Knowledge centered service what you need to know

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Knowledge is power. We all know that that is why many companies seek to collect as much information as they can about their customers. That is why now we have GDPR law. But information collecting is just one side of the coin. What is as important, or maybe even more important, is how that information is used. With today’s amounts, it’s more of the question of how the company organizes it. According to Econsultancy, 52 % of companies face challenges drawing all the information into active connections.

While companies dig in massive amounts of potentially useful information, how does this affect customer support? 64% of customers avoid the brand if they had some negative experience in the past year. One year is a lot, as well as 64% percent. This is why the majority of companies are now focusing on better customer satisfaction. 

And what is the fastest way to a customer’s heart? Excellent support service. There is no better way to show how you value your clients than helping them effectively in the face of the problem. For that, you need to provide help nicely (link to the other article about empathy), effectively and fast. And to reach two formers you need an effective knowledge base.

What is a knowledge-centered service?

It’s an approach where customer service agents not only engage with customers in a timely and effective manner but also create documentation about arising problems and how to deal with them. Knowledge is the most important premise around which all the support structure is created.

Note that you can find it useful if your company has a relatively large amount of contacts.

What are the benefits?

• All the needed data in one place and rises agents efficiency
• A 30 – 50% increase in first-contact resolution 
• It is easier to see the track the root of the problem and this way improve customer satisfaction
• 20 – 40% improvement in employee satisfaction 
• Information can be updated and shared with customers faster
• Consistent customer experience is assured

only a few are mentioned because the outcomes highly depend on the state of your company’s support center.

If your brand is facing problems like: 

• it is difficult to find information about the customer; 
• training of new employees takes a few weeks; 
• the main support channel is calls 

then this solution can greatly ease the life of your agents and help them become multiskilled. But where to start?

Step 1: collect the data

Every company has an excellent customer support specialist. Equipped with years of experience and the right skills, he or she can do the magic. The problem with these specialists is just one – it would be nice to have more like them. But it is difficult. Valuable knowledge lies deep inside their head and is activated only when needed. So the first step in implementing knowledge-centered service is the creation of all problem documentation. When customers reach with some kind of problem, after the successful resolution, an article is created for future guidelines.

Now all the agents can check the problem in the database before trying to solve it from scratch. Less need for support from others, agents feel that they are more capable of dealing with every situation.

It surely takes time to document every problem. But the time used now will pay off in abundance when future agents will use it as a fast and simple guide every time they will come up with the same issue.

Step 2: arrange the data

It is much easier to use knowledge when all the data is produced similarly. When agents are used to the structure they can take away information faster while interacting with the customer.

Step 3: make the use of your data

Train your agents to always look for the solution first. This way you will be sure a consistent and pleasant service will be provided to every customer. Agent time will be saved too. 

Step 4: update the data

Nothing can fit perfectly forever. And we are not talking about your adolescent jeans. Errors happen, more information appears with time. Be sure that your database is flexible and can grow and change along with service. It can be risky to let everyone edit the information. But it is very useful if all agents can mark mistakes to make them into instantly visible alerts. 

Step 5: Share it 

If the contact center notes the most common issues why the customer is reaching for help, they can enhance self-service by sharing solution guidelines with clients. 

Everything seems nice but

This strategy is like a new world; with innovations, many problems can arise. It may look like an amazing practice from the big picture, but what about agents who have to initiate it? A lot of additional work. It is less time consuming than it may seem at first. When approached without a big fuss and done slowly every day it will not cause too much stress for agents that can be loaded with work only answering to customers. There are technological solutions that can create the article directly from the ticket. And don’t forget to motivate your employees in these several months of data collecting. 

Also using the system is a new task for support agents. They can still ask for the information that can be easily reached from the database alive. It may take a while to train your agents where to look first. 

Deeper insight

After a successful adaptation, a completely new view of company’s situation can appear. With knowledge base gaps in information or communication can be seen easier and approached by managers or agents themself. It is also more simple to sort out the most successful strategies in dealing with problems. Root cause analysis is finally working, when all the data is organized and accessible for evaluation in real-time.

All in all, knowledge-centered service can bring a much-needed order in your contact centers. It lets you easily access, update and monitor information. Guidelines can result in employee efficiency as well as satisfaction. This will bring better customer experience and it will result in more happy customers.