Why Is It Important to Have Customer Service Knowledge Base Software?

Customer service is a defining quality of almost any business nowadays. Before, if you were the only local provider, your flaws in the support department were not so damaging, considering there was no competition. Today, people can acquire services and products online, and the market in general is more competitive, hence customer service started to play a more important role.

Quality service, and a high number of satisfied customers can not only keep a business afloat, but also set the stage for future expansion, and for greater trust in your brand. On the other hand, a customer who is not satisfied or feels wronged can make an issue and make it harder for you to acquire new potential users, and considering just how many providers are out there, dissatisfied users are not a luxury you can afford.

So, let’s see how you can make your customer service better by relying on customer service knowledge base software, and also why this is so important nowadays.

Important facts related to customer service

It is pretty simple: unless you deliver on your customers’ expectations, they are going to find someone who will. On an annual level, businesses combined lose approximately $41 billion as a result of poor customer service. This is due to the failure to generate more loyal customers.

One loyal consumer, on average, is worth 10 times as much as their initial purchase, but this does not imply that you should stop focusing on customer acquisition; it only means that you need to work equally on both parts.

Lastly, 58% of the consumers in the US, who have had a bad experience with one provider, will never use that company again.

These are all serious statistics, and it is in your best interest to retain your customers for as long as possible. So, let’s explore how customer service knowledge base software can be utilized on this front.

It is budget friendly and adds flexibility

Usually, knowledge base software requires a small monthly fee, and if you subscribe for the whole year in advance, you usually get a large discount. It is a channel that users can use for free, unlike a phone call, and you can be available for them 24/7.

You’ll provide consumers with tools that allow simple interactions, and they can send a ticket with a problem in just a few clicks. The results of a white paper done by Loudhouse, which was commissioned by Zendesk, revealed the following:

• 27% of users tried to resolve their issue using online self-service portals
• 54% of users will try to resolve the problem by calling customer service
• 48% of users will email customer service
• 26% of users will go to the provider’s store in person

Customers feel more secure when they can reach the provider to help them out, but they also like it when they don’t need to rely on customer service at all to resolve the issue. One survey also showed that there is an increase in users who prefer this self-service approach; they are usually millennials, but more and more people in general are opting for this solution.

Additionally, today, you can have users from all over the world who can’t come to your store, and who would spend a fortune trying to call you, and for those users, a self-service knowledge base is the most favorable way of interaction.

How to create a quality customer service knowledge base

Since there are clear benefits for using this approach, you should make the necessary steps to create insightful content for your users.

Focus on FAQ pages

FAQ pages are usually copious, and they should be, considering how they can cover a lot of ground, and basically answer all of the important questions. However, since they contain a lot of information, it can be difficult for users to identify their problem within this content.

So, find a platform or a knowledge base software provider that can help you create a searchable database. This way, users can find the answers they’re looking for by typing a search query and the knowledge base will give them the FAQ section they are looking for.

Community forum

Your support team doesn’t have to explain the tutorial for the same problem to each individual. If you have a forum where any user can ask for help, your customer support team could give a detailed step-by-step solution that includes visual aids as well, in order to help that user. If you have a searchable database, then those instructions become valid answers for a particular search query. The user who is experiencing the same issue already has a resolution on the forum and they can use it.

Blog

Your blog can be used to expand or to clarify things from the FAQ section that cannot be explained in a few sentences. You can use the blog section for tutorials, tips and tricks articles, or any other content which has the same or similar title as the frequently typed search queries on your website.

Use the software to improve the shopping experience

There are various integration tools that can be used in conjunction with knowledge base software, which can help you improve the shopping experience of the customers. You can monitor purchase history, and create a personalized display of content for each user, based on what they were interested in, so far.
This gives you a chance for more successful upselling or cross selling feats, and it gives users a better shopping experience, since they don’t need to browse for hours in order to find something interesting.

So, now that you have seen just how impactful customer service software can be, and how it can be utilized for both customer loyalty and security, as well as for higher sales rates, you have more than enough reasons to get one as soon as possible. Pick a reliable provider, and find a competent person to generate insightful content and elaborate the FAQ page. Follow the suggestions provided above, and you should improve your customer experience significantly.

Author Bio:

Jason Grills is a writer and a technical support executive currently associated with ProProfs Knowledgebase Software. He enjoys writing about emerging software products, new designs and trends in content marketing. He lives in Los Angeles, California. In his spare time, Jason enjoys pampering his pet dogs, shopping, and doing all things creative. You can follow him on Linkedin or Twitter.