Customers of the 21st century want to find solutions to their problems easily and instantly. The speed and ease with which they can find the right solution are all a part of an excellent customer experience.
A knowledge base is just one of many self-service tools you can offer your customers to help them find answers themselves. This way, they needn’t wait for help or replies from your end.
A well-written knowledge base should be the cornerstone of any customer service team. 70% of customers prefer using a brand’s website to find answers on their own.
In this article, we’ll take a deeper look into the benefits of a knowledge base. We’ll also talk about strategies to plan, create, and deliver effective knowledge base content that will genuinely create better customer experiences.
What is a Knowledge Base?
A knowledge base is a coalition of answers to repetitively asked questions and troubleshooting instructions. The purpose of knowledge base articles is to make it easy for people to find solutions to their problems without relying on a customer support department or asking for help.
DeskXpand Knowledge Base
A knowledge base can include many forms of content, including:
- Frequently asked questions
- Step-by-step troubleshooting guides
- Introductory articles
- Video guides
- Video demonstrations
- Definition lists
A knowledge base is a final touchpoint of collecting and organizing all information into a helpful format through a process called “knowledge management.” Typically, companies apply knowledge management processes to collect information and then use knowledge base software to create, manage, and deliver it to their customers.
Benefits of Knowledge Base Software
If you look at customer service in the most basic manner, it is nothing but the transfer of information from the company to the customers. Customers have a gap in their knowledge, which prevents them from achieving specific goals or using your product/services entirely. This is where customer service reps can fill in and provide necessary information to bridge the gap. Plus, it is the best solution for repetitive queries to prevent agent frustration. For example, take a look at questions like:
- How do I change my password?
- What is the cost of this product?
- Why won’t my file upload?
These questions do not need to be answered individually. Here, the knowledge base will be the way to make your support more cost-effective by reducing the time and effort of the support representatives. It serves numerous other benefits too. Let’s have a look:
1. An Excellent Knowledge Base Improves Customer Satisfaction
Usually, consumers do not like to call for support. And they are not to blame! Most of them prefer self-service over human interaction.
Knowledge base plays a huge role in customer success. It helps you exceed customer expectations and create a positive experience. A knowledge base lets your customers solve their problems without your help. It is no longer a nice additional feature – it is a must-have.
With a knowledge base, you’re answering questions before they even ask for them.
Get DeskXpand Knowledge Base Software
Implement a knowledge base software today and reduce your customer support cost drastically.
2. Improves Client Retention
When customers are happy, retention rates will increase. This directly points towards long-term business success, higher revenue, and consistent sales. According to a study by Salesforce, the customer retention rate is vital to growth. Loyal customers are worth ten times more than a new acquisition.
For example, if you increase your retention rates by 10%, you can raise your profits by as much as 25-95%. It is comparatively easy to convert an existing buyer into a repeat customer than to turn a lead into a regular customer. This turns out to be a significant advantage that a knowledge base can help you achieve.
3. Deliver a Consistent Experience
The main benefit of a knowledge base is its 24/7 availability. Your customers can access information whenever and wherever they need it. They do not have to wait until the morning to call for support for problems that they could have fixed with two clicks.
If you have an audience across the globe and from different time zones, this is the best way to provide all the customers with necessary information at any time of day or night.
4. Always be Proactive and On Your Toes
Reactive customer support is no longer enough if your end goal is to build brand loyalty. You must be proactive! And a well-articulated knowledge base will take you from being reactive to proactive real soon. You can anticipate your customer’s needs and come up with innovative ways to help them find solutions.
5. Reduce Your Incoming Queries
Perhaps the most significant benefit of knowledge base software is that it drastically reduces the incoming customer queries. This saves your agents from answering the same questions again and again. As a result, if a customer has a complex query and cannot solve it, only then will they contact your team.
Take time to organize your knowledge base and increase its usability. Try to organize your articles into multiple sections and sub-categories. The more articulate you become, the more the number of calls will decrease.
6. It’s All About Brand Reputation
A good brand reputation will only bring you more sales. It is a sign that you’re trustworthy and shows that you know your business. Plus, with an authoritative knowledge base, search engines will prioritize your site, your websites will rank higher in search results, and eventually, the traffic will increase.
It is not something that you can achieve overnight. It all starts with a comprehensive knowledge base. Collect feedback from customers and keep improving your knowledge base articles. Try to come up with new and innovative content. It’ll help you bring brand recognition that generates trust and triggers user behavior to make more purchases.
7. Everything in One Place
Last but not the least, a solid knowledge base is a valuable resource for your support agents and your customers. With a knowledge base, you can consolidate all information in one place. This way, training new employees also becomes faster and cheaper.
DeskXpand: An Ideal Choice for Businesses
A PwC survey states that around 80% of American consumers believe that timely and informed help is the most critical aspect of excellent customer service. Despite this, most companies fail to deliver a satisfactory experience to meet customer needs.
DeskXpand’s service desk ticketing system provides a built-in knowledge base to serve standard information to your customers. It allows the support team to categorize and sub-categorize the self-help articles in whichever format your customers want.
Start building your knowledge base now! We are an ISO27001 certified customer service solutions development company with 14+ years of development experience. We can help you build a customized knowledge base per your needs, exactly like we built for hundreds of our clients.
