THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO

SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT FOR

FAST-GROWING COMPANIES

© 2013 desk.com. All rights reserved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION

II. SERVING IN THE AGE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT

III. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENT

IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICES

V. MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT

VI. CONCLUSION

APPENDIX
I. INTRODUCTION
I. INTRODUCTION I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
THE RISE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
SUPPORT
Self-service support is on the rise —
­ customers want it and support teams
III. GETTING STARTED
WITH CONTENT
need it. If you are a fast-growing company, can you afford to not take
self-service support seriously?
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST It’s official...consumer expectations of customer support has reached new heights that nobody believed possible.
PRACTICES What’s worse, is that fast-growing companies are feeling the brunt of this force as their rapdily-growing customer
base has forced management teams to make massive adjustments in a short amount of time. But should that stop
V. MEASURING THE them from providing absolutely stellar customer service? Absolutely not.
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE One form of customer service on the rise is self-service support - a cost efficient and effective way to provide
SUPPORT accurate product information to customers. In fact according to Forrester, 72% of customers prefer self-service to
resolve their support issues over picking up the phone or sending an email.1 In this “Ultimate Guide,” we will be
VI. CONCLUSION touching on the foundation of self-service support – primarily, what this level of support means to fast-growing
companies as well as their customers and organization.
APPENDIX
We hope you walk away with the following insights:

• A firm understanding of the various types of self-service support and their benefits
• The agent productivity advantages and monetary value of investing in self-service support tools
• Steps on getting started with knowledge base content and how to keep it fresh and relevant
• Examples of awesomely designed support centers and what makes them effective
• How to measure the success of a support center and ROI of self-service support

You will be exercising both sides of the brain as you learn about the nitty gritty numbers of the ROI of self-service
and the creative aspect of designing a great experience for your customer. Complete with visuals, case studies as
well as concrete facts and figures, we hope you enjoy this guide and walk away with a better knowledge for your
self-service support efforts!

1
Forrester Research, Do “Your Customers Want to Telephone Your Service?” 2010. Try Desk.com For Free Now
I. INTRODUCTION I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SELF-SERVICE GLOSSARY
SUPPORT
Self-Service FAQ
III. GETTING STARTED Self-service is the act of a customer resolving his FAQ or “Frequently Asked Questions” are predominately
WITH CONTENT or her question using product information provided found in a support center. An FAQ is a perfect format for
by the company. customers that typically have the same problems.
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST Self-Service Support Community or Forum
PRACTICES Self-service support is an organization’s efforts to The basic structure of a community or forum is a set
supply their customer base with accurate product of discussions written and promoted by the users or
V. MEASURING THE information in hopes that they can resolve their own consumers. They encourage product usage as well as
EFFECTIVENESS questions. Self-service support tools may range provide users with the opportunity to collaborate with
OF SELF-SERVICE from a support center, FAQ, instructional guides or one another.
SUPPORT step-by-step videos.
Tickets or Cases
VI. CONCLUSION Support Center A ticket or case is an incoming inquiry from a customer.
An online support center (also known as a
APPENDIX customer portal or help center) is a self-service Agents
portal for customers to seek a knowledge base of Agents are a businesses’s team members that receive
instructional articles, FAQs, how-to videos and and resolve tickets or customer inquiries. They are an
more. They typically contain product or service essential component of a customer support strategy as
information that allow customers to actively resolve they are the individuals that serve the customer day in
their own questions. and day out.

Knowledge Base
A knowledge base is an entity within a support
center. The content of a knowledge base is
unchanging information presented in a logical order
and is written in an manner determined by the
company, rather than the user community.

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I. INTRODUCTION I. INTRODUCTION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
WHAT IS A SUPPORT CENTER?
SUPPORT
A support center is an online resource for all product information and is the beating heart of self-service support.
III. GETTING STARTED With a well-constructed support center, customers can accurately resolve their problems at all hours of the day.
WITH CONTENT However, a support center is only as good as the tools that populate it. Unfortunately, not every size fits all so it is up
to the company to make the necessary strides to find which tools are the most effective for them.
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST Some adequate self-service support tools include:
PRACTICES

V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE VIDEO FAQ “Frequently Asked
SUPPORT There is no better way to Questions”
describe a step-by-step Create an FAQ to avoid
VI. CONCLUSION process than through a repetitive questions from
video. customers.
APPENDIX

Community Forum Knowledge Base

Provide customers the A knowledge base
opportunity to connect holds all of the product
and interact with fellow information within a
users to encourage the support center.
usage of best practices.

