Online project user support: 3 working tools
Hello! While everyone is thinking about changing rubles for dollars or is it too late, I decided to share with you our experience in supporting online users. Over the past 4 years we have been able to work with companies such as Evernote, HeadHunter, IVI, AviaSales and many others. We know how the support of Internet projects from the inside works, and we identified 3 working tools for ourselves, which are discussed below.
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Let's start with the Knowledge Base and FAQ. The public knowledge base on the company's website is the first thing with which people usually start organizing support and self-service for subscribers on the site. Below are examples of knowledge bases of MoiSklad and Wix services:
Most Internet companies have a knowledge base or simple FAQ in one form or another. What's the Difference? Traditionally, FAQ means a page that contains the most common questions and answers to them. The knowledge base is already more complicated, usually it is a set of categorized articles with screenshots, videos, etc. Below is an example of a good FAQ of the Connected:
For a complex project, they usually create a comprehensive knowledge base with detailed articles and a squeeze in the form of a FAQ on key issues. For a small project, for example, a small online store, one convenient FAQ will suffice.
Our analysis shows that the effectiveness of the knowledge base depends on 3 important factors:
Often, knowledge bases are made using the standard functionality of their CMS systems that run the project site. At the same time, the effectiveness of such a self-service tool is extremely small. Let's briefly go over the criteria and evaluate the Anywayanyday Q & A section from the screenshot below:
Accessibility is average - at least 2 clicks from the main page are required to find and go to Questions and Answers. Easy to navigate - this is all somewhat worse. The fact is that the good practices that users are used to are: categories + noticeable search. Using the tag cloud as a navigator in the categories of knowledge base and the lack of search make it very difficult to find information. Our research shows that search in the knowledge base, depending on the industry and its complexity, is used by 50% to 80% of users. Lack of search catastrophically affects self-service rates.
And now let's move on to our third factor, the most seemingly key, but as practice shows, the least developed by companies is the content of the knowledge base. To understand which materials are useful and which do not answer customer questions, you need to give them the opportunity to evaluate knowledge base articles. Standard CMS systems do not allow this, therefore, the units of projects have an assessment of the usefulness of articles or answers. In the case of Anywayanyday, unfortunately, there are none either. In general, the section looks decent and contains a lot of useful information, but the project has a lot of potential for improvement.
Here is an example of the implementation of such a function at the Internet provider Sevensky:
Evaluation of articles helps a lot with improving the content of the knowledge base, but what about their number? How to understand what information your clients really lack? This is very easy to do if you have search and statistics of search queries. For example, in our platform Copiny , we record and analyze search queries, we see which of them were effective and based on this we can conclude which articles need to be added to the knowledge base to ensure its completeness. Please note that materials similar in content are displayed next to the article, thus we also increase the effectiveness of the knowledge base.
How to start creating a knowledge base?
Now let's talk about the banality: email and feedback form. For many companies, you can put an equal sign between these two tools, since the messages from the form are still in the form of letters falling on the email support service.
The main disadvantage of all such feedback forms is that they do not in any way reduce the number of calls, they do not have self-service mechanisms. Even if 100 users ask the same question: “How to set up ...?”, All these 100 customers will have to give the same answer. Our statistics show that if a knowledge base search is connected to the usual feedback form, the number of single-type hits will decrease by 70%.
This approach significantly increases the availability and usefulness of the existing knowledge base and at the same time allows customers to contact the company if there was no answer. Additionally, in the feedback form, it is useful to transfer information about the browser and the client's operating system, its account, if it is authorized on the site, or any other useful information.
If the volume of requests is significant, for example, more than 20-30 requests per day, then it is reasonable to use some kind of HelpDesk to process online requests. Also, one cannot do without it if several people work in the support service and they need to work in parallel with appeals.
How to make a feedback form?
Often the forum is not considered as a key channel of support and feedback; it has unfairly received the status of an “outdated” tool. However, there is a huge untapped potential in reducing the burden on support and obtaining high-quality feedback with the help of the community. In our opinion, outdated tools in the form of traditional forum engines prevent the realization of all this potential and a lack of understanding how to do it properly. As an example, let's take a closer look at the Beeline forum:
We see more than 16,700 topics and more than 412,000 answers. This is a tremendous source of useful information and a storehouse of solved problems of subscribers. The forum contains dozens and hundreds of useful materials from customers, detailed illustrated instructions for setting up equipment. Any knowledge base is incompatible with the amount of useful information contained on the forum. But all this knowledge is practically unavailable for 97% of clients!
