5 Proven Ways Knowledge Management Improves CX

Verint Team August 28, 2020

Knowledge management (KM) offers a single source of truth to efficiently deliver answers to questions. By helping connect people to information, KM has numerous benefits to help you improve customer experience and save money.

WATCH THE VIDEO: Top 5 Benefits of Knowledge Management

Benefits of knowledge management include:

  1. Lower average handle time
  2. Provide consistent information
  3. Lower contact volume
  4. Reduced escalations
  5. Increased first contact resolution

In this blog, we share some of the key benefits of a knowledge management system in your customer service environment. For the full list, read the Top 10 Benefits of Knowledge Management.

  1. Lower Average Handle Time

Shorter handle times can result in happier customers and huge cost savings. But lower handle times are only valuable when the call is still resolved with complete, accurate information.

Knowledge management helps your agents quickly and reliably answer even complex questions. KM puts the information customers and agents need right at their fingertips.

When agents can efficiently and thoroughly answer caller questions, you can see a reduction in average handle time (AHT). Read more about how knowledge management and other tools can help lower average handle times here: The Comprehensive Guide to Reducing Average Handle Time (AHT).

  1. Provide Consistent Information

Customers communicate with organizations via an increasing number of channels, making the need for a single source of truth more important than ever. Agents need to be able to provide consistent and quick answers to customer questions across phone, email, chat, SMS and social media.

A central knowledge base which can be accessed across channels eliminates silos of information.

Proven Results: BMW implemented Knowledge Management to store and recall information in the same way the human brain thinks. The solution understands intent and context to present the right results consistently, even if the words in the article are different from the query.

  1. Lower contact volume

Many customers prefer to find answers to questions on their own. An easily navigable knowledge base gives customers a place to search for answers on their computer or mobile device.

A key benefit of knowledge management is how it connects customers with the answers they need. With an easy to use self-service website, more customers will help themselves and not require an agent-assisted interaction, which leads to a lower contact volume.

Proven Results: IAG implemented knowledge management and other tools to enable customers to access information and transact business online. As a result, the company has achieved an 18 percent call volume reduction. Additionally, the growth in online self-service has resulted in fewer customer visits to its branches.

  1. Reduced Escalations

As a result of self-service channels, the issues which make it to your contact center tend to be the most difficult and complex. Because of this, agents are unlikely to know the answers and will rely heavily on a knowledge base to find information.

Unless the right information is easily accessible, the call will likely result in an escalation to a more specialized resource. A knowledge base can contain millions of articles to help an agent resolve the issue, even if they’ve never handled that type of call before.

Proven Results: A leading grocery and general merchandising retailer enhanced issue resolution by offering customers and agents a consistent view of product information.

  1. Increased First Contact Resolution

Knowledge base articles provide complete, accurate, up-to-date information, which reduces the risk of customers needing to call back because their issue is not fully resolved.  Also, each knowledge article can automatically show related articles that can proactively answer follow-up questions the customer may have.

Proven Results: Sky Deutschland improved first contact resolution by 8% by implementing knowledge management.

By creating a centralized repository of technical content, frequently asked questions, procedures and more, Sky Deutschland’s team could search the knowledge base using keywords and natural language—and provide consistent, accurate answers to customer enquiries, through whichever channel the customer chooses to communicate.

So now you know a few of the ways knowledge management can empower your customers and employees with the information they need. Customer service issues will only grow in both number and complexity, which is why now is the time to be sure your contact center is equipped with a knowledge management system.

Want to learn more ways KM improves customer experience and helps you save money? Click here to learn the Top 10 Benefits of Knowledge Management.