Aug 23

End-User Self-Service Is Not a Dirty Word

Monday 23 August 2021

End users are demanding. They want to fix problems and get on with their work as quickly as possible. You can’t fault them for it though. After all, they have a business to run. Every second they waste trying to get through to your IVR or live chat agent is precious. They know that delays could lead to business disruptions.

If you are serious about user satisfaction, you need to ensure that users are empowered to find solutions themselves. Yes, we are talking about end-user self-service. Over the years, this concept may have gained a bad rep because of poor design, messy workflows and outdated content. However, if deployed correctly, it can reduce workloads and improve user satisfaction significantly.

This post will discuss why end-user self-service should not be frowned upon and is certainly worth your time and effort.

Find Solutions Quickly

When you have an elaborate and easily discoverable self-service solution, it allows end users to quickly find answers to their problems rather than waiting in IVR queues or for the support team to process their tickets.

Some service providers may feel that providing self-service solutions can bring down the overall quality of support. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. A well-thought-out, interactive self-service solution can improve user satisfaction by providing immediate answers and freeing up your team up to deal with more urgent issues.

The key here is to make sure the solution and the content are up to date, interactive and searchable. When you can tailor responses so that it directs users to relevant content, you can significantly reduce the number of calls to your help desk. Aside from that, keep an eye on metrics such as page views, bounce rate, CTR, escalations, etc., to evaluate the effectiveness of your solution.

Improved Support Experience

Typically, each time an end user reaches out to your call center agent or raises a ticket, they have to provide a summary of the problem they are facing. In many cases, your support team will have to get on a video call with them or handhold them through the troubleshooting process. There may even be situations where you are forced to send your technicians to the customer’s office.

Now imagine if you have a self-service solution packed with helpful content (screen captures, instructional GIFs, training videos, etc.) and an intelligent interface that directs users to appropriate solution/content based on their experiences. It will empower users to fix issues themselves without any additional steps.

Reduce Team Workload

Processing each incoming ticket manually is not sustainable. For starters, it will negatively impact your response time. Second, even if you somehow manage it efficiently, keeping up will be hard once you start scaling.

It will force your team to spend their limited time on reactive problem solving rather than proactively monitoring and managing issues before they arise. In the long run, the failure to transition from a break-fix model will make your service easily replaceable. To make things worse, a rise in ticket volume often leads to employee burnout, diminished team morale, lower productivity and higher labor turnover, all combined with declining user satisfaction.

Making provisions for self-service ensures that ticket volume remains low. For instance, with Pulseway, you can use our Client Portal feature to provide answers and run self-remediation scripts and tasks based on user input. This way, you will be able to empower end users to fix routine issues by themselves. Not only does it reduce the burden on your team, it also gives them more bandwidth to focus on priority tasks and on delivering a superior customer experience.

Maintain Consistency

Each member of your support team has their strengths and weaknesses. For example, some may be more empathetic while others may possess better technical knowledge. You can’t expect everyone to solve end-user problems the same way. In addition, there will always be multiple ways to fix an issue. Thus, offering high-quality support consistently is extremely hard.

With self-service, it is much easier to maintain consistency. Whether through pre-set automation or clearly defined FAQs, you can ensure that every end user receives the same level of attention and similar troubleshooting workflows. Moreover, you don’t have to worry about information being lost when key employees leave your organization.

Overcome Limitations Posed by Time and Language

Your team cannot always be there to tend to your end users. For example, customers could easily face outages and errors after your work hours or over the weekend. If you don’t have staff working 24/7, their issues may not get addressed in time, leaving them to fend for themselves. In addition, you may have clients whose native language is not the same as yours. So, how do you ensure they receive the necessary support?

Self-service helps you overcome both these limitations to a large extent. When self-service portals are easily accessible and self-explanatory, end users will be able to find answers when they need them. Users won’t have to wait for work hours to start. In addition, you can offer it in multiple languages to make sure everyone is covered.

Wrapping Up

There is a tendency to look down on self-service since people assume it is an easy way to wash your hands of responsibility. Well, it’s about time that myth was busted.

From improving staff productivity and providing 24/7 support, to allowing you to scale operations without being constrained by staffing issues, deploying an effective self-service solution can make things easier for your business on multiple fronts.

If you want to transition from a break-fix shop to a managed service provider, self-service must be an integral part of your support efforts.