer service and self-service technologies.
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
III. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENTTOP 11 BEST PRACTICE TIPS FROM THE PROS
Best practice tips from Graham Murphy, Dan Stern, Madelyn Taylor and Talton Figgins
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IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICES
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This support center layout is very common.Some of the key highlights include:
Search bar is front and center and easy to locate
Articles organized into topics makes navigation
very easy for the user
Contact information is a click away in case theuser can not resolve their issue
A support center built with an emphasis on simplicityand clarity is always eective. Here are some
highlights:
Iconography is a great way to break up the clutter
of help topics and is visually appealing
Contact information is clearly dened
Search bar is the key asset of this page
Self-service support is a key tenet of a great customer experience - sharing information with the customer motivates
them to help each other and increases product usage in return. However, simply having a support center availabledoes not guarantee customers will nd it useful. Unfortunately, customers have a low tolerance for information they
can not locate so the design and layout of a support center are critical factors.
Check out some common layouts of support centers to help get the creative juices owing:
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICESGETTING STARTED WITH DESIGN
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Fitbit has multiple products in their product line.
Unfortunately, with each product comes unique
problems. By using iconography to lay out each
product, users are easily able to locate the product
they have and solve their problem from there.
A Most Viewed column is a great way to bubble
up common questions for the user to see. This
is also a great way to reduce annoying, repetitive
tickets agents might commonly see in their inbox.
Fitbits search bar is easy to nd and includes
topic suggestions that makes an easier search
experience. Search bar is their main priority and it
pays o for the customers experience.
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICESAWESOME SUPPORT CENTERS
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The Space Heroes support center is fun anddesigned around their brand. The customer feels
they are in their element and overall comfortable
with the support center.
If a customer can not nd the article he/she is
looking for, Space Heroess contact information is
only a click away. Make sure an escalation path iseasily laid out for the customer.
Browse by Topic is a simple and eective way
layout for customers to easily navigate. With just
a few clicks, customers can locate and
read the article they are looking for.
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICESAWESOME SUPPORT CENTERS
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Search bar is front and center along with an FAQ
section. This is a great layout as simple questions
can be taken care of right away in this division of
the support center.
SquareSpace takes the customer experience very
seriously as they lay out three important topicsright o the bat. The customer is able to
immediately get started or escalate an issue.
SquareSpace allows users to create their own
website. Videos are easily at their disposal to
learn the product with ease.
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICESAWESOME SUPPORT CENTERS
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Presenting customers with self-service options and sharing product knowledge can vary in numerous ways and is
determined largely by your strategy. The trick is to determine which option is the most eective for your customers.Communities have grown to be a major success for a number of companies.
Are Communities Right for All Fast-Growing Companies?
Communities are generally very positive for almost every company. They encourage product usage as well as
provide users the opportunity to collaborate with one another. However, businesses should consider where to focus
their self-service eorts - for some organizations, it might not be in a community.
If a product can be congured in many
ways - meaning there might be more than
one way to be successful with it -customers may appreciate networking
with other users to gure out best
practices or compare methods. Readingabout the dierent strategies and
experiences can inspire customers and
increase product usage. Or, they may
discover more ecient ways of achievingan outcome.
If a product or service is straight
forward and there are lit tle methods forusing it, a community might not be a
priority. In which case, a solid knowledge
base will probably be the best route togo. Desk.coms customer, Fitbit, oers a number of solutions and services
that can be congured in many ways. To encourage product usage and
inspire customers, they embedded a community into their support center.
All questions, discussions, ideas and problems are recorded and routed
straight to Fitbits support team.
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICESFEATURES TO CONSIDER: COMMUNITY
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Not only do customers want their issues resolved in the shortest amount of time, they also want them resolved on
the go. Consumers are increasingly seeking self-serve customer service content such as knowledge base articlesand forums using their mobile devices. In fact, 50% of smartphone users would prefer to use a mobile customer
service app to try to resolve their issue before calling a contact center.8
Mobile self-service support oers fast-growing companies a revolutionary opportunity to provide self-service
experiences of higher quality in the wake of a less lenient and more demanding customer base. Through this form ofsupport, companies will reduce inbound ticket volumes, unify support channels and reduce waiting times - all while
serving one of the largest growing audiences: mobile customers.
Is Mobile Conguration Right for All Self-Service Support Strategies?
There is little doubt that consumers are going mobile. While statistics vary, thepopular consensus is that within a few short years the usage of smartphones
will exceed PCs. With steam quickly picking up in the direction of mobile andself-service, businesses in nearly all industries should consider in this
investment to preserve the customer experience.
The mobile self-service support benets include:
Customers can solve their problems on the go
Decreased ticket volume
A unied self-service opportunity across multiple channels
Reaching a mobile demographic
50% of smartphone users would prefer to
use a mobile customer service app to try to
resolve their customer service issue beforecalling a contact center.- Echo Research
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICESFEATURES TO CONSIDER: MOBILE SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
8 SpeechCycle and Echo, SpeechCycle and Echo Research Study, 2011.
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V. MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
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Power users can do some amazing thing with Desk.com, especiallywhen it comes to implementing custom code to expand the core
functionality of our product. Despite having a team of support rockstars
on staff, theres always a point where a request is simply beyond the
scope of what we can handle. Providing a community Q&A environment
creates the opportunity for customers to help each other in such
situations, while simultaneously making our support center more robust
than ever.
