We know that self-service technology offers empowerment to users — staff, contractors, students, parents, vendors, citizens, and anyone else using that technology. When done right, self-service ensures that people can do what they need, when they need to, in the way they want. Instead of staying tied up on the phone for a long time, for example, they could access a self-service portal and be empowered with the correct information on their terms.
Empowerment via self-service technology means users are not burdened with taking on tasks without any help. The processes, options, and information needed to meet their goals should be readily available and accessible. Companies can be proactive with self-service, using data to understand when a user might need guidance, and should always offer simple, intuitive service options.
Sometimes, seeing how other people accomplish this makes it easier to understand how to offer your own self-service technology. Here are a few examples highlighting how the implementation of self-service technology ultimately empowered users.
B2B Self-Service Portal
A company involved in business automation created a self-service portal for its customers, enabling them to answer their questions and issues while submitting tickets when required. The system includes an app, with which customers can upload the system profiles of the software they use. This is a key step in empowerment: because users can customize, the system respects their time and needs by only giving relevant answers and info.
The system will also auto-populate forms based on what it knows about the customer, again respecting their time and their need for tailored services. The self-serve system further uses analytics to understand what questions and problems commonly occur, turning those FAQs into self-serve options.
The results are good. Since implementation, over 80 percent of problems and incidents go through the portal and customer information helps route those issues. Instead of wasting time, users are directed to the perfect person to help, based on their skills and capacity for resolving incidents.
Better Tech for Improved Customization
Recognizing how important customization is in self-service technology, RapidMiner was looking for a new platform. They wanted to improve the community to empower their users, and take advantage of branding, but were restricted. With a new partner in self-service technology, they could create a platform that has customization built-in automatically instead of having to manually meet customer needs.
The results were immediate, according to RapidMinder, with significant decreases in time to solution, time to response, and platform costs. They have also increased engagement with their customers, who feel more like the company understands what they need with the customization and branding. They use performance indicators to measure their users and the company, and ensure that they’re providing customers with the correct information.
Providing Effective Self-Service Research
One firm of 13 information professionals supports 70,000 workers, which means that the small team needs to empower those users with self-service technology to be effective. There are simply not enough professionals to go around! To support and empower their users, the firm decided to use a knowledge center.
They can select the right resources, at the right time, for the right users, while ensuring that all information is accessible to the entire user base. They organize the resources and ensure that all of the information is searchable. And, to truly empower users to find what they need, when they need it, the company looks at analytics to see how end users look for things, rather than strictly focusing on how the professionals want to organize.
Empowering these users teaches them how to best use the resources, with videos, one-on-one training, and more extensive group sessions. They always meet with new employees and orient them to the self-service technology as part of onboarding. And, the company reviews and evaluates their self-service technology every year to ensure that they are optimized to empower their audience.
These are just a handful of examples highlighting how the right technology and the right approach to implementation improve your work with users. Every company and organization, and its users, will have different needs and a different view of what it takes to feel empowered. We are here to help you create the best system for your company and your end users’ needs, for great results all around. Along with Workflow Process and Incident Tracking, we offer GroupLink Self-Service Portal, and GroupLink for SafestSchools. Our systems offer eWorkflow, work from home, and IT service management capabilities to empower your users.