A short life story. I somehow connected the home Internet from Beeline and decided to use D-Link DIR320, which had been lying around for a long time, as a router. The installer who connected the Internet, even for a fee, could not configure the Internet, since my router was not “recommended” for the beeline. Well, I thought, we will act in the old manner. I open the search in my phone, enter “ setting dir-320 for beeline ”, and lo and behold ! The first link in the search results is a beautifully illustrated instruction on the company's forum from the most ordinary user. You see, an ordinary client made an excellent instruction for different firmware with pictures just for free!
And take any autoforum, a forum of interest, where people just help each other. So why shouldn't companies use this great opportunity? Again, the main problem in the tools.
For the community to earn 146%:
How effectively can this all work? For example, moving the support community from a traditional forum to a specialized platform can reduce the number of tickets by 30-50% within 2-3 months. Here is an example of such a community (works on Copiny )
In this article, I did not consider such tools as an online consultant or callback, as they are primarily aimed at sales. Mass customer support with these tools will be very expensive.
How to choose the best support scheme for your project? Just need to make a knowledge base / FAQ and feedback form. If there are not many users, then you can do without special tools or use free versions. If you have a large project and need professional tools, it is better to use specialized solutions.
Do I need a community? If you have a consumer online service, SaaS or desktop software - definitely worth a try. If you have a content portal or an online store, the support community will not be as effective. I do not immediately recommend using traditional forums to create a community, use specialized platforms. Many paid and free options.
Friends, if you have any questions about the article, I will be glad to answer in the comments. Happy New Year, everyone!
')
Knowledge base
Let's start with the Knowledge Base and FAQ. The public knowledge base on the company's website is the first thing with which people usually start organizing support and self-service for subscribers on the site. Below are examples of knowledge bases of MoiSklad and Wix services:
Most Internet companies have a knowledge base or simple FAQ in one form or another. What's the Difference? Traditionally, FAQ means a page that contains the most common questions and answers to them. The knowledge base is already more complicated, usually it is a set of categorized articles with screenshots, videos, etc. Below is an example of a good FAQ of the Connected:
For a complex project, they usually create a comprehensive knowledge base with detailed articles and a squeeze in the form of a FAQ on key issues. For a small project, for example, a small online store, one convenient FAQ will suffice.
How to do well?
Our analysis shows that the effectiveness of the knowledge base depends on 3 important factors:
- availability (if the knowledge base is available in 1 click, then it is convenient for users),
- ease of navigation (search availability and clear category structure),
- content (quantity and quality of available articles).
Often, knowledge bases are made using the standard functionality of their CMS systems that run the project site. At the same time, the effectiveness of such a self-service tool is extremely small. Let's briefly go over the criteria and evaluate the Anywayanyday Q & A section from the screenshot below:
Accessibility is average - at least 2 clicks from the main page are required to find and go to Questions and Answers. Easy to navigate - this is all somewhat worse. The fact is that the good practices that users are used to are: categories + noticeable search. Using the tag cloud as a navigator in the categories of knowledge base and the lack of search make it very difficult to find information. Our research shows that search in the knowledge base, depending on the industry and its complexity, is used by 50% to 80% of users. Lack of search catastrophically affects self-service rates.
And now let's move on to our third factor, the most seemingly key, but as practice shows, the least developed by companies is the content of the knowledge base. To understand which materials are useful and which do not answer customer questions, you need to give them the opportunity to evaluate knowledge base articles. Standard CMS systems do not allow this, therefore, the units of projects have an assessment of the usefulness of articles or answers. In the case of Anywayanyday, unfortunately, there are none either. In general, the section looks decent and contains a lot of useful information, but the project has a lot of potential for improvement.
Here is an example of the implementation of such a function at the Internet provider Sevensky:
Evaluation of articles helps a lot with improving the content of the knowledge base, but what about their number? How to understand what information your clients really lack? This is very easy to do if you have search and statistics of search queries. For example, in our platform Copiny , we record and analyze search queries, we see which of them were effective and based on this we can conclude which articles need to be added to the knowledge base to ensure its completeness. Please note that materials similar in content are displayed next to the article, thus we also increase the effectiveness of the knowledge base.
How to start creating a knowledge base?
- The easiest way to choose is the statistics of support calls or feedback form. Group appeals by topic and prepare good materials. This in some approximation allows you to make the initial filling of the knowledge base.
- If you want to make “good”, then you cannot do without specialized solutions. This can be a specialized software, Help Desk system or Community platform. Otherwise, you can try to implement the knowledge base by means of your CMS and its plugins.
