SPEAKER: The value of customer self-service in the digital age, rise of self-service in customer support. Today, it has become imperative to respond to customers faster as it directly correlates with the customer experience that an organization can deliver. From a customer standpoint, when they have a query, they want to find a solution on their own through self-service. 

Forrester report suggests that 91% of customers prefer using a self-service portal if it meets their needs. And the percentage of customers using self-service portal is continuously increasing becoming the first customer support choice. Why self-service? 

Self-service customer support is a type of customer support where the agent needn't assist the customer and lets the customer access the solution at the click of a button. Typically, users log in to a self-service portal and find the right solution pertaining to their query from the knowledge base, category articles, or forums. Here are a few reasons why customers prefer self-service. 

One, self-service channels offer solutions faster and on the go. Two, knowledge base used as part of self-service helps customers fix issues on their own. The benefits of self-service, A, cost-effective, reduce dependency on support agents for resolving issues results in bringing down the cost of an agent solving a recurring query. B, increased availability, since self-service portals are usually a list of knowledge base or category articles, there is no time sensitivity and are available at all times. 

C, improved customer experience, companies offering self-service options can ensure that their customers won't have to wait with or without an ETA for an agent to resolve their query. D, effective use of support agents' time. With customers having access to self-service options support agents can save their time otherwise spent on handling repetitive queries. Thus, agents can effectively use their time to focus on complex and high priority issues. 

Getting the right mix of support agents and self-service, implementing self-service the right way can drive a lot of benefits. Organizations needs to have the right mix of technology and human support to drive the expected results. Accessibility of your customer support agent, setting up a self-service portal doesn't mean that the customer will not want to reach out to a support agent. 

Customers could still want to reach out to support agents. And it creates a very bad experience if it's too difficult to reach them. Regardless of the quality of your self-service portal, it is important to ensure easy accessibility to your support agents across channels, such as chat, email, or phone. 

Self-service support introduced by customer support agents, too often, customer support agents are measured based on the time spent on resolving customer queries. And therefore, support tends to have several chat sessions running simultaneously. Instead, agents can be encouraged to play a critical role in the adoption of self-service by taking a moment to educate customers about it. A simple walkthrough or sharing of a link by the agent can help save their time in the long run.