When it comes to offering customers great experiences, the question about which methods are the most relevant for your business comes into discussion. Access to resources and information is essential for people when they have questions about products and services. The possibility to contact a customer Support representative or to access a FAQ document are just two examples of how people can find answers to their questions and solutions to their problems. However, which option is the most efficient and can provide the best results?

Self-service support: FAQ

The FAQ section provides a list of the most frequent questions and answers related to the most common issues a product or service has. This is a self-service method used in customer support. It gives people the tools they need in order to find the information they need.  The benefits that you as a business have by using this method are:

• You can offer complex answers for your customers 
  From detailed answers to how-to images and explicit video tutorials, you can offer complex answers to your customers. This helps them not only understand the problem they are having, but also, how to solve it on their own.
• You provide information for a large number of customers
  When you create a FAQ section, the aim of it is to help a large number of customers. People access when they have a question about something and can immediately find the answer they are looking for.
• You offer a pleasant option for a great number of customers
  Research tells us that 40% of customers prefer to use self-service support and would avoid contacting a customer support representative. For this reason, they would rather use a FAQ section than an action that involves a direct interaction with the customer support department.

FAQ sections have some weak points that you need to take into consideration. The length is one important aspect. The idea behind a FAQ section is that it will include the questions that are asked most often. For instance, if you are a small software business and are providing an eCommerce software, one of the most frequently asked questions can be “How do I make a payment?”.

If your software is complex and requires multiple explanations, you may need to include a great number of questions and answers.  This can ‘change’ the idea of FAQ and show that you may need an additional self-service support method.

In addition, this method does not offer any information about the user or about the experience he or she had. People look for the question related to topic they are interested and use the answer they find.

If you want to offer an additional layer of customer support, Bots are a great option, as they have a few features that offer you different possibilities. Here are 4 ways a customer support bot can complement your FAQ.

1. Bots can work together with other customer support software

Whether we are talking about a simple or a complex software, customer Support Bots manage to integrate and work together with other technologies you are already using. They can access and use the information gathered by the other customer support software. In this way, they see if you have dealt with a situation before, what solution you provided and what the feedback (if there is any) from you customers was.

Comparing the bot with the FAQ, the latter one cannot integrate with different types of software you are using. For this reason, bots can fill in a gap in your customer support strategy.

2. High level of learning about your customers

Customer support bots can store information about the interactions they had with your customers. As opposed to FAQ sections which cannot provide insights about the experience people have, bots can show:

• the topics customers ask about
• the average time needed in order to provide information about a problem
• how many tickets they handle in a day
• what feedback they receive from customers

They represent a great way of learning about people that interact with your business and about your company. You understand the needs of your customers and what you can improve in your business so as to meet their expectations.

3. Great interaction with customers

Customer support bots can have an interactive conversation with people. They manage to understand what customers are saying and to give answers that are similar to the ones offered by people. The fact that they adapt their answers and do not just give automatic answers transforms everything into a pleasant natural conversation.

The different types of answers the bot gives is another reason why the interaction between the two parties is so great. Bots can give a wide range of images, videos and links to people. If the ones they provide at first are not relevant to the customers’ needs, they can offer other possibilities.

4. Customer support bots can answer to a wide variety of questions

As mentioned before, FAQ include a limited number of questions, the most frequently asked ones. This means that people may not find the information they are looking for in the FAQ section. Customer support bots are designed to handle a wide variety of questions, just like a customer support representative. They analyze the problem the customer is having, compare it with previous situations and work on providing a suitable answer.

In addition, FAQ sections usually offer general responses and instructive sources of information, while bots focus on providing solution-oriented answers.

Customer support bots can greatly complement FAQ sections. They can fill the gaps in your customer support strategy and help you grow your business.

In what other ways can customer support bots complement FAQ sections?

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