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Knowledge Base Software – Why It’s Important According to Expert

Knowledge Base Software

Today, when people only demand access to accurate information, a rich, broad Knowledge Base is an absolute necessity. A self- serving, centralized repository of information about a product, service, department or topic, a Knowledge Base is one of the most accessible and most affordable ways to keep customers happy. It contains data that could come in from multiple sources but more often through contributors well versed in a particular subject (HR, Legal, etc.). And could include Faqs, troubleshooting guides and other basic and in-depth details that one might need to know and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is an ideal way to handle interactions that are voluminous but at the same time simple.

Enabling companies to create, curate, share, utilize and manage knowledge across the company and industries. It helps it become more nimble, deliver faster services and offer regular updates, ultimately delivering a better customer experience. One that has been designed for the information-rich world we all live in.

A good Knowledge Base, one that has been organized well offers better and more consistent service. Meaning everybody in the organization shall speak from the same resource leading to no confusions and missteps. There will be no customers being put on hold, no transferring agents and no calling back in a minute. The answers will be right there at the customer’s fingertips.

A good Knowledge Base is well-organized and offers better and more consistent information to users. It allows everybody in the organization to refer to, and speak from the same resource which avoids any confusion and missteps in the long run. This also means that you do not have to put customers on hold anymore since they have access to information on their own, effectively helping themselves. A good knowledge base ensures that answers are right there at the customer’s fingertips.

Here’s an expert roundup of Ten industry specialists suggesting as to why using a Knowledge Base can make a difference.

1. Essential to Customer Delight

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Craig Borowski

Content Analyst

Without a Knowledge Base (and Knowledge Management process) in place, companies risk giving their customers inconsistent experiences. They also risk adding to the stress of agents and employees.

When customers ask a question, they want the company’s official answer; they don’t want the personal opinion or best guess of the individual customer support agent who answer the call, email or chat. Knowledge-bases ensure that every agent enjoys access to the “official answer” anytime, anywhere, which helps them to address issues with less stress and more confidence while guaranteeing that every customer gets the company’s best, most current information and service experience.

2. Quick Resolution

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Douglas Karr

CEO, DK New Media

Absolutely! I don’t want to wait on hold on chat, on the phone, or for customer support ticket to be processed. Empower me – your customer or coworker – to research and find the information I need to be successful. When I do that, I’m going to be happier, I’m going to renew with you, and… best of all… I’m not going to clog up your support and service departments with repeated requests that could be adequately documented online.

3. Efficient & Discreet – The Critical Balance

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Matteo Tadjo Kotch

Product Marketing Executive

Proper Knowledgebase management (KBM) and reliable customer support (CS)often go hand-in-hand. The ability to enable your customers to proactively access the information that they need to address their own concerns as per their convenience is a sure way to not only drastically reduce your business’ customer support costs but also to significantly enhance your customer satisfaction (CSAT) levels.

By ensuring that your KB is constantly up-to-date, you subsequently reduce the burden on your support agents who often have to respond to repetitive questions such as ‘how do I sign into my account?’ or ‘where can I get a copy of my invoices?’, taking up a lot of their valuable time. Furthermore, not only will you be making the life of your employees easier, but you will also be making it possible for your customers to easily find the answers to their questions stored in your optimized knowledge base.

4. Single Point Contact

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Sam Smith

Director of Marketing

A knowledge base for organizations is an absolute must primarily because this centralized knowledge repository is where everyone can find exactly what they search for in regard to information.

Information is a treasure and a quick access to it provides a competitive advantage to the company. On an average, a middle manager usually wastes 7-8 hours per week on tasks related to document flow, and they add up to 20% of weekly labor hours. A manager spends up to 30% of the time on the search and coordination of documents. With the availability of a knowledge base, the stored information allows the employees be more productive, spend more time on important tasks, keeps information current and prevents it from duplication.

