Skip to main content
ServiceXRG
  • Your Challenges
    • Overview
    • Self-Assessment
  • Our Solution
    • Overview
    • Achieving Service Success
    • Our Process
    • Service Success Framework
    • Membership
  • Why ServiceXRG
    • Overview
    • Capabilities
    • Clients
    • Team
  • Resources
    • Resource Library
    • Blog
  • Member Login
ServiceXRG
  • Member Login
  • Self-Assessment
  • Let’s Talk
  • Your Challenges
    • Overview
    • Self-Assessment
  • Our Solution
    • Overview
    • Achieving Service Success
    • Our Process
    • Service Success Framework
    • Membership
  • Why ServiceXRG
    • Overview
    • Capabilities
    • Clients
    • Team
  • Resources
    • Resource Library
    • Blog

Blog : Self-Help and Automation – Risks and Rewards

  • Previous Post
  • All Posts
  • Next Post

Self-Help and Automation – Risks and Rewards

By Tom Sweeny February 24, 2020

Self-service and support automation are not simply a means to save money – each interaction is an opportunity to reinforce a customer relationship and sustain loyalty.  The burden of delivering a positive experience now lies with the tools and content we offer.

Self-Help and Automation

Web-based activities have become a significant factor in shaping customer experience and influencing the perceptions customers have about companies and their products.  The majority of on-line interactions are unassisted, where customers are encouraged to serve themselves.

As self-service and automated transactions supplement personal interactions, the ability to shape the customer experience depends on the on-line and automation tools and content provided. Poor content or an unnavigable site quickly undermines a business’s ability to deliver a positive experience.

There is a profound difference between personal interactions and self-service transactions. The factors that influence the customer experience in personal interactions — an agent’s listening skills, empathy, knowledge, etc. — are replaced by an overriding factor: whether the customer can quickly find relevant information. In our effort to encourage customers to serve themselves, we have removed the human factor from the on-line experience. The burden for delivering a positive experience now lies with the tools and content we offer and their relevance in helping customers achieve their objectives.

High Stakes

Self-help and automated services provide a means for companies to continue to engage with their customers in a low-cost manner. However, self-service is not simply a means to save money: Each interaction is an opportunity to reinforce the relationship and sustain customer loyalty. Though there’s a significant temptation to undertake web-based services as a low-cost alternative to customer engagement through interactive channels, it must not come at the expense of delivering an experience that strengthens relationships with customers.

Self-service and support automation are not simply a means to save money – each interaction is an opportunity to reinforce the relationship and sustain customer loyalty.

Companies have a lot at stake when they move interactions to the web.  Once on-line, their customers are just one Google search away from a variety of alternative sources of information and resources to help them satisfy their needs. Brand awareness and affinity can be undermined in an instant. Creating a positive customer experience has never been more important.  It’s also never been more challenging.

When customers actively seek assistance, technology vendors are presented with an opportunity to satisfy the customer’s needs.  This in turn creates an opportunity to positively influence the customer’s perception of the technology vendor helping to create satisfied and loyal customers.  The alternative is that when a customer that needs help but does not get it, can be left with an issue that inhibit their ability to use the vendor’s product.  This lack of service can potentially diminish customers’ perception of that vendor.

At Risk

Vendor web sites have become a secondary resource to general web searches when customers need help.  Historically customers have rated the quality and effectiveness of information found on non-vendor web sites very low, but this trend has shifted with more customers indicting that the information they find through general web searches to be relevant and effective in satisfying their needs.

Vendors risk losing the advantage they once had in retaining control of the on-line service experience.

When customers find information on other – non-vendor sites, it diminishes a company’s ability to leverage the service interaction to strengthen its relationship with customers.  Without a concerted effort to expand and improve the quality, relevance and findability of the right services content through the support web site vendors risk losing the advantage they once had in retaining control of the on-line service experience.

Four Imperatives to Scaling Support

Scaling Support Requires A Multifaceted Approach

In this whitepaper, we will:

  • Present the State of Support Issue Prevention and Self-Help
  • Introduce Four Imperatives for Scaling Support
  • Outline Key Metrics and Measures
Download Now

Where do your services stand?

Our Service Success Self-Assessment provides you with a big picture perspective of the power and potential of your Service organization. Start here to see if you have what it takes to achieve the outcomes you seek.

Take the Assessment
  • Previous Post
  • All Posts
  • Next Post

How Effective Is Your Self-Help?

Take the Assessment

Subscribe for even more resources and the latest in your inbox.

"*" indicates required fields

Name*

By clicking the "Submit" button you accept and agree to be bound by the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Related Posts

  • 3.30.23 Read Time: < 1

    Self-Service Initiatives (Still) Fall Short

    The impact of self-help is often overstated (or worse, not known) and the ability to improve self-help performance is underfunded.

  • 3.29.23 Read Time: < 1

    Upcoming Webinar: Scaling Customer Service in the Era of ChatGPT

    Apr 13, 2023 11:00 AM EDT / 8:00 AM PDT   Search is the way we access knowledge today. It is the foundation for customer self-help and the way service …

  • 3.15.23 Read Time: 2 Mins

    What is the primary expected outcome of your service organization?

    Service teams are shifting their focus to the attainment of strategic outcomes.

ServiceXRG

© Service Excellence Research Group, LLC 2023. All Rights Reserved.

Website by Imagebox

Contact Info
  • Email: info@servicexrg.com
  • Phone: 800-475-0089
Quick Links
  • Your Challenges
    • Overview
    • Self-Assessment (Old)
  • Our Solution
    • Overview
    • Achieving Service Success
    • Our Process
    • Service Success Framework
    • Membership
  • Why ServiceXRG
    • Overview
    • Capabilities
    • Clients
    • Team
  • Resources
  • Let’s Talk
Social Media
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletter
  • Twitter