Hidden treasures in the customer self-service portal
Hidden treasures in the customer self-service portal
discover | Monday - 12 / 08 / 2024 - 11:36 pm
In today’s highly competitive corporate environment, it is difficult to ignore the fact that services and products are similar. Everyone knows this, but they insist on launching their startups. However, as soon as the sparkle of the beginnings disappears, reality presents them with two options that have no thirds:
- Finding a unique point of differentiation
- Exit the market permanently
For this reason, attention has begun to turn towards providing exceptional customer service. The problem is that customers – in and of themselves – do not want to be served!
In the age of digital transformation, customers have become more “sensitive” when it comes to contacting technical support, only to find themselves stuck with an autoresponder that offers endless lists. That’s why 80% of customers deal with “competitors” after one bad customer experience!
On the bright side, customers give their loyalty to a company that values their time; It provides them with an exceptional self-service experience.
This is what the customer self-service portal looks like
Upon logging in, a customer is greeted with a personalised dashboard that matches their profile and provides a comprehensive overview of their activities, including pending orders, previous purchases, support tickets, and account details.
A self-service customer portal gives each customer greater control over their purchasing process, interactive access to order status, tracking and returns facilities without having to try to reach the right person via email or phone. Which enhances his satisfaction with the company.
A self-service customer portal gives an edge to any business.
It gives customers access to solutions that fit into their busy lifestyles and helps them achieve their goals quickly and effortlessly. Companies that provide convenient self-service customer portals foster a sense of empowerment and independence, as customers are able to find information, make purchases, or resolve issues at their own pace without relying on a support employee’s availability or responsiveness (especially during off-seasons).
This self-sufficiency leads to greater satisfaction and enhanced customer loyalty. Because when customers have access to self-service portals or easy-to-use knowledge bases, they feel more engaged with your brand and offerings. They can freely explore different resources, learn about new products or features, and make informed decisions based on their own needs. Their active participation creates a stronger connection between them and your company, encourages repeat purchases, and boosts your bottom line.
“But I am satisfied with my company’s customer service!”
Personally, I understand your anxiety about change, and your fear of its high cost. But what if I told you that maintaining your current customer service system will cost you more than you can imagine?!
Increasing the number of technical support tickets…to no avail
When your customers can’t find the answer themselves, they turn to tech support, right?
Consequently, your technical support staff finds themselves facing tons of technical support tickets, involving simple and recurring issues, resulting in longer resolution times. And the result? Increasing customer anger. Furthermore, a “huge” number of support tickets will hinder your staff from dealing with complex issues that may need their attention.
Here the importance of the customer self-service portal is highlighted in reducing the burden on customer support teams by enabling customers to find answers to their inquiries independently. In addition to simplifying operations by automating routine tasks such as order tracking and account management.
Resource drain
What does a large influx of technical support tickets mean?
Simply put, you need more customer service staff, which directly burdens your resources.
Hiring additional employees increases costs, and we’re not just talking about salaries, but also the cost of training them on your products and workflow.
It goes without saying that customer self-service portals reduce labor requirements, enabling your company to allocate resources more efficiently, and reduce operational costs in the long run.
Lack of proactive strategies
Technical support staff are often unable to capture valuable customer data, which means you don’t get insights into what information customers are looking for or what challenges they face. Thus, your support strategy will remain sluggish, hindering innovation and improvement.
In addition, recurring problems will remain hidden. Customers will continue to experience the same issues, resulting in a poor customer service experience and a negative reputation for your brand.
Contrast this with a customer self-service portal being a valuable source of customer data and insights. It tracks customer behaviour, preferences and interaction patterns, providing your company with actionable data for targeted marketing, product development and service improvement.
Do customer self-service portals have other benefits?
naturally! Besides the benefits we discussed above, self-service is also beneficial to customers, in that it provides:
Quick solution to problems
When customers are provided with a self-service portal, they often resolve their issues in a quick and efficient manner. Without the need for external intervention. This leads to increased satisfaction and an overall positive experience.
Customers can access the self-service portal anytime, anywhere. This is more convenient than waiting or scheduling a call with a customer service representative. The convenience aspect of self-service options leads to higher levels of satisfaction, thus increasing loyalty.
With the advent of artificial intelligence and machine learning, self-service options can provide personalized solutions based on specific problems. This can improve the overall experience and thus lead to higher levels of satisfaction.
Increase efficiency and speed
Thanks to its ability to deal with multiple problems at once. Self-service portals increase the overall productivity of contact centers. Which leads to faster resolution for customers and improved efficiency for call centers.
Automate routine tasks
Self-service portals provide the ability to automate routine tasks such as password resets and account updates. This frees up the time of technical support staff and improves the overall efficiency of the call center.
Support your company’s growth
As your business grows and acquires more customers, you may find that traditional customer service models don’t allow you to scale as quickly as you’d like. By utilizing customer self-service portals, your company can accommodate a larger customer base without incurring additional costs.
How secure is the customer self-service portal?
The safety of their online data and personal details such as bank account and social media details is of utmost importance to customers. Security measures to protect personal information form an integral part of the Logix CRM system and make it not only convenient, but secure for today’s cybersecurity-conscious customers.
What does research tell us about the customer self-service portal?
A customer self-service portal is often viewed as an impersonal method with the sole goal of cutting costs.
But experience has shown that if properly integrated into your overall customer service strategy, a self-service customer portal is an excellent way to enhance the customer experience.
Research shows that 75% of customers see it as a convenient way to address customer service issues and 81% of them prefer to take care of the issues themselves before contacting a technical support employee. Why? Because it is fast, easy to use and accessible 24/7.
