In our last blog, we discussed the importance of creating a customer service desk for all areas of your organization. We also explored how knowledge documentation can improve customer satisfaction, increase revenue, and streamline workflows throughout your organization. Once your company has decided to develop a platform to facilitate communication and knowledge transfer, there are ways to make sure that you are optimizing your efforts.
Here are some of our favorite recommendations for establishing a meaningful customer experience via a robust service desk.
1. Prioritize First Contact Resolution (FCR)
FCR represents the number of customer issues resolved by support agents during the initial interaction. A strong FCR translates to exceptional customer service and proves that your team promptly provides needed answers. You can optimize FCR by assigning open tickets to team members with the appropriate skill sets, training, and experience. Equally important is providing each agent with immediate access to the client’s historical interactions with the company. Doing so ensures they are empowered with the knowledge they need to solve issues, not escalate them.
2. Strengthen Self-Service Capability
Because many customers search online for needed answers before they call a business, a self-service knowledge portal has significant potential for boosting the customer experience. While developing a knowledge base to interact with clients, it is best to solicit feedback on how the portal serves their needs or identify where it may need improvement. If the goal of the customer knowledge portal is to achieve issue resolution – without needing to escalate it further – soliciting their feedback and adapting the portal accordingly will be necessary.
3. Cultivate and Ask for Feedback
As indicated in the last point, the effectiveness of your self-service portal is only as good as the customers’ assessment of it. Although negative feedback is sometimes unpleasant, it can illuminate areas that need improvement, paving the way for a better customer experience. Companies should consider the value of negative feedback, watch the trends, and communicate their commitment to the customer experience in the future.
4. Automate Repetitive and Monotonous Tasks
Support teams typically have a lot going on, from interacting with angry customers to keeping up with the latest training module. Automation is the most productive way to alleviate the workload, providing that the task lends itself to that process. Automating repetitive tasks minimizes mistakes, facilitates issue resolution, and reduces customer service expenses. These automated tools may work within the self-service portal or assist the team member – for instance, by providing pre-designed response templates for common queries to save time typing.
5. Boost Team Collaboration
Every customer service team eventually encounters a critical problem that can put the business in peril if not handled in a timely manner. In these scenarios, the existence of a collaborative culture is a great way to improve the customer service desk and provide memorable customer experiences. A collaborative culture promotes enhanced knowledge sharing amongst the team, resulting in more streamlined problem-solving.
6. Elevate the Training and Educational Program
Even your most successful team members require training when there are new products, services, policies, or platforms. Ongoing training can maintain the skillsets and readiness of the team to mitigate customer service challenges quickly. Not only is this important to customers, but it is also important to employees. A 2022 LinkedIn study revealed that 94% of employees would remain with an organization that commits to and invests in learning – protecting their tribal and tacit knowledge.
Although the customer service tools available today are typically intuitive and easy to use, they are updated regularly. But beyond the knowledge portal and customer service platform, business leaders must train employees in vital customer service intangible skills – such as patience, empathy, troubleshooting, and persuasion.
How KLONE Can Optimize your Customer’s Experience
The KLONE Organizer is an online knowledge portal that can provide companies with a significant competitive edge.
Aggregating organizational tribal knowledge into one database, the Organizer allows every member of your team to access the information they need within seconds. This access to accurate, critical data dramatically improves the customer experience and streamlines the company’s process; often eliminating the need to search for clarification, guidance, or supervisor approval while the client waits. It can also provide the training and education necessary whenever and wherever it needs to be accessed.
A robust customer service desk is necessary to compete in today’s fast-paced culture, and the KLONE Organizer can ensure that everything your company needs is within a few keystrokes. Call today to learn more about how KLONE can optimize and streamline your organization, from sales to customer service to fulfillment.