E-Service Best Practice #1: The E-Service Champion

Someone has to “own” e-service. The long-term owner of an e-service implementation does not have to be the executive or manager who initiated it—although this is often the case. It must be someone who fully understands the objectives of the implementation and business needs, and supervises the application of best practices.

The champion is needed beyond the launch of the project. E-service is a highly dynamic business solution. It constantly adapts to the changing needs of the company and its customers as new products and services are introduced, markets and technologies evolve, and use of the site grows. Without a champion, site content is likely to be neglected and become stale. Support across the organization for the success of the e-service initiative will fade. Eventually, this will manifest in reduced effectiveness and lower ROI. Champions provide both direction and accountability for e-service projects. That’s why the most successful first-wave adopters have (almost without exception) had very strong e-service champions leading the way.

E-Service Best Practice #2: Ensuring Cross-Department Collaboration

Although strong individual leadership is essential to e-service success, it is equally critical to make sure an e-service effort is fully supported by the diverse parties-of-interest whose participation makes it work. Without this support, key e-service processes break down and undermine the timely creation of effective self-service content.

These processes typically involve people from different departments. For example, whereas a customer support manager may champion e-service, someone in marketing may administer the corporate Web site itself. The Web site administrator must be involved to ensure any changes to the site helps drive customers to the e-service content. These changes will be described in more detail next.

Similarly, product management groups and other technicians typically generate a lot of content. It is advisable to have their buy-in on the e-service effort and prepare them to collaborate on the creation of content. Often, these groups have a variety of existing materials that can be very useful in creating content.

One way to motivate groups to participate in the e-service processes is to appeal to their self-interest. For example, e-service provides valuable feedback to product managers about the problems customers encounter, which can be used to improve next-generation products or even spawn ideas for new ones. Similarly, because e-service draws customers to the Web site, it can help marketing to do online cross-selling and up-selling.

Depending on the nature of the individual business, other participants may also be enlisted in the e-service effort: accounting, shipping, sales, suppliers, distributors, and so forth. Regardless of the specific participants involved, every e-service champion should determine whose help will be needed and get commitment from the beginning of the project. That way, when the time comes for them to contribute to the process, there will be no surprises and arguments.

E-Service Best Practice #3: Committing to Continuous Improvement

Because e-service technology delivers substantial benefits quickly, it is easy for organizations to become complacent about their implementations. Even an initial self-service rate of 60–70% results in rapid payback on a software investment. Many companies enter a period of complacency soon after their e-service system is up and running.

As valuable as a self-service rate of 60–70% may be, a rate of 85–95% is even better. And, those rates are achievable for companies. E-service, by its nature, provides the feedback necessary to “tweak” implementations to increase the effectiveness of content and site navigation. By taking advantage of these built-in feedback mechanisms (which range from customers’ own comments about content to site traffic statistics), diligent e-service managers can increase ROI by 200% and more.

E-Service Best Practice #4: Help Is Just a Click Away

The faster customers get to helpful knowledge items, the better. The optimum solution is to clearly identify links on the home page (which can be labeled “Customer Service,” “Need help?” or something similar) that leads directly to a list of top ten answers.

By contrast, a surprising number of early e-service implementers made the mistake of nesting e-service content within other areas of the site. As a result, customers sent e-mails or made phone calls to CSRs without realizing they could have found the answers to their questions themselves.

Another common mistake is forcing the customer to navigate through one or more layers of knowledge categories before finding actual answers. This may seem like an intelligent way to manage the navigation process, but it tends to be counterproductive. Users need to see answers right away. Because the bulk of their needs can be addressed with a relatively small number of knowledge items, it’s best to present those knowledge items to them as quickly as possible.

If it turns out that those knowledge items aren’t what they’re looking for, they can then continue searching. Plus, now that they see what the knowledge items on the site look like, they proceed with their search with more confidence.

E-Service Best Practice #5: Customers See Content Before Phone Numbers or E-mail

Many Web site managers consider it a given that the company’s toll-free number is displayed prominently on the site—sometimes on every page. Conventional site designers tend to put a “Contact us” link on the home page and everywhere else. But, successful e-service practitioners found this to be counterproductive. If you give customers a phone number or an e-mail link to use, then they assume this is your preferred contact method. As a result, e-service content is ignored or never even browsed.

An alternative approach proven to be more effective for both customer service teams and the customers themselves is to provide support phone numbers and/or an e-mail form after they have viewed at least one knowledge item from the e-service system. As soon as they enter the e-service area, they then have ready access to phone or e-mail support—but not before.

This approach is not customer-unfriendly in any way. Customers like knowing a site has lots of useful content. But, they have to be directed to that content at least once to experience its benefits. Once they have that first positive experience, they’re hooked. And, by habituating customers to using the Web site as a self-help resource, e-service adopters can reduce their service and support costs.

On the other hand, some Web site managers don’t display any type of contact information, and simply do not want to be contacted at all. It makes one wonder why they’re advertising in the first place or why the page even exists. This can be quite irritating and very annoying to prospective customers. In fact, there are some Web pages that do have an e-mail contact link, but when you try to send an e-mail, it bounces back as undeliverable. Or, to make matters worse, there are Web sites that don’t respond to any e-mail contact at all, no matter how many times you send a message or inquiry. The ISPs that sponsor these types of sites should simply just drop them from their customer list and sever the link. Their existence is not doing anyone any favors.

E-Service Best Practice #6: Everything Customers Need Can Be Found in E-Service

Many companies have an abundance of useful information on their site, but it’s scattered across various areas. Product information is in one place, shipping information is in another, return policies are somewhere else. Often, there is a good reason for this information to be in these different places. Implementing e-service doesn’t mean removing this information or completely redesigning the corporate Web site.

