Top lessons for the self-service contact center from our latest research

There's no doubt about it—we're in the do-it-yourself era. Decades ago, businesses began reducing costs and adding convenience by enabling customers to serve themselves. It started at the gas pump, then banks introduced ATMs, and now we check out our own groceries and check ourselves into hotels.

It's hard to imagine life without self-service. Consumers expect and want to be able to help themselves not just at gas stations and grocery stores, but with customer service transactions across industries. Many people find self-service faster and more convenient than traditional agent-assisted methods, especially for simpler transactions. In fact, one study revealed that when it comes to straightforward tasks, over 60% of consumers prefer using self-service over agent assistance.^[1] And our research shows that 81% of consumers want more self-service.

In response, businesses are establishing self-service contact centers by adding more DIY options, including virtual agents and smart, searchable knowledge bases.

While implementing self-service solutions is an effective way to improve the customer experience, the benefits extend beyond that. The self-service contact center can also expect to:

• Reduce costs. Gartner estimates that the average agent-assisted interaction costs $8.01, while the average self-service transaction costs a mere 10 cents.
• Improve the agent experience. When customers handle their own simple, repetitive tasks, agents can focus on more complex and engaging problem solving.
• Increase revenue. Self-service solutions such as virtual agents will offer cross-sells and upsells 100% of the time, which can be good for the bottom line.

The potential to positively impact both customers and the business is substantial with self-service, but our latest research shows there are some gaps with readiness and in understanding customer expectations. This article will provide helpful highlights from that research and also discuss some solutions that will help the self-service contact center take CX to the next level.

Research results the self-service contact center should know about

Our latest research, summarized in the 2022 Digital-First Customer Experience Report, probed businesses and consumers about a number of CX topics, including customer self-service. This approach enabled us to generate an abundance of insights as well as compare responses to see if brands were in sync with their customers. Some top line findings and lessons are discussed below.

Lesson 1 - Use of self-service is increasing

Given current trends in consumer preferences, it's probably not surprising that use of self-service is increasing. What is surprising, however, is how large the increase is. Ninety five percent of businesses reported year-over-year growth of self-service requests in 2021, with an overall weighted average increase of 37%.

While this growth is substantial, we think the use of self-service will continue increasing. Advances in technology and a continued desire for speed and convenience will fuel demands for and use of innovative digital self-service.

How should self-service contact centers prepare for this forecasted growth? A formal, well-planned self-service strategy is a good place to start.

A self-service strategy will help businesses effectively identify and implement appropriate solutions. It can also help organizations avoid the trap of adding too many channels, which, according to Gartner, tends to actually increase support volume while also creating a tangled problem resolution journey.

A good self-service strategy also answers important questions such as:

• How do we identify the right tasks to be included in self-service?
• How do we ensure our customers are successful at self-service?
• What are our overall goals?
• How will we measure the quality and effectiveness of our self-service tools?

A strategy is a guide that helps keep your self-service approach on track.

Lesson 2 - Businesses plan to invest in self-service

Perhaps in response to an increasing use of self-service, we found that many companies are planning to invest in DIY solutions in the coming year. As an example, 44% plan to fund enhancements to their website, and 42% plan to invest in efforts to become more visible in search results.

Because so many customers cross paths with it, a company's website should be leveraged as a primary self-service channel. Website enhancements that improve DIY success can include the following:

• A killer FAQ (frequently asked questions) page. Don't dismiss FAQ pages just because they're old school. A thorough and well-maintained FAQ page can swiftly and conveniently answer common questions and eliminate the need to contact the call center. Plus, because they've been around so long, website visitors are used to looking for them, so businesses should make the most of this tool.

• A searchable knowledge base. Have you ever searched a website and been presented with 200 irrelevant results? You don't have to do that to your customers if you use the right knowledge management system. A smart knowledge base uses natural language processing so that customers don't need to guess the right search terms. Additionally, this capability enables the tool to understand intent, which allows it to present the best result rather than a confusing laundry list.

• Chatbots and virtual agents. Today's bots run the gamut of capabilities ranging from simple, rule-based chatbots to smart, AI-powered virtual agents (similar to Siri and Alexa). When deployed properly on a website, they can answer common questions or, on the other end of the complexity spectrum, facilitate end-to-end transactions.

Now that we've reviewed some possible website self-service enhancements, what does it mean that businesses are investing in search visibility? I'll cover that in the next section.

Lesson 3 - Businesses underestimate the role Google plays in self-service

The good news is that a high percentage of businesses are investing in search visibility, the bad news is that a large majority of them underestimate the role Google plays in self-service. The reality is that almost half (46%) of consumers use Google as the starting point of their DIY journeys, while businesses think only 15% of their customers do this.

Think about your own Google experiences. Sometimes you don't even need to visit a website for the answer because it's right there at the top of the search engine results page (SERP). And, personally, I often have better luck using Google to search a website than I do using that website's search functionality.

Why is use of Google for self-service problematic? Because a lot, if not most, of businesses' websites are optimized for sales, not support, which means that customers can't easily find answers to their questions through a Google search.

What should self-service contact centers do about this? The solution involves consolidating all support content into a single knowledge base and making it public so that search engines can crawl and index it. This will help ensure your customers are viewing your content and not a competitor's.

For more information about becoming more visible in search, read "Meet Customers at Google: Understanding the benefits of SEO for knowledge and support content."

Lesson 4 - Most businesses don’t realize that a high percentage of customers think it’s important to make self-service smarter

The gap in understanding is large. Thirty-six percent of consumers say that it's important to them that self-service solutions become smarter, but businesses think that number is only 11%. Loosely translated, consumers want to be able to complete more transaction types on their own, but businesses don’t fully grasp this expectation.

Let's first address the fact that so many businesses don't have a solid understanding of their DIY customers. Self-service tools need to be continuously monitored and refined. Operational data will help identify sources of friction that need to be addressed, but businesses also need input from the customers who are using the tools. A well-designed customer survey will let customers tell the business what is and isn't working with their DIY experiences, including the feedback that they want smarter tools.

What can self-service contact centers do to make their solutions smarter and capable of handling a broader array of tasks? Use self-service tools infused with artificial intelligence (AI). AI-powered tools such as virtual agents can be deployed in IVRs and online. Artificial intelligence enables them to understand human language and become smarter with use, which ultimately allows them to handle more types of end-to-end transactions.

To learn more about smart self-service, watch our on-demand webinar, How Smart Self-Service Improves Digital CX and Lowers Costs.

Some of the lessons from our research were encouraging. Use of self-service is increasing, and businesses are responding by funding DIY channels. However, there is a sizeable gap in understanding customers' perceptions of current self-service solutions. Additionally, self-service contact centers should focus on making their DIY channels smarter in order to increase customer satisfaction and realize the full benefits of self-service.

These research results give self-service contact centers much to think about, but our full report contains even more thought-provoking revelations. Download 2022 Digital-First Customer Experience Report to find out what else businesses and consumers said about self-service.

[1] Help Scout: 7 Best Practices for Effective Ecommerce Customer Service (2022)