Winning with self-service
Winning with self-service

By on in Design & Experience, Tech & Trends

Winning with self-service

Initially, I was thinking that the FAQ was the first big move forward in customer self service. Then I realized a better example might be the gas pump. Even better, the ATM. For those of us seasoned enough to remember life before ATMs, the ability to take out your last $20 without fronting up to a live teller was a game changer.


Any interactions that you automate should be complemented by a human option and be delivered in a way that supports your voice and brand. The experience should always feel as if it’s unique to you.

The truth is, much like a majority of consumers that grows with every generation, I don’t like picking up the phone. I will not eat, schedule an appointment or take a trip if I have to make a live call. And when I do have to ring, I hold a grudge. So companies who let me DIY have my allegiance.

The best example I’ve seen recently was the online booking app for an around-the-world ticket on Star Alliance. I knew the bot helping me wasn’t human, so I didn’t feel sorry about changing the itinerary a thousand times and trying every combination that popped into my head to see how it impacted the price. It was ready when I was and waited whenever I felt like stepping away. A travel agent would have hung up on me before I’d even started.

AI and big data sets have made great self-service experiences easier to create, but you can provide amazing self-service interaction without them.

 

Building in self-service where it matters

Start with the big three. Your business may vary, but the top three reasons people contact a company are billing issues, product or service support, and order status. Today, none of these should require a phone call. Reducing friction here will save customers time and your business money.

Keep track of what people are asking. If you’re hearing the same questions again and again, head them off by:

A. Changing your content or flow so the questions don’t come up in the first place
B. Highlighting them in your FAQ (which should be regularly updated and filled with real-life questions, not a marketing pitch)
C. All of the above

Make your FAQ a true self-service tool. Divide questions by topics that matter to your users. Push the big questions to the top. Remove the ones nobody clicks.

Consider bringing on a bot. As long as your chatbot is 1) an option, not an obstacle, 2) doesn’t get in the way of interacting with pages naturally (e.g. no constant pop-ups or pings), and 3) has enough information so that it doesn’t consistently return an “I have no idea,” a chatbot can be a great asset. Generative AI has rocketed the value of chatbots upward, but you have to do the legwork to fill it with the answers people want.

 

When is self-service too much of a good thing?

It’s easy for companies to punch through from convenient self-service to making themselves scarce at customers’ expense. If you can’t find a bank or talk to a human, or I’m paying more for groceries while also scanning my own purchases, self-service can backfire.

Taking people out of the day-to-day service equation can be a risk for your brand, too, if your personality or value stop coming through. Any interactions that you automate should be complemented by a human option and be delivered in a way that supports your voice and brand. The experience should always feel as if it’s unique to you.

From understanding your audiences and strengthening your brand to focused content and tailored technology solutions, FATFREE handles it all. Why not drop us a note?