It is important to make sure this information can be found within the e-service area. Once a customer enters the e-service area looking for assistance, they should not have to leave it and look elsewhere to find what they need.

For example, a leading sporting goods manufacturer had an excellent product selection tool in the sales area of its site. As good as it was, it turned out that many customers didn’t use it and instead called the company’s CSRs to get walked through the selection process. After the company started its e-service initiative, it made the very same tool available in its e-service section—as the answer to the question “Which item is right for me?” Remarkably, use of the tool rose dramatically—and phone calls dropped. That’s because customers found the tool during their quest for help, rather than during a less directed browsing of the site.

It’s worthwhile to look at the information on the company site as a whole and evaluate whether any of it could also be used as an answer to a FAQ. This simple repurposing of existing content can substantially improve customer satisfaction and self-service rates.

E-Service Best Practice #7: Get Visual and Interactive

Well-written text can be very helpful, but often something more is required to answer a customer’s question. The interactive product specification tool previously mentioned is a prime example. Customers can choose from a list of various parameters and, at the end, are given the exact model that applies to their needs—with a hyperlink that leads them right to the appropriate Web page. Many companies selling technical products offer schematics or diagrams, some allowing customers to click their way through a given procedure or repair. Several companies are adding streaming video to their e-service content.

In many cases, the necessary visual content may already exist in the form of online manuals or computer-based training. The trick is to get that content from its current location onto the e-service site, and to make it available as an answer to the appropriate question.

In other cases, it may be worthwhile to develop the necessary content expressly for e-service purposes. The cost of doing so is often minimal and can be justified by looking at the number of phone and e-mail support incidents generated by the issue.

E-Service Best Practice #8: More Links in More Places

Customers don’t always begin their visit to a Web site looking for help. Sometimes, they start by browsing or merely shopping and then encounter an issue that creates a question in their minds. Often, this question may have to do with a feature or process on the site itself. That’s why it’s often wise to put additional prominent links back to the site’s e-service content area in many places.

In fact, many of the most successful e-service implementers keep a prominent link to their e-service content in a consistent place throughout the site. This reminds customers the e-service content is available and it includes material that is relevant to any topic they may have questions about. By reinforcing this message with a consistent visual cue, customers can be conditioned to use e-service with greater frequency, rather than calling or e-mailing. Habits are hard to break, so it’s important to be consistent in pointing out that help can be found online.

E-Service Best Practice #9: Tell Your Customers About It

A large percentage of customers are in front of their PCs when on the phone. So, it’s a good idea to put a suggestion about using e-service on call center “hold” messages. That way, users can take action as they wait for a CSR to get free. In many cases, they can solve their problem while they’re on hold. CSRs can reinforce the e-service message if they realize during the call the question could have been answered online. By politely showing the customer where to find the answer, the CSR encourages the customer to try the Web next time.

E-Service Best Practice #10: Always Provide a Way Out

Although it’s critical to not present phone or e-mail channels before customers check online content, the converse is also true. After a customer responds to the invitation to examine the e-service resource, he or she must not feel trapped in a dead end. This creates a disincentive to try e-service again. So, immediate contact with a CSR (whether by phone, e-mail, or real-time chat) must always be available as an option within the e-service system.

E-Service Best Practice #11: Auto Suggest Answers to E-Mails Before They’re Sent

Customers often launch an e-mail from a Web site without realizing the answer to their question is just a click away. Users can avoid responding to these e-mails manually by having their software scan e-mail text and automatically suggest relevant knowledge items to the customer. This eliminates the delay that occurs if the e-mail was sent and replied to later. It also teaches customers that answers to their questions can be found on the site encouraging them to find their own answers on subsequent site visits.

E-Service Best Practice #12: Take Advantage of Reports and Other Feedback

The most successful RightNow users take advantage of the software’s reporting functions to continually improve their e-service content[2]. A prime example of this is the Keyword Search report, which shows the search terms customers use most frequently. If there’s a commonly used search term in the report and no corresponding e-service knowledge items, then something is amiss. Savvy e-service managers respond to such situations by developing and/or reorganizing knowledge items to address the search terms customers are entering.

E-Service Best Practice #13: Activate Appropriate Escalation/Workflow Rules

If responding to e-mails within 24 hours is a primary objective, for example, then workflow rules can be used to alert managers to events that remain unanswered after 18 hours. Workflow tools can route e-mails containing specific terms to assigned subject-matter experts—eliminating the delays and confusion arising from manual routing.

These rules can serve other purposes as well. For example, if a certain e-mail subject line characterizes a new breed of computer virus, then e-mails fitting the profile can be automatically deleted. A reply to the e-mail can also be automatically sent, informing the sender of what happened and suggesting that they check their e-mail system for infection.

E-Service Best Practice #14: Use Emotional Indicators to Spot Crisis Customers

Using emotional indicators to spot crises customers is a special case of the previously mentioned routing technique. Many times, customer service teams score more points with the customer by rescuing a bad situation than they do when they take care of a more mundane issue.

E-Service Best Practice #15: Get Started Now and Enhance Implementation Over Time

The most successful e-service practitioners aren’t those who wait until they’ve developed a perfect system to launch it. They start with “seed” knowledge items and base functionality and expand from there. Almost without exception, e-service winners have started with limited content and a simple set of e-service functions. What ultimately makes them winners is that they get started sooner rather than later, and then continuously refine their e-service implementation to incorporate the preceding best practices. By taking this incremental approach, they begin to experience the benefits of e-service immediately and then expand those benefits over time.

Finally, e-service has proven to offer tremendous bottom-line benefits to companies in virtually every market segment. E-service best practices are critical to achieving those benefits. But, no one gets from here to there without taking the first step. In other words, that first step is the most important best practice of all.