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II. SERVING IN THE AGE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
I. INTRODUCTION II. SERVING IN THE AGE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
THE RISE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
SUPPORT
In today’s world of speed, immediate solutions and interconnectivity, customers expect resolutions to their
III. GETTING STARTED problems in the snap of a finger. SNAP! Unfortunately, these expectations have forced fast-growing companies to
WITH CONTENT quickly resolve customers’ problems or risk losing their business. Expectations including:

IV. DESIGN AND • 69% of customers said they were on hold too long when seeking help from a company
LAYOUT BEST • 41% of consumers expect an email response within 6 hours
PRACTICES • 30% of consumers that tweet a customer service question expect a response within 30 minutes
• 71% of online chat customers expect assistance within 5 minutes
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS One can only imagine the stress of meeting these expectations with limited personnel and a rapidly-growing
OF SELF-SERVICE customer base. That is why fast-growing companies are investing in support centers as they realize the cost benefit.
SUPPORT According to a study from Gartner, the self-service industry has grown from $600 million in 2011 to $1 billion in
2012. 2 Self-service support offer benefits to customers and companies alike. Companies benefit by providing
VI. CONCLUSION cost-effective alternatives while customers can solve problems on their own time.

APPENDIX Fast-growing companies that invest in self-service

support, such as an online support center, have noticed
numerous benefits including:
• A decrease in ticket volume
• An increase in customer satisfaction
• Better use of their product or service
• More collaboration between users
• An increase in agent productivity
“[Self-service support] is a critical necessity
for agents who rely on standardized answers
to efficiently answer customer inquiries. It
is also important to customers, as 60% of
consumers use web self-service knowledge
to find answers to their questions. Expect
companies to adopt best practices in
knowledge management.”
- Kate Leggett,
Principal Analyst, Forrester

2
Gartner, “Serving the Self-Service Customer,” 2013. Try Desk.com For Free Now
I. INTRODUCTION II. SERVING IN THE AGE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
UNCERTAIN ABOUT SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT? SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK
SUPPORT
Investing in self-service support is a huge undertaking for any organization - especially fast-growing companies -
III. GETTING STARTED that often do not have the time or resources to take on such a huge venture. It requires time, patience and
WITH CONTENT manpower. However there is clear evidence that the benefits outweigh the time and energy spent. Support team
managers or executives uncertain about investing in a self-service support should consider asking the
IV. DESIGN AND following questions:
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES • Does our organization have the flexibility and time to constantly respond to our growing customer base?
• Does it simply seem like there is not enough time in the day to keep up with our ticket volume?
V. MEASURING THE • Are customers wishing for self-service support from us?
EFFECTIVENESS
• Do we have international customers that are not getting questions resolved due to time differences?
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
If these questions are difficult to answer or if there is a considerable amount of pressure from customers, it might be
time to invest in self-service support, such as a support center. A solid support center gives customers the answers
VI. CONCLUSION
they need 24/7, cuts down on cases and can also be extremely cost-effective.

APPENDIX

At Desk.com, we use our

self-service support tools to easily
create knowledge base articles
and manage our support center.

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I. INTRODUCTION II. SERVING IN THE AGE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
UNCERTAIN ABOUT SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT? SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK
SUPPORT
A well-built support center that is maintained by a company and is highly utilized by customers, has the potential
III. GETTING STARTED to be a huge cost-saver for support teams. The table below is a study from Forrester that represents approximate
WITH CONTENT costs of specific customer service channels per customer contact. A self-service contact from a customer is easily
the most cost-efficient. To put this into a better perspective, the cost of 25 web self-service contacts equals about
IV. DESIGN AND one email contact from an agent.
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES Self-service support is not only evolving as a cost-effective customer service channel, it has also developed into a
huge demand from consumers. A 2012 study of more than 13,000 consumers by the Customer Contact Council
V. MEASURING THE found that 57% of customers preferred to use self-service over the Web - compared to phone-based
EFFECTIVENESS interactions with agents at 42.3%.3 The implementation of a support center is no longer a want, it’s a necessity.
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT

