The best kind of help is empowering customers to find solutions themselves. It doesn’t mean leaving them alone to their own devices. Instead, creating a user experience that lets them solve their problems themselves. So that customer self-service representatives can focus on complex tasks.
You can do so by integrating Dynamics 365 Customer Service Portal. It offers options such as knowledge base, community support, live chat, virtual assistant, automated process, and mobile app to meet customer demand for always on-support.
But, the foundation of self-service experience is simplicity. To attain that, focus on the tips mentioned below.
Discoverability
A great self-service portal makes it easy to find the correct answers.
Make your Dynamics 365 customer service portal more discoverable by introducing it at every touchpoint that your company uses. Add a link to your help center on the homepage or make the internal search bar redirect users to the correct information. Keep your knowledge base well-organized and updated. Categorize the information so that it’s easy for them to find what they’re looking for. When a user lands on the homepage, enable your support chatbot to greet them and ask if they need any help.
To increase the discoverability of help content, implement search engine optimization. This way, your users can find your company’s help resources directly on Google.
Proactivity
Making your portal discoverable is a good thing. But, it would be more effective if you offer proactive self-service. This way, customers won’t have to ask for help in the first place. Most companies reach out to customers via email, text, or call before they ask for help. According to Gartner, outbound customer engagement will take over inbound customer engagement by 2025.
Here’s an example of proactive self-service engagement: a follow-up message you send the customer after food delivery asking them about delivery and if anything from the order was missing. If customers have an issue, they can immediately take action, i.e., follow the steps immediately without searching for answers.
Accessibility
Accessibility means different for every user, and different channels have different advantages. For example, call centers are helpful for visually impaired users but not for non-speaking people. Knowledge base and chatbots might help users with hearing problems. Voice search might help users with mobility impairments. Color contrast, alt text, informative link text can be useful for users using a screen reader.
Hence, while developing Dynamics 365 customer service portal, evaluate the obstacles your customers might face while looking for help. See if your portal supports multiple languages. Check whether your chatbots can assist foreign language-speaking users. Does your knowledge base consist of multiple formats such as video tutorials, how-to guides, user manuals, etc. Having a self-service portal with ADA compliance is always a good option.
Clarity
Too much information overwhelms users. So avoid stuffing them with more than required.
Companies often use business or technical jargon instead of plain language, which customers may not know. Hence, study knowledge base concepts and ensure that all the topics, articles are in a language that customers can understand. Make sure the search trends are similar to what customers look for while searching for something.
To make sure that content is readable, aim for an 8th-grade level readability score. Use an AI writing assistant tool to maintain consistency and perfect grammar.
Apart from this, organize your knowledge base into categories. Provide clear instructions in manuals and tutorials. Cluttered and chaotic data may force customers to give up on search even before they start.
Some knowledge base design tips for better clarity:
- Keep titles short and crisp
- Place FAQs in easy to reach place
- Build-in peer to peer support through community
- Design product-specific help centers
- Put your search bar at front and center
- Work cross-functionally with analytics and AI
Innovation
A common misstep that many companies take is to build a solution like Dynamics 365 customer service portal in one go. A self-service is not a one-and-done approach. As technology advances, so does the customer. They embrace new methods of self-service and expect businesses to offer them. For example, until a few years back, a mobile app was not in demand. However, today it’s a necessity if you want to increase conversions.
The same goes for self-service. After the pandemic, the self-service approach became more prominent. Chatbots, voice search response, and AI are a few factors pushing this change.
Use self-service key metrics such as customer satisfaction, tickets generated, bounce rates to create benchmarks for improvement. You can also use an iterative approach, i.e., start small. Implement features that you require, and gradually as the customer base increases, improve the self-service.
Take customer feedback on new features. Beta-test the new features with a small group of customers before rolling out.
Set the Stage
Your customers are ready to solve their problems themselves. The more you’ll empower them, the better the experience will be.
So, bring in self-service with Dynamics 365 customer service portal and help them find answers independently. For that, use iterative and well-proven methods. Before that, identify if self-service is the best option for your business.
- Do your support agents need to toggle between 5-8 systems to resolve queries?
- Do they spend most of their time on repetitive requests?
- Are your customers in different time zones? Do you need to provide 24*7 support?
- Do you have a plethora of features and product knowledge to share?
- Are you looking to embrace technology?
If the answer to all or even one of these questions is yes, you should implement self-service and the strategies explained above. If you’re confused or need help with the development, I suggest talking to an expert. A portal development team with industry-wise knowledge can help you improve your customer experience.
CRMJetty is one of the most experienced portal solution providers. The team has a plethora of knowledge about different industry requirements and the latest self-service trends. We can help you implement the self-service strategy with a custom portal solution.
You can learn more about us through our case studies.
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