The use of a knowledge base will help provide:

  • relevance and authenticity of information;
  • reduction of time expenditures on the search for information;
  • interaction between organizational structures of the company (informational transparency);
  • differentiation of access to information (confidentiality);
  • preservation of the corporate knowledge during staff turnover;
  • fast adaptation of new employees;
  • an increase in efficiency of the teamwork operation;
  • competitive advantages of a company;
  • cost reduction and an increase in workforce productivity

5. Clear Flow

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Stacy Crawley

Sales & Marketing

A knowledge base isn’t just an online document manager. Instead, it’s a customizable, searchable, information repository that assists customers and employees.  Using a knowledge base can guarantee that each piece of the customer support process runs effectively and seamlessly into the next.  The process between employees, customers, requests becomes simplified with a robust knowledge management solution.

We live in the land of self-help, so arming your customers with a healthy knowledge base effectively eliminates problems and frees up valuable work time for employees.  After all, knowledge is your organization’s capital, and you don’t want to lose it.

6. Lower Costs-Internal Benefits

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Cathy Reisenwitz

Research Analyst

I would say the three key benefits to a knowledge base are – reduces manual labor, save time and prevents frustration.

A well-organized knowledge base makes it easy to search for information. It saves the time of the customers and support agents both. Instead of having to explain the answer to every question from scratch, a knowledge base gives CSRs something to copy and paste from or point users to, saving manual labor. It can also help customers bypass customer support altogether by finding the solution to the problem themselves.

7. Standard Practice

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Lionel Valdellon

Content Marketing Manager

If you hire intelligent workers, you gain access to a wealth of experience and wisdom for your team. But if they leave, they take that with them. This is where a knowledge base or a centralized repository of information makes a huge impact. If you make it standard practice for every team member to capture their processes and best practices within the knowledge base, you will be able to share this wisdom with everyone. The entire organization benefits from the transfer of knowledge.

Just a word of caution: use only one system for it all so it’s easy to capture your process and finding answers.

8. An Easy-to-Use, Self-Serve Way

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Dave Nevogt

Co-Founder

A knowledge base is crucial for the potential customers. Reason? Most of the time, we have found that a potential customer does not want to schedule a one – on – one meeting with our team and prefers to figure the solution out on their own time. This is where a knowledge base plays an important role. It allows them to find information quickly on their own.

9.Greater Productivity,Improved Collaboration

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Dan Scalco

Director of Marketing

People are often scared or intimidated to admit that they don’t know the answer to something. Rather than speak up and ask a question, they often try to pass it off as they know what they’re doing or saying (even if it negatively affects the business). This is where a knowledge base can help. People can go to the knowledge base anytime, anywhere to learn answers to their questions without the fear of being judged.

10. More Consistent, Little Confusion

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Sandeep Das

Chief Customer Officer

A robust, self-service knowledge base is beneficial for the customers and employees. It allows access to more of your resources, ensuring users resolve many of their problems on their own. This makes customers more successful using your product, which elevates their satisfaction with your brand. It also lowers training costs for new customers and reduces the resources needed by your customer support team. Moreover, if you enable comments in your knowledge base, you allow a community of users to form, in which customers and staff can help each other solve problems. Finally, you’ll receive comments around product gaps which provide insight into unmet needs and how to solve them moving forward.

Summing up….

Because today, customers, employees and virtually everyone demands access to information. A Knowledge Base Software organized on the data stored in files and databases opens doors to improved customer service, better productivity, increased collaboration and needs a lot less time in answering questions.

Do you want a free Knowledge Base?

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About the author

Bryan Wills is a seasoned expert in knowledge management with over a decade of experience in the field. His expertise extends across various domains, including Security & Compliance, User Management, Knowledge Management, Software Documentation, and Customer Support. His writings not only reflect his deep understanding of these subjects but also offer practical solutions and strategies to help organizations enhance their knowledge management processes. Bryan’s work has been published in GetFeedback, CustomerThink, and Apruve.