Consumer expectations for 24/7 service and support are growing. Many brands cannot tell their customers that service and support is only available from 9am through 5pm on weekdays, because for many brands, regular business hours do not apply.
An example of this is Tagged.com. An incredibly popular social network with more than 300 million members worldwide, Tagged faces an imposing customer service challenge. Their members are constantly connected and using Tagged’s website 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and therefore, need to engage Tagged for support at any time of the day, and typically on weekends or after normal business hours.
Therefore, round-the-clock customer self-service and full-service options available on the Tagged site are incredibly important to the company that has been ranked on the Inc. 500 and named to the Forbes list of America’s Most Promising Companies, among other awards.
The Power of Online Self-Service
A self-service knowledgebase and support ticketing on the site’s customer service portal were key support additions for Tagged.com, but it was the continued development of the brand’s self-service knowledgebase, and more importantly, continued improvements to its functionality and organization that proved the most beneficial in improving customer convenience, support and satisfaction.
Tagged incorporated advanced search functionality in its support FAQs / knowledgebase that automatically surfaces the top five most relevant articles or answers that match the member’s keyword search. This search function appears on the site’s landing page, meaning members are not taken to another page, nor do they have to look for the page that allows them to perform a search.
To encourage use of the support portal and self-service functions, a guided tour of the support portal was also added to show the new or returning customer where things are on the portal and to help them navigate and use it more quickly and easily.
For premium customers, a chat feature is also provided in addition to Tagged’s support ticket options so that high value members can get personalized support from a live agent and resolution or customer engagement immediately.
“Customers are certainly happier now than they were before as they can get answers to their issues faster and easier than ever before. We’re always striving to improve the customer experience for our members, and service and support is a big part of that,” notes Fernando Alvarez, Sr. Manager of Customer Experience.
Amazing Results Realized
The use and custom functionality of Parature’s self-service knowledgebase as a cornerstone of the Tagged site and its support portal has paid off with incredible support ticket deflection results realized in an impressively short time, just four months. Prior to the knowledgebase and support portal customizations and improvements, Tagged customer service representatives were receiving and responding to more than 42,000 support tickets per month. Now, the average is just under 20,000 per month, a 50% reduction.
The time spent by support agents responding to tickets has also dramatically decreased, and Tagged is using this reclaimed time to provide increased live customer support on a 24-hour basis, and also to provide more personalized and responsive care to VIP and long-time members to boost retention and brand loyalty and promotion.
Social networking on a personal level requires personal care and attention on a staff and brand level, and not necessarily during the convenience of normal business hours. Tagged is an example of a brand working to meet the changing and growing expectations of today’s 24/7 customers.
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