VI. CONCLUSION
Customer Service Channel Approx. Cost Per Contact
APPENDIX
Call center technical support $12 and higher
Call center CSR $6 and higher
Web chat or callback $5 and higher
Email response $2.50 to $5 and higher
Web self-service $0.10 or less
Source: Forrester Research

3
1to1 Media, “Serving the Self-Service Customer,” 2013. Try Desk.com For Free Now
I. INTRODUCTION II. SERVING IN THE AGE OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
REDUCE TICKET VOLUME, INCREASE AGENT EFFICIENCY
SUPPORT
With a rapidly-growing customer base, not only do agents need to be productive, they need to be fast and agile as
well. Customers place a heavy emphasis on resolution times especially when determining where to invest their
III. GETTING STARTED
money. In fact, 82% of consumers in the U.S. said they stopped doing business with a company due to a poor
WITH CONTENT
customer service experience - of these, 55% said a company’s failure to resolve their problems in a timely
manner drove them away4. Unfortunately for fast-growing companies, the rise of customers means the rise of ticket
IV. DESIGN AND
volumes - a huge problem when executives are performing a balancing act between building a business and
LAYOUT BEST
answering customer questions as quickly as possible.
PRACTICES

Nothing throws a stick in the spokes of an agent’s speed better than having to deal with a series of repetitive
V. MEASURING THE
customer inquires - password resets, warranty registrations and plenty more. Fortunately, there is a solution to this
EFFECTIVENESS
problem: self-service support.
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT
Of the numerous benefits self-service
Primary Benefits from Implementing Self-Service Technologies
support provides, increased agent
VI. CONCLUSION
efficiency is a huge value. Self-service
support keeps repetitive customer questions Increased efficiencies 33.3%
APPENDIX
from ever reaching email or the phone lines Reduced costs 17.7%
- allowing agents to be more productive.
Greater customer satisfaction 15.6%
Though a good self-service experience
requires time and money investments in Reduced number of support requests 15.6%
stellar knowledge base content as well as a Customer demand 6.2%
strong support center layout, ticket volumes
can be dramatically reduced allowing agents Improved profitability 3.1%
to focus on their speed and more pressing Source: Supportindustry.com survey, 2009
issues.

One important example of increased agent efficiency comes from Desk.com’s customer: TicketLeap. Before
Ticketleap added their support center, agents spent 80% of their day on the phone helping one customer at a time.
After investing in self-service support, TicketLeap’s team began seeing massive improvements in productivity. Today
agents spend 20% of their time on the phone with complicated cases and 80% on email leveraging articles from the
knowledge base.

4
RightNowTechnologies, “The Customer Experience Impact 2010 Report,” 2010 Try Desk.com For Free Now
III. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENT
I. INTRODUCTION III. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENT
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
IT’S A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT
SUPPORT
Keep it Simple and Press On
III. GETTING STARTED Building support center content is a daunting and rather arduous task - most notably, writing articles for your
WITH CONTENT knowledge base. The hardest part is getting started. What are customers looking for? Am I making sense? The
questions are endless. The key to getting started is to keep content simple - keep articles painless and easy to
IV. DESIGN AND understand than go from there. Senior Customer WOW Manager of Desk.com, Graham Murphy states:
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES “Make sure you’re flagging cases that have a need for self-help content. Keep a list and keep writing up those
articles. Iterative improvement is the key. It’s not easy to write effective, successful documentation. It’s important to
V. MEASURING THE remember, though, that it saves time in the long run. Just keep at it, even one a day if that’s all you can do. Just
EFFECTIVENESS start.”
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT The best tip is to start with a small set of very broad topics or categories and work down from there. Over-structuring
with too many categories that are too specific can lead to confusion for your authors as well as your readers. Over
VI. CONCLUSION time, opportunities for more forum headings or categories will become clear that will in turn, grow your knowledge
base organically.
APPENDIX
Identifying New Content
Once the basic knowledge base articles are created, count on
more to follow in time. A great practice is to empower agents
to recommend new knowledge base articles from repetitive
support cases. When similar case inquiries pile up, agents can
“flag” the tickets as a candidate for creating a support center
article. Once this practice has been implemented, there will be a
significant drop in repetitive questions.

At Desk.com, we empower agents to flag knowledge

base content candidates using our “labels” feature. When
a Customer WOW agent experiences multiple customer
inquiries with the same question, they label them as
“Support Center Candidates” where the ticket is then
evaluated as a possible new piece of content.

