By Tricia Morris, Parature
For better or for worse, three little words have changed customer service forever: “Just Google it.” Not only do consumers want to find the answers themselves; they want to be the first to find them, and the first to share them with others (especially on social media), which is why consistent multichannel self-service is so important. 
The 24/7 convenience of search engines has dramatically increased the demand for all types of self-service content including FAQs, downloadable documents and how-to videos. Compounding these great self-service expectations is an increasing need for speed. According to a 2013 Forrester Research report, customers not only want more information across more channels, they want companies to value their time in making it readily available, with 71% saying valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide them with good service.
Self-Service’s Future Stems from Customer Service’s Past
While around-the-clock connectivity and the power of search engines have definitely led to increased self-service usage, the rise of the self-service customer also owes itself to the many poor live-person customer service interactions that have gone before. Long wait times, being passed around to multiple customer service reps or dealing with an impolite CSR have all led many a frustrated customer to say, “I’ll just find the answer myself.”
In a new report titled The Real Self-Service Economy, 40% of approximately 3,000 consumers in a global survey said they prefer self-service to human contact for their future contact with companies, and 70% expect a company website to include a self-service application.
How to Connect with the Self-Service Customer
The infographic below from Parature shows the increasing importance of catering to the self-service customer. Join WalkMe and Parature on October 9 at 1pm Eastern for a free webinar, How to Boost Self Service Adoption Rates and Lower Customer Support Costs, to learn key best practices in self-service delivery from two leading customer service software providers.
Register Now
Tricia Morris is the Sr. Marketing Writer for Parature, a global customer service software provider serving more than 3,000 well-known brands and 70 million end users. Tricia promotes customer service best practices through Parature’s Customer Success blog, and is the #1 author on CustomerThink.com. Her customer service best practice posts have also been featured on Business2Community.com, ExploreB2B, Social Media Today and YAHOO!
