Function 2 — Provide self-help facilities
This business function involves the service provider
making available, to the end users, tools and
information that will assist them in identifying whether
or not a given service is working correctly and, if not,
what might be wrong. Examples of this are software
installed on users’ equipment with which they can
interact, and information held on Web pages such as
FAQ lists.
Most service providers have optimised their support
processes around what happens after a support call has
been made. This important function is thus often
overlooked and represents a sizeable opportunity for
improving the end-to-end experience. One example of
this opportunity being addressed is BT Wholesale’s
recent launch of a self-help CD for its service provider
customers, aimed at addressing common set-up
problems.
The main advantage of self-help tools is that end
users are able to identify whether or not the problem lies
within their own equipment, and hence whether or not
to report the problem to their service provider. Thus,
support volumes can be reduced. Cost per cycle is also
reduced, as problems reported by end users when there
is nothing actually wrong with the underlying service are
usually expensive to diagnose — the service provider
can spend a long time looking for something that does
not exist. Finally, customer satisfaction can be
enhanced significantly as the very stressful situation,
where an end user reports a problem and is told that
there is nothing wrong, can be avoided in many cases.
A number of factors need to be taken into account
when designing self-help tools. It is vitally important to
remember that the users of the tools will vary greatly,
and a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is unlikely to succeed.
Things to consider are