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I. INTRODUCTION III. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENT
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
HOW ARE THE PROFESSIONALS DOING IT?
SUPPORT

III. GETTING STARTED “Breaking down the different types of customers and addressing their
WITH CONTENT needs individually is really important. Also, a solid foundation of good
documentation reinforced with plenty of product visuals helps customers
IV. DESIGN AND learn more effectively. Documentation is an essential tool for the entire
LAYOUT BEST company when addressing features of the product, whether or not that is
PRACTICES in a support setting.”

V. MEASURING THE Talton Figgins, Support at Disqus

EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT “We had tried creating text how to’s in the past and we found that our
customers, with their busy work days, that they didn’t want to take the
VI. CONCLUSION time to read and try the steps on their own. With video, we’ve seen a lot
more interest from customers knowing that they can see exactly how to
APPENDIX do what they want to do, but keeping in mind that we’re still here to help
them out in case the video doesn’t match their situation exactly.”

Corey Maertz, Support at DealerFire

“I started when Rdio was in beta so I had the unique ability to create
knowledge base articles as support cases came in. I think it can be really
overwhelming when you’re starting to write articles not knowing what you’re
going to put in there. You need to slowly track that stuff and pay attention
to it and put it in your knowledge base daily rather than feeling like you have
to have everything right at the get go. It will help you and it will help your
knowledge base have everything that people are actually asking about.”

Madelyn Taylor, Head of Support at Rdio

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I. INTRODUCTION III. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENT
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
PUTTING TOGETHER KNOWLEDGE BASE CONTENT
SUPPORT
The first step of researching and preparing knowledge base content is to categorize customers’ habits, common
III. GETTING STARTED problems and preferences, using the words and phrases they would use when searching for help.
WITH CONTENT
Content is King
IV. DESIGN AND Completing any task in a fast-growing company requires efficiency and organization. Building knowledge base
LAYOUT BEST content is no different - the key is to lay out content in a simple and visual way such as a diagram. Putting
PRACTICES together a diagram of knowledge base content is an absolute must for organization. Below is a simple, yet effective
diagram for building knowledge base content.
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS Keep the customer experience in mind through a series of broad topics (marked in purple). These can be
OF SELF-SERVICE specific products that may require multiple articles, getting started resources, FAQs and much more. Once this has
SUPPORT been accomplished, designing the website will be a piece of cake. Remember, the design and layout of a support
center should be built around the content - a support center should not be designed and then filled in with content (it
VI. CONCLUSION won’t make any sense to the customer).

APPENDIX

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I. INTRODUCTION III. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENT
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
MAINTAINING FRESH, RELEVANT CONTENT
SUPPORT
Getting started with content is 50% of a self-service support strategy. The other 50% is maintaining the knowledge
III. GETTING STARTED base content so that it is fresh and constantly relevant to the customers’ needs. If one loosens the reins and forgets
WITH CONTENT to update content, customer satisfaction will immediately go down and it is much more difficult to catch up than to
constantly maintain. Below are a couple of methods to always having fresh and relevant knowledge base articles.
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST Add an Expiration Date
PRACTICES One the easiest and most effective tips is to put an expiration date on knowledge base content. Product features
change as well as interfaces - it’s easy to forget to go back and refresh articles. However, once a date is on the
V. MEASURING THE calendar, teams are most likely to uphold a content refresh initiative.
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE Include a Rating System
SUPPORT Another very simple and important way to maintain fresh content is to implement a rating system into knowledge
base articles - meaning readers can rate their satisfaction with the content. A rating system is a key and almost
VI. CONCLUSION mandatory feature to have in knowledge base content.

APPENDIX Customer service evangelist Greg Meyer suggests: “Identify the top 10 highest rated and lowest rated knowledge
base articles that your customers use, and rewrite them on a content calendar.” By refreshing your highest rated
articles, you are keeping popular posts fresh.

Using Desk.com, readers are able to

rate knowledge base articles. Our
Customer WOW team constantly
monitors these ratings to gauge the
health of articles and determine if it
needs a refreshment.

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I. INTRODUCTION III. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENT
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
TOP 11 BEST PRACTICE TIPS FROM THE PROS
SUPPORT
Getting started with content and your support center layout is an enormous undertaking. However, with a solid plan
III. GETTING STARTED and a little elbow grease, the benefits are endless. Here is a list of eleven best practices from professionals that have
WITH CONTENT years of experience in the field of customer service and self-service technologies.

