Self-service Support: What Happens when Customers Need More

Self-service – or Tier-0 – customer support is attractive for many reasons for both you and your customer. 

For customers, this sort of deflection technique is typically the fast way for them to resolve their issues. It empowers them and increases satisfaction.

For you, it typically translates to lower CS costs and higher CSAT scores.  

What happens when a customer needs more?  

Imagine a customer that has attempted to resolve an issue through self-service channels. They read the FAQ, consulted the KB, asked the community, and chatted with a bot. They tried to resolve the issue on their own.

Suppose it didn’t work and the customer contacts the support team.

This customer is in a different state than if they contacted the team immediately. They have been on the clock trying, unsuccessfully, to resolve their own issue. They could be a bit frustrated. Patience might be thinner and expectations higher. The customer might be wondering if they have wasted their time.  

The support team needs to keep this in mind and adjust accordingly. The team has to level up.

• Resolve the issue quickly. The customer has already been on the clock too long.
• Explain things differently. What they read already didn’t help. Make sure to offer a new approach.
• Don’t make customers repeat themselves. Nothing is worse than repeating the same steps that didn’t work the first time. 
• Be human. This is the time for empathy and understanding. 
• Read the room. Maybe the customer is chatty and thankful. Maybe they want to vent a bit. Maybe they just want to wrap up the issue as quickly as possible. Take your cue from them. The bottom line is that a successful self-service support program requires a more empathetic, switched-on team and a plan to prevent the customer from feeling like they wasted their time.  

Optimize your tier-0 tools. Those customer calls tell you exactly where your self-service tools need updating or improvement. It’s time for iteration.

If you need help implementing this strategy, we’re here.  

We know how to craft effective self-service support. We can help you design and build a system that actually solves problems instead of delaying resolution.   

We can deliver the right team to meet those customers when issues remain unresolved. Get the high-quality, efficient, white-glove support your customers will expect and deserve after trying to solve their own problems. 

And we can do it all while saving you money (which is one reason you’re implementing self-service support in the first place).

We offer the lowest cost, highest quality outsourced customer support in the industry. 

So if you want to cut costs and increase customer satisfaction, give us a call and we’ll show you how.