Graham Murphy, Senior Customer WOW Manager at Desk.com
We want to offer customers a way to nd answers to their questions
easily and efciently. The objective of the Desk.com implimentation is to
have a clean and easily navigatable Support site so people can quickly nd
answers to your questions. If Im a customer, Id prefer to nd the answer
to my question myself rather than calling or writing an email to a support
rep.
Jay Kershner, Senior Director Customer Service at Fitbit
When you track Google Analytics, over time youll get amazing data.
Madelyn Taylor, Head of Support at Rdio
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
V. MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
HOW THE PROFESSIONALS ARE DOING IT?
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VI. CONCLUSION
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According to Forrester Research, we are now in the Age of the Customer. Self-service support is no longer
considered an advantage but a pinnacle factor in the success of a company. Today, customers are connected tomore options than ever before. Being the customers rst and remaining choice is a critical competitive advantage -
and competition is ercer than ever. To win, fast-growing companies must be laser-focused on understanding their
customer base and engaging them better than anyone else.
Enabling self-service support is not an easy deployment. It requires time, money and structural
changes that many fast-growing companies can not sacrice. Meanwhile, many companies that have made the
change are reaping the benets of better customer satisfaction, reduced ticket volumes and increased revenue.Furthermore, they have in turn become more agile, performance-oriented and customer-focused.
Unfortunately, online support centers are only as eective as they are designed and utilized by customers. Thelayout and design of a support center is crucial as customers are increasingly losing their patience and falling o at
the slightest obstacles. Content is equally important as stale or confusing content can lead to customer frustrations
and ultimately, loss in business. Companies must stress the importance of design and content to get the full benets
of self-service support.
As customer expectations continue to rise, self-service is no longer a nice-to-have or a maybe for companies on
the rise. Rather, self-service support plays an increasingly crucial role in the retention of customers and
encouragement of further growth. By measuring the ROI and the success of their self-service strategy, fast-growingcompanies will easily notice the success of their customers.
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
VI. CONCLUSIONSELF-SERVICE SUPPORT: THE ESSENTIAL FOR FAST-GROWING COMPANIES
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APPENDIX
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Keeping Customer Support DIY
Last year TicketLeap did $52 million gross ticket sales, which means they powered a lot of events. One way theyvehelped users stay DIY is with the TicketLeap support center, powered by Desk.com. The support center is updatedon a regular basis and kept current with useful articles.
Before Ticketleap added the support center with Desk.com agents spent 80% of their day on the phone helping one
customer at a time. We selected Desk.com specically for its ability to easily build a knowledge base, says formerTicketLeap CTO Keith Fitzgerald. Today agents spend 20% of their time on the phone with complicated cases and
80% on email leveraging articles from the knowledge base.
Tips for Creating a Top-Notch Support Center
So how did TicketLeap turn the support center into such a useful and powerful tool? Our knowledge base isregularly updated every two to three weeks, says Allison Berger, TicketLeap community manager.
TicketLeapss Tips for Keeping the
Knowledge Base in Shape
After each product update, check related
articles to ensure content is still relevant
If a customer asks a question and a topic
doesnt exist yet, create it Add images and use the html code
We want to make ticketing the best
possible experience for buyers and
patrons and fans to get into the event
versus being looked at as the barrier
of entry.
- Tim Raybould, President & COO of
TicketLeap
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
APPENDIXTICKET TO SUCCESS: THE TICKETLEAP SUPPORT CENTER
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The hot startup Nextdoor is a hyper-local online network that is all about neighbor-to-neighbor communication.
Nextdoors growing user base relies on the website every day. Its growing so quickly that dealing with the inux ofcustomer requests is a top priority.
Homegrown Challenges and Desk.com Solutions
Nextdoor also wanted to have a system in place that supports their neighborhoods leads usually the Founding
Members of Nextdoor neighborhoods who are strong inviters and active community leaders who typically have
unique and more complicated support requests. For example,leads set up their neighborhoods and might need
expert attention right away, while a community member can nd answers to frequently asked questions in the helpcenter. Using custom elds in Desk.com, support specialists can record whether the case is from a community
member or a lead. That way, when they reach out again, inbound interaction rules correctly route cases and can
even send them to a specic support specialist.
I try to provide support in a timely manner
and nd ways to improve the process and
the content. If I nd something that is
confusing in a help article, I can easily go in
and edit it to make it more clear.- Theresa Burns, Support Specialist at
Nextdoor
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
VI. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
APPENDIXNEXTDOOR BUILDS COMMUNITIES ONLINE AND OFF
Before implementing Desk.com,the team at Nextdoor used a
shared email account for
support emails and an internal
tool to create a very basic FAQpage. Almost immediately after
implementing Desk.com, the
support team deected a lot of
member questions and emailsdue to the searchable
knowledge base that is full
of tailored articles. Supportrequests dropped by almost
50% after the team moved help
articles to Desk.com.
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GET STARTED WITH DESK.COMSSELF-SERVICE SUPPORT FEATURES!
o Join thousands of fast-growing companiesthat chose Desk.com to help build theironline support center
o Easily add and update knowledge basecontent with just a few clicks
o Create an intricate, beautiful online supportcenter to match your brand and website
ASK FOR A FREE DEMO
http://offers.desk.com/get-a-deskcom-demo-self-service-supporthttp://offers.desk.com/get-a-deskcom-demo-self-service-support