According to Forrester, online self-service is now most widely used customer service communication channel. Because customers are used to having poor customer service experience through other engagement channels, companies now must step up their game by providing high quality content that can be found easily by anyone. Learn from David Kay, Principal of David Kay & Associates, and Ben Lack, Senior Director of Marketing and Business Development for Swiftype, as they build the business case for a self-service customer experience and provide tips for how to implement a search experience that helps the customer find the content they're looking for, fast, and the first time. Readers will have learned insights into customer preference for each engagement channel (phone, email, chat/social, self-service), how much money companies can save by investing in an online self-service customer experience Interesting search behaviors on knowledge base and customer support websites, and 3 easy to implement search strategies that will ensure that your customers find what they're looking for.

1. BEN LACK
SR DIRECTOR, MARKETING & BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT
SWIFTYPE
BLACK@SWIFTYPE.COM
3 ways to optimize search to create the
best online self-serve customer support
experience
DAVID KAY
PRINCIPAL
DAVID KAY & ASSOCIATES
DAVID@DBKAY.COM

2. Founded January 2013
$23M in venture funding by NEA
& Y Combinator
30+ Employees, HQ in San
Francisco
Largest independent search
provider on the Internet
ABOUT SWIFTYPE

3. ABOUT SWIFTYPE
500,000+ websites, 4 billion+
queries/month

4. POLL:
How do you engage with customers today?
A: Phone
B: Email
C: Chat/Social
D: Self-Serve

5. PHONE
• Calls coming in
because customer
couldn’t figure out
problem online
• Need help solving
more complicated
problem

6. EMAIL
• Longer resolution
times
• Resolutions more
complex
From: Angry Customer
To: Postal Service
I paid $110 for PRIORITY and it took EIGHT DAYS to get my
parcel from downtown San Francisco to the San Francisco
airport, a distance of 14.8 miles. A turtle could have done that in
four days. Seriously, I looked it up. An ordinary box turtle cruises
0.17 mpg; it could make it from the Rincon Center post office to
the cargo terminal of SFO in 87 hours. The …….. post office took
179 hours to make the same trip.
And I had to wait in line at the post office. There is no line at the
turtle store. I could have popped in, bought a turtle, strapped the
parcel to its, shell and it would have gotten there in less than half
the time.
Can I get a refund here? A partial refund? A complimentary box
of turtle food? Anything?
Source: imgur.com

7. CHAT/SOCIAL
• Growing channel
for engaging with
customers
• Questions easy to
answer, not too
complex

8. SELF-SERVE
• According to Forrester,
online self-service is now
most widely used
customer service
communication channel
• First time in #1 slot (phone
interactions #2)

9. Not Deflection, but Engagement
Simplify,
improve
(“How do I
set up my
email?”)
Engage (“I
want to sign
up for…”)
Eliminate the
problem
(Common
issues)
Use self-
service
(“Error 1468
after
upgrade”)
Value to
Business
Value to Customer
Irritating Valuable
Waste
Valuable
Based on the Value-Irritant Matrix:
Price, Jaffe: The Best Service is No Service

10. From the Funnel to the Network
The Evolution of Support
Moving to a Swarming Organization

11. The Support Center
CUSTOMER ISSUES
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
10,000
2,000
400
80
Let’s say,
each level solves
80%
& escalates
20%

12. KM is the Next Logical Step
Self-Help
CUSTOMER ISSUES
Fix it once,
use it often.

13. Self-Service Handles More
Assisted Self- Service
( CUSTOMER ISSUES )
80 defects
10,000 cases
100,000 issues!

14. Changing the “Funnel”
Assisted Self-Service
( CUSTOMER ISSUES )
Mostly New Known
Competencies
and opt-in
collaboration
replace tiers

15. Extending to the Users
Assisted Self-Service
( CUSTOMER ISSUES )
Peer Support
Forums

16. Estimating Success
and Deflection

17. Self Help Mapping
Web
First
Contact
First

18. Self Help Mapping
Web
First
Contact
First
Might Escalate

19. Self Help Mapping
Web
First
Contact
First
Successful
Web Visits
Might Escalate

20. Self Help Mapping
Web
First
Contact
First
Successful
Web Visits
Escalations Deflections

21. Self Help Mapping
Web
First
Contact
First
Successful
Web Visits
Escalations Deflections
De-escalations
Details and formulas in
http://www.thesspa.com/sspanews/October09/article8.asp

22. The Elusive “S”
•Benchmarks
•Surveys
• Solution (non-response bias!)
• Email / Web exit (non-response; annoying?)
Support center (use in correct formula)
Telephone
•Clickstreams

23. Web User Survey Script
• “Thinking about the last time you came to our
site, and thinking about the reason you came
there, what exactly was your goal?
• [Success rate] “Were you successful in
accomplishing that goal?
(If yes) [Escalation rate] “If you hadn’t been successful,
are you entitled to open a case with us, and would you
have done so?
(If no) [Escalation rate] “Did you eventually open a case
with us for that same reason?
• “Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about
your self-service experience with us?”

24. Implicit Success Measures
1. Define three categories of sessions
a) Almost certainly unsuccessful
b) Plausibly successful
c) Hard to tell
2. Define clickstream rules for a and b
3. Decide how many to count as successful
(e.g., a=0%, b=75%, c=25%)
4. Do the math
5. Improve the calculations through surveys
• Move patterns from c) to a), b)
• Refine the success percentages

25. Estimating Deflection
If escalation
rate is known
If “tried first”
rate is known
Deflection = VSS · RS · RE
Deflection =
VC · RSSF · RS
1 - RS( )

26. 72% of customers prefer self-service to resolve their support issues over
picking up the phone or sending an email
Customer Service Channel* Cost Per Contact
Call center support
Call center CSR
Web chat or callback
Email response
Web self-service
*Forrester’s North American Technographics Customer Experience Online Survey
Why self-service?
$ 12 and higher
$ 6 and higher
$ 5 and higher
$ 2.50 to $5 and higher
$ 0.10 or less

27. POLL:
How satisfied are you with your existing self-
service customer support experience (1 – very not
satisfied ; 5 = very satisfied)?

28. How do you optimize search
to create the best self-service
customer support
experience?

29. Understand what people are searching for
0 0.125 0.25 0.375 0.5
1 word
2 words
3 words
4 words
5 words
KB related queries from customers (15M queries)
86.5% of queries have 2 or fewer words
94% of queries have 3 or fewer words

30. Customers explain exactly what they want in only a few words

31. Customers explain exactly what they want in only a few words
Customers want it now and fast

32. Customers explain exactly what they want in only a few words
Customers want it now and fast
Customers want it right the first time

33. Data Overload
So where should you start? Search…

34. Autocomplete

35. Relevance Model

36. “No results”

37. Control & Customization
RESULT RANKINGS
WEIGHTS
ANALYTICS

38. Control & Customization
RESULT RANKINGS
WEIGHTS
ANALYTICS

39. Control & Customization
RESULT RANKINGS
WEIGHTS
ANALYTICS

40. BEN LACK
SR DIRECTOR, MARKETING & BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT
SWIFTYPE
BLACK@SWIFTYPE.COM
Thank you!
DAVID KAY
PRINCIPAL
DAVID KAY & ASSOCIATES
DAVID@DBKAY.COM