Understand What Your Users Need
After you understand the audience you serve, it is time to think about what your audience needs, which can be questions they need answers to or quests for more knowledge.
Types of knowledge
There are three most common reasons why people search for information. It is important to consider the human perspective to focus on how they ask questions and how they look for information.
- Break-fix - I have a problem with my product or service. It is not functioning as intended and I need help.
- Perform a task - I am trying to do something, but I do not know how to do it. I need a step-by-step guide on how to do it.
- Become an expert - I love my product or service and I want to know everything about it.
Break-fix and task-oriented questions are usually the primary drivers of support calls. Understanding the types of questions your users will have will help you identify the correct content to answer those questions via self-service. The expert-oriented question should not be ignored, as those users tend to be the most vocal and potentially high-value customers.
Action Item: When looking for content, ask yourself, "will this content be useful for my newly identified audience?" If the answer is "no", is there another good reason this content should be included?
Gap analysis
The most important component of an effective self-service strategy is to eliminate obstacles for customers.
Determine when and why your customers need support. Find out where customers experience the greatest friction in finding solutions and any related obstacles. Evaluate gaps in the content channels that need to be filled. Determine if the content you have needs to be updated or if you need to make cornerstone content available in the channels your customers prefer.
Connect with customers from start to finish
Customers constantly seek content from before purchasing to long after the sale. In the process of finding, comparing, and choosing brands, customers are propelled by timely and relevant content. How do organizations continually meet this demand across the entire customer journey?
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