Today’s contact center technology provides a cutting-edge customer experience across a wide range of contact points. From voice, chat, email, SMS and social media, it is possible to engage with customers like never before. The cost of providing such exemplary service has gone down compared to how it was decades ago using traditional voice call centers.
But even with today’s technology, it’s still difficult to keep up with the demands of an ever-growing consumer market. How can you conserve on precious resources and still meet the very high bar of customer expectations? The answer is quite elegant and simple: you create a knowledge base.
What Is a Knowledge Base?
A knowledge base is a system that tabulates all the processes, documents, guides, and insights your contact center operation needs to provide an excellent customer experience. The 2018 Call Center Helper report shows that a whopping 91.1% of contact centers have a knowledge base in use, and if your center isn’t using one, you are definitely behind the curve.
A good knowledge base has tremendous benefits for any contact center.
Reduce Handle Time
All center efficiency thrives on fast average handle times (AHT). The faster your agents can handle inquiries, the more time they have to take on more customer concerns. The biggest benefit of a knowledge base is the easy access of answers, specifically answers that agents can quickly pull up while on a call or chat. Without a knowledge base, agents may need to ask their supervisors or teammates what the correct answer is, placing the customer on long holds and driving AHT up.
Ensure Accurate Resolution
Contact centers all have a correct way to address customer concerns. From the type of greeting used to the correct charge amounts for services, each business has unique workflows that can confuse even the most seasoned agent.
Some industries have much more complex dealings in terms of process: a tech support inquiry for computer warranty or repair for instance can have a lot of moving parts, quite literally. Having all the correct processes documented and at your agent’s fingertips ensures that the correct resolution is offered to your customers, saving everyone time and money.
Streamline Training
There is no substitute for a good training program with a trainer who can teach agents the correct knowledge and processes of your business. However, when a company is large enough that their products and services are highly-nuanced, it is not practical to teach every single detail during training.
That is where a knowledge base comes in: the trainer can teach the basics of the workflows, showing the agents how to access details from the knowledge base. Learning how to find the correct answers is a skill call center agents need and is a huge step in creating a self-sufficient and empowered workforce.
Improve Your Analytics
The knowledge base isn’t limited to your agent’s process knowledge. Modern contact centers can take data from calls, chats and other interactions with customers, and put this into a database which you can use to get insights on what customers are calling about.
This helps identify trends which you can use to train your agents, improving their knowledge on the hot topics that customers bring up.
Help Avoid Legal Issues
Many industries have strict laws in place to protect consumers. A credit card company or a medical insurance business for instance, will have very complicated processes to ensure compliance with various legal requirements. Complying with things like HIPAA, TILA, FCRA, and other legal requirements is crucial, and violations can result in stiff penalties to your business, or even result in a shutdown. A proper knowledge base has all the correct procedures and requirements detailed, so agents can successfully navigate these legal challenges.
In the end, a superior knowledge management system can really create a lot of value for your business. Contact center operations thrive on the quick and efficient transfer of data, resulting in superior results, higher productivity and happier customers. If you want to get more value out of your limited resources, a proper knowledge base is a must.
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