5 point checklist to select the right knowledge management software for your CX needs

This is a guest blog from Jayanti Sabdani, content marketer at Knowmax.

With the proliferation of digital channels, customers expect instant, accurate, and consistent experiences across touchpoints.

To meet and exceed customer expectations, businesses must make contextual knowledge readily available with internal teams and across customer service portals. In the digitalized era of customer service, knowledge management technology is developing rapidly to help organizations manage their knowledge effectively for omnichannel CX.

This blog discusses the critical importance of knowledge management software for CX and core functions needed to create positive customer experiences.

Why do CX functions need knowledge management software?

The wide array of CX challenges stems from inadequate means to manage and share knowledge across the organization. Here are the top four reasons why CX functions need knowledge management.

1. Difficulty in mobilizing and leveraging information.

Data silos are one of the biggest challenges all companies struggle with. When information is scattered in disparate files and formats, support reps take longer to search the relevant information. This increases the average handle time (AHT) and hampers the customer service quality.

Knowledge management technology helps organize all information under a centralized location, elevating knowledge findability and improving key customer service metrics.

2. Low agent productivity and high turnover rates at contact centers.

Without organized knowledge resources, agents get absorbed in mundane tasks and frustration builds up by answering repetitive questions. The average turnover rate in inbound customer service centers is 30-45%.

To counter low agent productivity and high turnover rates, automating the customer service process is crucial. With an omnichannel-ready enterprise knowledge base management system, self-service channels can be integrated with the centralized knowledge base to power self-service and offload agent work. This improves agent experience and allows them to focus on more meaningful tasks.

3. Weak multichannel management strategy.

CCW Digital confirms that only a small percentage of businesses are capable of delivering seamless, omnichannel experiences across touchpoints. Without omnichannel knowledge management solutions, multiple channels continue to function in silos.

To create a uniform brand identity, all the channels must be interconnected with a centralized knowledge repository to power consistent customer experiences.

4. Outdated tools and technology.

Customer expectations are constantly evolving, and so should contact center technology. One of the biggest hurdles to achieving customer satisfaction is the use of legacy technology that fails to meet the needs of modern contact centers.

To stay relevant in the hyper-competitive CX space, organizations need future-ready knowledge management software that harnesses the power of AI to augment agent potential to create meaningful customer experiences.

Five crucial elements to consider when selecting a knowledge management system.

To meet CX needs, here are five crucial elements to create an effective knowledge management strategy:

1. A single source of truth to store, access, and share information with semantic search capabilities.

With data silos being a challenge for organizations, the first capability of your knowledge management system is to be a single source of truth, that is, all your organizational information will be created, stored, and disseminated through a single platform.

Plus, your knowledge management system needs to have a google-like elastic search that enables meta tag identification of the content type, keyword, and in-document search to retrieve information stored on the platform in seconds.

2. No-code, DIY capability for ease of content creation and management.

Your knowledge management software shouldn’t require  complex technical knowledge. A no-code, DIY platform ensures easy platform adoption by all stakeholders: admins, authors, and customer support teams.

A no-code, DIY platform enables any employee to quickly use new technology that enhances CX.

3. CRM/ISV integrations for streamlined and personalized customer experiences.

A new-age knowledge base software needs to have integrations with CRM, chat, CaaS platforms, and others. With multiple open API integrations, agents have seamless access to existing customer data that improve the customer journey for query resolution. It should be capable of tracking customer journeys and ticketing through multiple API integrations.

The seamless integrations of knowledge base with customer service tools via open APIs helps agents during call handling. The customer information from the CRM platform is auto traversed to prevent customers from repeating information and enables agents to speed up resolutions while delivering personalized experiences.

4. Visual simulators to create immersive customer experiences.

Humans process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. Customer support through visual simulations is a must-have knowledge management system capability.

Visual guides improve the troubleshooting experience, of both support teams and customers, through a stepwise resolution approach. They promote quick query resolution via pictorial support on self-service portals and assisted channels.

5. Micro-segmented analytics to track overall performance.

Micro-segmented analytics provides enterprise-wide content visibility that keeps the knowledge base updated and accurate.

Based on user search, AI can detect knowledge gaps, helping subject matter experts and content creators update the customer service knowledge base accordingly. This feature allows tracking the performance of all content platforms to enhance CX in the long run.

Closing remarks.

A knowledge management platform with the right features is essential for your organizational success. Businesses must look for an AI-ready, easy-to-use, scalable platform to manage enterprise-wide knowledge and ensure correct answers at the right time across touchpoints. However, with numerous strategies and features available in the market, making the decision can often get confusing. The above-listed factors can be key considerations when selecting a robust and future-ready knowledge management platform.