Today’s web-savvy modern student expects a high level of ‘customer service’ when interacting with your institution online. When it comes to designing the best possible online experience for students, higher education institutions would be wise to take some guidance from the online behavior trends of consumers as a whole.

1. 8 Reasons Why Your Institution Needs
Better Online Self-Service in 2012
Today’s web-savvy modern student expects a high level of ‘customer service’ when interacting with
your institution online. When it comes to designing the best possible online experience for students,
higher education institutions would be wise to take some guidance from the online behavior trends of
consumers as a whole.
Here are 8 reasons why we think online self-service needs to be a top priority for your school in 2012…
1 Online, people PREFER to self-serve,
despite what you might think
In their February 2012 article for Forbes.com1, Harvard Business Review Press authors
Frances Frei and Anne Morriss said it best:
“Excellence is being great at the things
72%
your customers value most.”
When it comes to online customer service, what people value most is the ability to self-
serve for quick answers to their questions and move on. The preference for self-reliance is
strong, and proven.
Up to 72% of consumers prefer to go online
Corporate Executive Board says 60.4% of surveyed customers attempt to use a company’s
web self-service as the first method for resolving their customer service issue.2 Forrester first to resolve customer service issues3
Research pegs the percentage even higher, at 72%.3
2 You can seriously differentiate your institution’s
brand with great self-service
90% of organizations surveyed by Forrester Research say that customer service is important
to their business, yet only 34% of brands deliver a “good” customer experience.4
The vast canyon between what organizations say versus what they actually do to provide a
positive customer experience is a significant “rhetoric gap.” It’s a tremendous opportunity Approximately 2 out of 3 brands fail to deliver
for your institution to leverage online self-service as a differentiation play. a “good” customer experience4
3
The Status Quo Sucks: Most online self-service FAQ and Help tools fail to satisfy
49% of users online4
features just don’t cut it
Diane Clarkson, Analyst, eBusiness and Channel Strategy at Forrester Research, describes
the typical online self-service experience as being “too often a barrage of irrelevant
information” which website visitors are forced to navigate, begrudgingly.
Clarkson says the information people are seeking is usually located somewhere on a website, 51% 49%
but it’s not often easy to find.
Case in point: traditional website FAQ and Help pages. Forrester Research indicates just 51%
of consumers are ultimately satisfied when using these tools.4

2. 8 REASONS WHY YOU NEED BETTER ONLINE SELF-SERVICE IN 2012 2
4 Other service channels are just plain expensive
Corporate Executive Board’s position is that there are huge cost savings in building out $7.50
web self-service. It’s a position that’s impossible to argue against, given the generally
accepted numbers. On average, a web self-service transaction cost $0.10 per
Web self-service Phone
transaction, while a live support call to a staff member can cost $7.50 and beyond.2
Web self-service costs $0.10 per transaction
In addition to the direct costs, however, is the opportunity cost of lost enrollment when
versus $7.50 for a live support call2
your online self-service lets a potential student down.
5
Poor online experiences can cause students
to go elsewhere
On the Internet, where alternatives and competitors are always just one click away, a
poor self-service experience also impacts top line revenue and enrollment.
A significant portion of customers – as much as 25%, according to Forrester Research
– will simply abandon a website or find another solution if they can’t find what they are 1 in 4 frustrated customers
looking for.5 abandon or defect5
6 Thanks to social media, people can publically
expose your online service shortcomings in seconds
With social media, it’s now easy, tempting, and increasingly common for individuals to
publically flame organizations that let them down. *#$!
A survey conducted in 2011 by NM Incite (a Neilson/McKinsey company) found that 51% of
social media users post negative feedback.6
Interestingly, social media expert Jay Baer points out that public gripes tend to be about the
experience with the particular customer service channel. “In almost every case, the people
complaining on Twitter are doing so because your company already failed to satisfy them in 51% of social media users post
one or more traditional customer service channels,” Baer explains. negative feedback6
7 A satisfied customer is more likely to be a loyal
customer – so it’s time to get self-service right
Kate Legget, Senior Analyst, Business Process at Forrester Research, says a satisfied
customer correlates to a loyal customer, and this correlation can have a direct impact on
your enrollment numbers.
“Loyal customers are more likely to stay true to your brand and more likely to recommend
[you] to friends and colleagues,” Legget explained in the March 29, 2012 IntelliResponse
webinar, The New Way to Measure Online Self-Service. “And a loyal customer ends up Customer satisfaction positively impacts
spending a larger wallet share over their engagement lifetime.” loyalty and wallet share4

3. 8 REASONS WHY YOU NEED BETTER ONLINE SELF-SERVICE IN 2012 3
8 The rise of mobile devices means self-service
is more important than ever to students
Consumer desire to stay connected has reached epic proportions. More than three
quarters of the world’s population (5.3 Billion people) are mobile subscribers.7
Not surprisingly, students entering college are among the heaviest adopters of new 77% of the world’s population
mobile devices, having witnessed the smartphone become a commonplace tool are mobile subscribers7
for daily communication during their adolescent years. What’s more, the surging
popularity of digital tablet devices are predicted to outpace PC sales by 2015.8
Is Your School’s Online Self-Service Up to Par?
All 8 of these reasons point to one truth: your school’s success in terms of the modern FREE EVALUATION OF YOUR WEB
student’s ‘customer experience’ will be largely won or lost online. Effective web self- SELF-SERVICE CAPABILITIES
service is the cornerstone of these online service interactions.
Send an email to:
How does your website measure up? Find out by taking the Forrester/IntelliResponse eval@intelliresponse.com
Online Self-Service Assessment Survey. To get started, book your FREE evaluation of
your institution’s web self-servce capabiliites by sending an email to
eval@intelliresponse.com
SOURCES:
1
http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2012/03/02/to-offer-great-customer-service-dare-to-be-bad/
2
http://cccbuzz.exbdblogs.com/2012/03/13/three-reasons-to-show-your-support-page-a-little-love/
3
“Selecting Online Customer Service Channels To Satisfy Customers And Reduce Costs”, Forrester Research Inc., June 25, 2010,
4
“The New Way to Measure Online Self-Service,” Forrester Research Inc.-IntelliResponse (Webinar), March 29, 2012
5
“Web Sites That Don’t Support Customers’ Goals Waste Millions”, Forrester Research Inc., February 17, 2010
6
http://www.nmincite.com/?p=6051
7
http://www.onlinemarketing-trends.com/2011/12/53-billion-mobile-users-reach-77-of.html
8
http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/17/forrester-tablets-outsell-netbooks/
About IntelliResponse Systems
IntelliResponse enhances the multi-channel sales and customer service capabilities of hundreds of enterprise businesses
and financial institutions. The company’s Answer Suite technology is an award-winning On Demand software platform that
allows customers and service agents to ask questions in natural language, and get one right answer - regardless of the
hundreds of ways the question may be asked.
With more than 500 live customer-facing implementations answering 100 million+ questions, IntelliResponse is the gold
standard in first line customer experience management. With the IntelliResponse Answer Suite, your company web site,
mobile application, social media channels and agent desktop can all be transformed by an engaging virtual concierge,
empowering customers to ask questions using normal, conversational language. The correct and complete answer is then
instantly served to them in a variety of engaging ways.
For more information about IntelliResponse, visit www.IntelliResponse.com.
Twitter.com/IntelliResponse To learn more about taking online self
Facebook.com/IntelliResponseInc service to the next level for your customers,
YouTube.com/IntelliResponseInc visit www.IntelliResponse.com.