IV. DESIGN AND 1. Curate your content thoughtfully and organize it 6. Always keep Search front and center, easy to and
LAYOUT BEST clearly easy to use
PRACTICES
2. Provide a feedback mechanism, (and listen to the 7. Offer one final try to match the request with suggested
V. MEASURING THE feedback) answers before an email submission
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE 3. Review content frequently to make sure information 8. Recognize the user; don’t bother them by collecting
SUPPORT is up to date and useful to customers extraneous information as if they were strangers

VI. CONCLUSION 4. Moderate forum discussions; it is important that the
brand has a strong presence
APPENDIX
5. On your website, guide the customer to self-help
options. Provide a single entry point for help options,
don’t confuse them with too many choices
9. Use links within the product or application that point
to self-help choices, and keep that information current
10. Provide mobile self-help options
11. Provide an easy and clear escalation path. Don’t
make it difficult to contact you directly

Best practice tips from Graham Murphy, Dan Stern, Madelyn Taylor and Talton Figgins Try Desk.com For Free Now
IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICES
I. INTRODUCTION IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICES
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
GETTING STARTED WITH DESIGN
SUPPORT
Self-service support is a key tenet of a great customer experience - sharing information with the customer motivates
III. GETTING STARTED them to help each other and increases product usage in return. However, simply having a support center available
WITH CONTENT does not guarantee customers will find it useful. Unfortunately, customers have a low tolerance for information they
can not locate so the design and layout of a support center are critical factors.
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST Check out some common layouts of support centers to help get the creative juices flowing:
PRACTICES

V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT

VI. CONCLUSION

APPENDIX

This support center layout is very common.
Some of the key highlights include:
• Search bar is front and center and easy to locate
• Articles organized into topics makes navigation
very easy for the user
• Contact information is a click away in case the
user can not resolve their issue
A support center built with an emphasis on simplicity
and clarity is always effective. Here are some
highlights:
Iconography is a great way to break up the clutter
•
of help topics and is visually appealing
Contact information is clearly defined
•
• Search bar is the key asset of this page
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I. INTRODUCTION IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICES
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
KEEP THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY IN MIND
SUPPORT
Customers want their self-service experience to be quick and easy, yet this is rarely their experience. Most “keyword
III. GETTING STARTED search” and FAQ-type tools “answer” questions with long lists of links that are often irrelevant or generic. In fact,
WITH CONTENT 63% of customers are frustrated with the search bar within a support center.6 A few clicks into the process,
customers typically become frustrated, seek assisted service, or give up altogether.
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES

V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT

VI. CONCLUSION

APPENDIX

A customer’s journey typically follows a similar path as displayed above. What one may notice is that customers
have the potential to exit the self-service experience at multiple points in their journey. In fact, according to Harvard
Business Review, after 2-3 self-service attempt failures, customers will not try again.7 As you design the layout
of your support center, keep this customer flow in mind to design a center that could prevent a customer from
exiting prior to finding a solution. Specifically, there are three potential exit points during the customer journey:

A : No results are found and the user exits

B : The article isn’t relevant and the user gives up and exits
C : The article is not relevant so the user starts from the beginning

Managers need to keep this journey in mind as it was a guiding factor in Desk.com’s support center design.

6
IntelliResponse, “Customer Experience Management and the Insurance Provider,” 2013. Try Desk.com For Free Now
7
The Taylor Reach Group, “Self-Service of Cents and Sensibility,” 2011.
I. INTRODUCTION IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICES
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
AWESOME SUPPORT CENTERS
SUPPORT

III. GETTING STARTED Fitbit has multiple products in their product line.
WITH CONTENT Unfortunately, with each product comes unique
problems. By using iconography to lay out each
IV. DESIGN AND product, users are easily able to locate the product
LAYOUT BEST they have and solve their problem from there.
PRACTICES

V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS A “Most Viewed” column is a great way to bubble
OF SELF-SERVICE up common questions for the user to see. This
SUPPORT is also a great way to reduce annoying, repetitive
tickets agents might commonly see in their inbox.
VI. CONCLUSION

APPENDIX

Fitbit’s search bar is easy to find and includes

topic suggestions that makes an easier search
experience. Search bar is their main priority and it
pays off for the customer’s experience.

