What Is Customer Self Service?
Customer self service is growing to be the preferred method for most companies. That is because it’s faster for the customers to find solutions on their own. The alternative is long queues and making calls. Incorporating self-service in your organization is fairly easy; you can start with your website and grow from there. Have a page dedicated to that on your website where customers can sign in and find solutions. All the interactions, online or any other way have to be valuable and put customers first. This article will help you understand what is customer self service and its purpose.
Self-service refers to when customers can complete a task and find solutions without assistance from the support team. The service gives access to all the tools the customers need and resources to resolve issues. Most customers prefer the self-service because it’s easy than waiting for days for an email reply. Poor customer services undermine the business in all levels. Using this kind of service helps in minimizing such problems. Nowadays the self-service is not only left to the gas stations and grocery stores, most companies are picking up on the trend.
Purpose of Customer Self Service
Reducing Costs
Companies use self-services on customers for very many reasons and reduced costs is one of them. Every organization has its bottom line, something they are all working towards. And for service providers customer satisfaction is very important. If they can achieve almost hundred per cent customer satisfaction and save a significant amount of cash, most of them will grab the opportunity. If the customers are empowered to find solutions on their own, labour costs will be cut dramatically. The companies can reduce the number of agents handling emails chats and calls from customers.
Efficiency
Almost all consumers have the need for speed. They want their problems to be solved and questions to be answered quickly. Most highlights on customer experience come from how fast the response time was. One more purpose of self-service is operational efficiency. The service helps streamline and speed up operations. You have to ensure you are displaying easy-to-use tools when you are offering customer self-services. The portals also provide detailed answers as knowledgeable staff would have on a phone call. Self-service is equally efficient if not more because they use step-by-step guides, screenshots or videos to convey messages.
Consistency
Self-service ensures that all the answers and solutions given to customers are consistent. It doesn’t matter which channel they use to find help, it will all be the same. The consistency will also help you ensure all the answers provided are compliant with regulations. That is especially crucial for companies in healthcare, insurance and finance. It is also consistent because you can create portals on the website and use social media platforms as well. The constant interactions strengthen relationships with customers and help you build a loyal clientele. It also attracts new buyers and help the business be more knowledgeable about common issues.
Customer Retention
When customers are satisfied they will stick around for much longer. You need to be available however and whenever customers need it. It boosts their satisfaction and make them loyal to your products and services. It’s not easy to make the whole staff prioritise customer satisfaction, but the self-service portals are designed for that. It not only helps with customer retention but also help you sell more. Once your pages or website for self-services are functional, you will notice a difference in sales. In the process you will learn about your customers, their interests and more pressing issues and work on solutions. The data you acquire can be used to make more targeted advertising and marketing messages. Companies use self-service to improve customer lifetime value.
Conclusion
There are very many reasons to use self-service and are all aimed at growing the business while keeping customers happy. Right now it is also a way to stay relevant in the industry and be more competitive. It is a win-win and a useful invention for both customers and businesses. Agents do not need to lose their jobs because of it; they can be used to focus on other valuable tasks at the company.
