As companies look for efficient ways to of offering excellent customer service with the challenges that face contact centers, self-service came into play to ease that burden. It is an option that enables your customers to get solutions online without talking to an agent.

Regarding contact center efficiency, a self-service channel will help you deal with the repetitive, steady stream of questions that are low-level and can be answered without the help of an agent. When you relieve your agents of this burden, they will concentrate on the pressing issues that are escalated from the self-service channels.

However, there is still a challenge on the customer’s end who feels that they are being ignored or have to fill in a lot of information online to get an answer. Some wonder why no agent wants to talk to them. This misunderstanding of the purpose of the self-service channel can lead to it becoming a no-service channel.

Here are tips that can help you avoid your self-service channel from becoming a no-service channel.

1.      Educate your customers on how to use self-service channel

The main reason that the self-service can become a no service is that customers do not have enough knowledge of how to use the system. To ease the transition from calls and live chat to self-service, you need to educate your customers on how to go about getting the right information on your website.

Educating the mass is not easy, but, you can simplify the user interface and also make the process straight forward. Avail a “how to use self-service” page should on your site to give the simple instructions to your customers.

2.     Simplify the user interface

As mentioned above on educating your customers, the user interface should be simple and easy to use. How many clicks does the customer have to click to get the information they are looking for? Do they have to hit a million links or a few? If they hit so many links, then they will get frustrated and give up, however, if the customer goes through a few links, they will be satisfied with the service.

A user-friendly interface that leads the customer to the right information fast will serve its purpose and not fall into the “no service” channels.

3.     Ensure your links are working

Another key component of ensuring that your customers enjoy the self-service channels is to have working links. When you are updating the information or upgrading the systems, a notification should be available to the customer the moment they sign into the self-service channel. Otherwise, if they start the process only to reach halfway to a dead link, that service will have become a “no service.”

Remember that the competition is stiff and customers have little time to keep going round in search of answers. Make their search as easy as possible by having working links. The links should also be few and go on and on.

4.     Train your employees on the self-service option

Even after doing all the above, you might still encounter customers who call in for help on how to use the self-service channel. All your agents should be knowledgeable about all the options and can explain to the customers how to use the system.

Train them on how to handle customer fears and complaints. When customers get the right information from the agents, they will enjoy the self-service, which is a win-win situation.

In summary, the self-service channels should facilitate your contact center to offer great customer service experiences. With the above four tips, you can avoid self-service channels from becoming “no service”, and you will end up with highly satisfied customers and employees.

At the end of the day, an efficient self-service channel will create value for your customers.