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I. INTRODUCTION IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICES
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
AWESOME SUPPORT CENTERS
SUPPORT

The Space Heroes support center is fun and

III. GETTING STARTED
designed around their brand. The customer feels
WITH CONTENT
they are in their element and overall comfortable
with the support center.
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES

V. MEASURING THE
If a customer can not find the article he/she is
EFFECTIVENESS
looking for, Space Heroes’s contact information is
OF SELF-SERVICE
only a click away. Make sure an escalation path is
SUPPORT
easily laid out for the customer.

VI. CONCLUSION

APPENDIX

“Browse by Topic” is a simple and effective way

layout for customers to easily navigate. With just
a few clicks, customers can locate and
read the article they are looking for.

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I. INTRODUCTION IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICES
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
AWESOME SUPPORT CENTERS
SUPPORT

III. GETTING STARTED

WITH CONTENT Search bar is front and center along with an FAQ
section. This is a great layout as simple questions
IV. DESIGN AND can be taken care of right away in this division of
LAYOUT BEST the support center.
PRACTICES

V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
SquareSpace takes the customer experience very
OF SELF-SERVICE
seriously as they lay out three important topics
SUPPORT
right off the bat. The customer is able to
immediately get started or escalate an issue.
VI. CONCLUSION

APPENDIX

SquareSpace allows users to create their own

website. Videos are easily at their disposal to
learn the product with ease.

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I. INTRODUCTION IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICES
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
FEATURES TO CONSIDER: COMMUNITY
SUPPORT
Presenting customers with self-service options and sharing product knowledge can vary in numerous ways and is
III. GETTING STARTED determined largely by your strategy. The trick is to determine which option is the most effective for your customers.
WITH CONTENT Communities have grown to be a major success for a number of companies.

IV. DESIGN AND Are Communities Right for All Fast-Growing Companies?
LAYOUT BEST Communities are generally very positive for almost every company. They encourage product usage as well as
PRACTICES provide users the opportunity to collaborate with one another. However, businesses should consider where to focus
their self-service efforts - for some organizations, it might not be in a community.
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS If a product can be configured in many
OF SELF-SERVICE ways - meaning there might be more than
SUPPORT one way to be successful with it -
customers may appreciate networking
VI. CONCLUSION with other users to figure out best
practices or compare methods. Reading
APPENDIX about the different strategies and
experiences can inspire customers and
increase product usage. Or, they may
discover more efficient ways of achieving
an outcome.

If a product or service is straight

forward and there are little methods for
using it, a community might not be a
priority. In which case, a solid knowledge
base will probably be the best route to
Desk.com’s customer, Fitbit, offers a number of solutions and services
go.
that can be configured in many ways. To encourage product usage and
inspire customers, they embedded a community into their support center.
All questions, discussions, ideas and problems are recorded and routed
straight to Fitbit’s support team.

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I. INTRODUCTION IV. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BEST PRACTICES
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
FEATURES TO CONSIDER: MOBILE SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
SUPPORT
Not only do customers want their issues resolved in the shortest amount of time, they also want them resolved on
the go. Consumers are increasingly seeking self-serve customer service content such as knowledge base articles
III. GETTING STARTED
and forums using their mobile devices. In fact, 50% of smartphone users would prefer to use a mobile customer
WITH CONTENT
service app to try to resolve their issue before calling a contact center.8
IV. DESIGN AND
Mobile self-service support offers fast-growing companies a revolutionary opportunity to provide self-service
LAYOUT BEST
experiences of higher quality in the wake of a less lenient and more demanding customer base. Through this form of
PRACTICES
support, companies will reduce inbound ticket volumes, unify support channels and reduce waiting times - all while
serving one of the largest growing audiences: mobile customers.
V. MEASURING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE Is Mobile Configuration Right for All Self-Service Support Strategies?
SUPPORT There is little doubt that consumers are going mobile. While statistics vary, the
popular consensus is that within a few short years the usage of smartphones
VI. CONCLUSION will exceed PCs. With steam quickly picking up in the direction of mobile and
self-service, businesses in nearly all industries should consider in this
APPENDIX investment to preserve the customer experience.

