The Knowledge Base is a self-service digital portal that can be easily accessed by any user who wants more information to solve a problem they may have.
Here are a few examples.
-Vacasa provides on-demand, self-driven customer support through its knowledge base
-Apptegy uses an internal knowledge base to streamline its employee onboarding process
-Valant's knowledge base helps improve internal processes and deliver valuable content to its customers
Knowledge bases can contain various types of content, such as.
-User documentation and video walkthroughs to help users better understand how to use specific products
-Employee training manuals to better understand the company's products and services and its internal processes and procedures
-Internal documentation, such as standard operating procedures (SOPs), software documentation, process documentation, business requirements documentation, and any other documentation that can help employees accomplish specific business tasks
-Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
-HR-related documents such as employee handbooks, employee evaluation forms, training templates, etc.
Knowledge bases help facilitate knowledge sharing and transfer by making it easy to collect, organize, and communicate information to specific audiences.
Knowledge bases are created for use by a company's customers, internal team members, or sometimes both.
While the content of a particular knowledge base varies depending on many factors, most typically include information on how to get started with a specific product, make greater use of advanced features, and overcome common problems or issues. Essentially, the purpose of any knowledge base is to help end users find ways to solve problems without relying on others.
An external knowledge base (also known as a self-service library or customer service knowledge base) is where customers can learn anything they need about a company's products or services, organization and industry.
Internal knowledge bases, on the other hand, are often used as a way to allow employees to collaborate and share all company knowledge and information internally.
We'll go into more detail about creating a knowledge base that works for your audience.
But first, let's talk about the benefits of having a knowledge base.
As we've already mentioned, the main benefit of creating and presenting a knowledge base for your audience is that it allows you to provide in-depth, immediate, on-demand information and answers to your audience members without having to do it separately.
Now, let's focus on the benefits that knowledge bases provide to your company's customers and employees.
A well-organized and user-friendly knowledge base essentially allows customers to get insight on their terms
rather than a company's terms to drill down into the information they are looking for. When it comes to knowledge base software, there is no need to submit endless work orders to the help desk or wait for "wait for the next available representative" or anything like that.
Reducing wait time to resolve a problem can directly improve customer satisfaction.
2. Improve the customer experience
Raise your hand if you prefer to wait for sales, technical support or customer service staff while they assist incoming customers.
Are your hands still on the mouse?
Yes ...... we do.
In today's fast-paced, interconnected world, the vast majority of consumers simply can't stand to wait for help. When they want answers, they want them immediately.
A case in point.
Knowledge bases can help improve the customer experience by enabling customers to get help immediately.
The vast majority of consumers typically expect to get help within an hour at most. As if that weren't small enough, almost one in three consumers want immediate assistance when they contact a company's online support staff.
This can be quite a daunting task for smaller companies, and the larger a company's customer base grows, the more difficult it becomes to provide immediate one-on-one support. Consistent foundation.
The next best thing, then, is for brands to offer self-service options to their audiences.
An optimized knowledge base provides breadth and depth of information, enabling customers to drill down into specific topics of interest. In turn, this essentially provides a better customer experience for your customers because it allows them to get more out of your company's products or services than they would otherwise.
3. Improve customer support capabilities
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The beauty of using a knowledge base to help your customers is that it is available 24/7. Customers can try to solve their problems at their convenience.
Allowing customers to find their solutions provides a secondary benefit to your customer support efforts. Since customers will be able to solve simple problems, you can provide your customer support team with the bandwidth to handle more complex customer issues.
With all of this in mind, it's worth noting that the knowledge base benefits individuals at all stages of the buyer's journey and sales funnel. Whether they are looking for initial information about a branded product or service, planning to start using a new product, or trying to enhance their efforts, a solid knowledge base will provide accurate information to help them achieve their goals.
Benefits of an internal knowledge base for employees
As a quick and perhaps self-explanatory note, the customer-facing benefits described above will, in turn, benefit the company, as they will essentially lead to an increase in overall engagement. But the answer to the question, "How can be implementing an internal knowledge base benefit my company?" There are many more answers to this question. More than that.
1. Increased business productivity
First, it makes your support team more productive and efficient overall. Because consumers can quickly solve problems or answer questions they face, your team doesn't have to spend as much time solving relatively simple problems. In turn, your team can focus on more pressing customer issues that do require a more hands-on approach.
2. Improve knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer
Your teams can also benefit from creating and using a knowledge base. Let's break it down a little more.
First, creating a knowledge base should be an all-encompassing team effort that requires all department members to share knowledge.
Once your team has created the knowledge base (and continues to build on it), they can use it as a central database of information moving forward. This free flow of knowledge will keep all departments "on the same page" when dealing with customers, ensuring that the information they provide is consistent.
3. Enhance your knowledge management capabilities
Your organization can also use your knowledge base as a management strategy. For example, you can upload documents related to training and onboarding processes, proprietary software, and company policies, and your employees can access them as needed.
4. Improve business efficiency
By keeping all relevant data and information in one centralized, accessible location, employees can get what they need when they need it, with as little downtime as possible in between. The less time it takes for your employees to gain the knowledge they need, the more time they have to focus on accomplishing what they originally intended.