Web-Based Self-Service Explained

Definition, benefits, and tips for adoption

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Web-Based Self-Service
Contact CentreInsights

Published: May 12, 2021

Anwesha Roy - UC Today

Anwesha Roy

There is a growing demand for self-service and low-touch query resolution, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gartner found an increase in self-service demand among 65% of customers, and this is expected to increase to 79% in 2021. An important cog in your self-service strategy is web-based self-service – i.e., leveraging your online presence to resolve customer queries at the early stages.  

Let us understand web-based self-service in more detail and discuss its benefits.  

What is Web-based Self-Service?

Web-based self-service can be defined as an online customer service strategy where there is a dedicated website (also called the self-service portal) to address customer queries, share tutorials, raise service tickets, and chat with live agents without leaving the internet. Web-based self-service can also be bundled into your primary e-Commerce site – e.g., Amazon has an entire exhaustive help section dedicated to web-based self-service, integrated into the primary shopping portal.  

Web-based self-service is a must-have for digital-native companies, as most of their core business will originate online. Even non-digital native companies like the telecom sector, F&B brands, personal product providers, banks, etc., can gain significantly from web-based self-service, given the proliferation of internet usage today.  

Key Benefits of Web-Based Self-Service 

Web-based self-service can prove invaluable to organisations, increasing CX quality and service availability exponentially without adding to your contact centre overheads. Here are the key benefits to expect:  

  • Round-the-clock customer service – Web-based self-service promises 24/7 uptime, and barring the rare outage or maintenance interruption, customers can always log in to check on/resolve an issue. This saves you significant costs of maintaining a 24/7 or follow-the-sun call centre
  • Reduction in contact centre workloads – Self-service will look after a large number of small but commonly raised customer issues. For example, a single tutorial can explain to your entire customer base how to assemble a popular product – which brings us to the next benefit
  • Reusability of content – Web-based self-service is reusable across customers and market regions, unlike a live contact centre where every interaction is unique and individualised. Content reusability means that you can save on time and efforts
  • Greater engagement – An online self-service portal also serves as a channel for customer engagement, making the customer further interested in your product through informative and educational material. You can also route traffic to new products from the portal

Tips for Increasing Web-Based Self-Service Adoption  

The secret to the success of any self-service strategy is maximising your adoption rates. You can achieve this by:  

  • Collect analytics data to deliver targeted content and address the most commonly raised issues  
  • Conduct user acceptance testing (as on any web app) to eliminate usability bottlenecks  
  • Advertise the portal based on customer demographics – e.g., LinkedIn for B2B, specific Facebook groups, etc.  
  • Collect detailed metrics on self-service usage, including enrolment numbers, transactions, and conversion rates  
  • Optimise the customer onboarding experience and handhold across the initial period of usage  
  • Personalise web-based self-service through targeted promotions and product recommendations 

 

 

 

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