The mobile self-service support benefits include:

• Customers can solve their problems on the go

• Decreased ticket volume
• A unified self-service opportunity across multiple channels
• Reaching a mobile demographic

50% of smartphone users would prefer to

use a mobile customer service app to try to
resolve their customer service issue before
calling a contact center.
- Echo Research

8
SpeechCycle and Echo, “SpeechCycle and Echo Research Study,” 2011. Try Desk.com For Free Now
V. MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
I. INTRODUCTION V. MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
HOW THE PROFESSIONALS ARE DOING IT?
SUPPORT

III. GETTING STARTED “Power users can do some amazing thing with Desk.com, especially
WITH CONTENT when it comes to implementing custom code to expand the core
functionality of our product. Despite having a team of support rockstars
IV. DESIGN AND on staff, there’s always a point where a request is simply beyond the
LAYOUT BEST scope of what we can handle. Providing a community Q&A environment
PRACTICES creates the opportunity for customers to help each other in such
situations, while simultaneously making our support center more robust
V. MEASURING THE than ever.”
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE Graham Murphy, Senior Customer WOW Manager at Desk.com
SUPPORT

VI. CONCLUSION “We want to offer customers a way to find answers to their questions
easily and efficiently. The objective of the Desk.com implimentation is to
APPENDIX have a clean and easily navigatable Support site so people can quickly find
answers to your questions. If I’m a customer, I’d prefer to find the answer
to my question myself rather than calling or writing an email to a support
rep.”

Jay Kershner, Senior Director Customer Service at Fitbit

“When you track Google Analytics, over time you’ll get amazing data.”

Madelyn Taylor, Head of Support at Rdio

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 I. INTRODUCTION V. MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
WHAT METRICS TO MEASURE
SUPPORT
Measuring self-service support can often be difficult if one does not map out the metrics from the start. Like any
III. GETTING STARTED business efforts, if a self-service strategy is put together without laying out success milestones or concrete
WITH CONTENT metrics, an ROI case will be very difficult to prove. Below are some key metrics for measuring ROI and the success
of self-service support:
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST Percentage of Positive Knowledge Base Responses from Customers
PRACTICES This metric refers to the percentage of customers that positively responded to the question of “Did you Find this
Answer Helpful?” on a knowledge base article. This is a great way to gather a general consensus of how customers
> V. MEASURING THE feel about content.
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE Percentage of Returning Visitors to Support Pages
SUPPORT As acknowledged by the professionals, Google Analytics is a huge factor to determine the success of a support
center. Managers and agents alike should dive into Google Analytics and evaluate their new versus returning visitors.
VI. CONCLUSION The more returning visitors the better - this indicates that customers are returning to their support center for
information.
APPENDIX
Percentage of Visits from 3rd Party Search to the Online
Support Site
The percentage of visits from 3rd party searches represents the
visits that originate from search engines like Google or Bing as
questions, and end up on a support center or a knowledge base
article. An example would be a customer in Google
searching, “How do I reset my Pandora password?” and they
land on Pandora’s support center. Best-in-class companies
deploy SEO tactics when developing content to generate more
traffic and a better customer experience.

Customer Satisfaction Ratings

Seek feedback straight from the customer! This is the most
reliable metric of determining the success of a company’s self-service tactics as the data comes straight from the
source: the customer. Use the NiceReply app embedded in Desk.com to ask deploy satisfaction surveys and
provide a unique insight into the customer’s experience.
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VI. CONCLUSION
I. INTRODUCTION VI. CONCLUSION
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT: THE ESSENTIAL FOR FAST-GROWING COMPANIES
SUPPORT
According to Forrester Research, we are now in the “Age of the Customer.” Self-service support is no longer
III. GETTING STARTED considered an advantage but a pinnacle factor in the success of a company. Today, customers are connected to
WITH CONTENT more options than ever before. Being the customer’s first and remaining choice is a critical competitive advantage -
and competition is fiercer than ever. To win, fast-growing companies must be laser-focused on understanding their
IV. DESIGN AND customer base and engaging them better than anyone else.
LAYOUT BEST
PRACTICES Enabling self-service support is not an easy deployment. It requires time, money and structural
changes that many fast-growing companies can not sacrifice. Meanwhile, many companies that have made the
V. MEASURING THE change are reaping the benefits of better customer satisfaction, reduced ticket volumes and increased revenue.
EFFECTIVENESS Furthermore, they have in turn become more agile, performance-oriented and customer-focused.
OF SELF-SERVICE
SUPPORT Unfortunately, online support centers are only as effective as they are designed and utilized by customers. The
layout and design of a support center is crucial as customers are increasingly losing their patience and falling off at
VI. CONCLUSION the slightest obstacles. Content is equally important as stale or confusing content can lead to customer frustrations
and ultimately, loss in business. Companies must stress the importance of design and content to get the full benefits
APPENDIX of self-service support.