Feedback form and email
Now let's talk about the banality: email and feedback form. For many companies, you can put an equal sign between these two tools, since the messages from the form are still in the form of letters falling on the email support service.
The main disadvantage of all such feedback forms is that they do not in any way reduce the number of calls, they do not have self-service mechanisms. Even if 100 users ask the same question: “How to set up ...?”, All these 100 customers will have to give the same answer. Our statistics show that if a knowledge base search is connected to the usual feedback form, the number of single-type hits will decrease by 70%.
This approach significantly increases the availability and usefulness of the existing knowledge base and at the same time allows customers to contact the company if there was no answer. Additionally, in the feedback form, it is useful to transfer information about the browser and the client's operating system, its account, if it is authorized on the site, or any other useful information.
If the volume of requests is significant, for example, more than 20-30 requests per day, then it is reasonable to use some kind of HelpDesk to process online requests. Also, one cannot do without it if several people work in the support service and they need to work in parallel with appeals.
How to make a feedback form?
- The easiest option is to use a component or module of your CMS. Simple, free, but not always effective.
- You can also use specialized services for support and feedback like ours.
- The third option - online consultants in the "offline" mode, which will be discussed below.
Support Forum
Often the forum is not considered as a key channel of support and feedback; it has unfairly received the status of an “outdated” tool. However, there is a huge untapped potential in reducing the burden on support and obtaining high-quality feedback with the help of the community. In our opinion, outdated tools in the form of traditional forum engines prevent the realization of all this potential and a lack of understanding how to do it properly. As an example, let's take a closer look at the Beeline forum:
We see more than 16,700 topics and more than 412,000 answers. This is a tremendous source of useful information and a storehouse of solved problems of subscribers. The forum contains dozens and hundreds of useful materials from customers, detailed illustrated instructions for setting up equipment. Any knowledge base is incompatible with the amount of useful information contained on the forum. But all this knowledge is practically unavailable for 97% of clients!
A short life story. I somehow connected the home Internet from Beeline and decided to use D-Link DIR320, which had been lying around for a long time, as a router. The installer who connected the Internet, even for a fee, could not configure the Internet, since my router was not “recommended” for the beeline. Well, I thought, we will act in the old manner. I open the search in my phone, enter “ setting dir-320 for beeline ”, and lo and behold ! The first link in the search results is a beautifully illustrated instruction on the company's forum from the most ordinary user. You see, an ordinary client made an excellent instruction for different firmware with pictures just for free!
And take any autoforum, a forum of interest, where people just help each other. So why shouldn't companies use this great opportunity? Again, the main problem in the tools.
For the community to earn 146%:
- Remove any obstacles in terms of registering and viewing the community. For example, why am I, as a forum visitor coming from a search, not immediately able to see screenshots? Why should I register?
- Make your community search accessible, convenient and visible. Conventional forum engines provide navigation through categories, but the search is of secondary importance. Everyone knows "use search" and "have already discussed"?
- Encourage and encourage customers to actively help each other. This phenomenon is called peer-to-peer support, but not applicable to all projects. If a company encourages responses from customers, then 90% or more of all calls may be closed by other customers of the company. This already works on regular forums, but not as efficiently.
- Provide customers with easy and convenient access to the forum. Usually the forum is hidden deep in the depths of the company's website, which greatly reduces its availability. If you make a noticeable link or place a special widget, then this will increase the coverage of clients from 3% to 20% or more (depends on the project).
- Moderate and manage its content. To fix important topics and bring them to the main page, merge duplicate topics, highlight answers as solutions.
How effectively can this all work? For example, moving the support community from a traditional forum to a specialized platform can reduce the number of tickets by 30-50% within 2-3 months. Here is an example of such a community (works on Copiny )
Conclusion
In this article, I did not consider such tools as an online consultant or callback, as they are primarily aimed at sales. Mass customer support with these tools will be very expensive.
How to choose the best support scheme for your project? Just need to make a knowledge base / FAQ and feedback form. If there are not many users, then you can do without special tools or use free versions. If you have a large project and need professional tools, it is better to use specialized solutions.
Do I need a community? If you have a consumer online service, SaaS or desktop software - definitely worth a try. If you have a content portal or an online store, the support community will not be as effective. I do not immediately recommend using traditional forums to create a community, use specialized platforms. Many paid and free options.
Friends, if you have any questions about the article, I will be glad to answer in the comments. Happy New Year, everyone!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/246203/
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