As customer expectations continue to rise, self-service is no longer a “nice-to-have” or a “maybe” for companies on
the rise. Rather, self-service support plays an increasingly crucial role in the retention of customers and
encouragement of further growth. By measuring the ROI and the success of their self-service strategy, fast-growing
companies will easily notice the success of their customers.

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APPENDIX
I. INTRODUCTION APPENDIX
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
TICKET TO SUCCESS: THE TICKETLEAP SUPPORT CENTER
SUPPORT
Keeping Customer Support DIY
III. GETTING STARTED Last year TicketLeap did $52 million gross ticket sales, which means they powered a lot of events. One way they’ve
WITH CONTENT helped users stay DIY is with the TicketLeap support center, powered by Desk.com. The support center is updated
on a regular basis and kept current with useful articles.
IV. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT BEST Before Ticketleap added the support center with Desk.com agents spent 80% of their day on the phone helping one
PRACTICES customer at a time. “We selected Desk.com specifically for its ability to easily build a knowledge base,” says former
TicketLeap CTO Keith Fitzgerald. Today agents spend 20% of their time on the phone with complicated cases and
V. MEASURING THE 80% on email leveraging articles from the knowledge base.
EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELF-SERVICE Tips for Creating a Top-Notch Support Center
SUPPORT So how did TicketLeap turn the support center into such a useful and powerful tool? “Our knowledge base is
regularly updated every two to three weeks,” says Allison Berger, TicketLeap community manager.
VI. CONCLUSION
TicketLeaps’s Tips for Keeping the
APPENDIX Knowledge Base in Shape “We want to make ticketing the best
possible experience for buyers and
• After each product update, check related patrons and fans to get into the event
versus being looked at as the barrier
articles to ensure content is still relevant
of entry.”
• If a customer asks a question and a topic
- Tim Raybould, President & COO of
doesn’t exist yet, create it TicketLeap
• Add images and use the html code

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I. INTRODUCTION APPENDIX
II. SERVING IN THE
AGE OF SELF-SERVICE
NEXTDOOR BUILDS COMMUNITIES ONLINE AND OFF
SUPPORT
The hot startup Nextdoor is a hyper-local online network that is all about neighbor-to-neighbor communication.
III. GETTING STARTED Nextdoor’s growing user base relies on the website every day. It’s growing so quickly that dealing with the influx of
WITH CONTENT customer requests is a top priority.

IV. DESIGN AND Homegrown Challenges and Desk.com Solutions

LAYOUT BEST Nextdoor also wanted to have a system in place that supports their neighborhoods leads — usually the Founding
PRACTICES Members of Nextdoor neighborhoods who are strong inviters and active community leaders — who typically have
unique and more complicated support requests. For example,leads set up their neighborhoods and might need
V. MEASURING THE expert attention right away, while a community member can find answers to frequently asked questions in the help
EFFECTIVENESS center. Using custom fields in Desk.com, support specialists can record whether the case is from a community
OF SELF-SERVICE member or a lead. That way, when they reach out again, inbound interaction rules correctly route cases and can
SUPPORT even send them to a specific support specialist.

Before implementing Desk.com,

VI. CONCLUSION
the team at Nextdoor used a
shared email account for
APPENDIX
support emails and an internal
tool to create a very basic FAQ “I try to provide support in a timely manner
page. Almost immediately after and find ways to improve the process and
implementing Desk.com, the the content. If I find something that is
support team deflected a lot of confusing in a help article, I can easily go in
member questions and emails and edit it to make it more clear.”
due to the searchable - Theresa Burns, Support Specialist at
knowledge base that is full Nextdoor
of tailored articles. Support
requests dropped by almost
50% after the team moved help
articles to Desk.com.

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 GET STARTED WITH DESK.COM’S
SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT FEATURES!
oo Join thousands of fast-growing companies
that chose Desk.com to help build their
online support center

oo Easily add and update knowledge base

content with just a few clicks

oo Create an intricate, beautiful online support

center to match your brand and website