Improving customer experience through Communities

Introduction

In this article, we will explore the benefits and features of using online communities to improve customer experience in enterprise support. The article will cover the reasons why businesses should consider implementing an online community, the features and capabilities of the ServiceNow customer service management community product, and best practices for creating and managing successful communities.

Why Use an Online Community?

Online communities provide a transformation opportunity for businesses to engage their customers and manage the conversations that customers have amongst themselves. Customers often prefer to hear from other customers rather than a marketing or sales person, so communities provide a channel for customers to connect and find solutions to their problems.

Communities can also help businesses build brand advocates and drive loyalty, as customers who are engaged with the community are more likely to become advocates for the brand. Additionally, communities provide a low-friction channel for digital native audiences who prefer to find help online rather than speaking to someone directly. Furthermore, communities can help product and service teams gain insights and feedback from customers, as well as deflect support calls by providing a self-service opportunity for customers to find solutions amongst themselves.

The ServiceNow Customer Service Management Communities Product

The ServiceNow customer service management communities product is a part of the larger ServiceNow customer service management application. It is designed to allow customers to start discussions, locate peers who can help answer their questions, and find content that has already been created by the community. The product features highly configurable forums, topics, and moderation capabilities. It also offers various content types such as questions, blogs, videos, and documents, as well as a personalizable subscription framework for users to follow specific forums or topics.

The product also includes a gamification framework that allows for the creation of leaderboards and badges based on user activity and engagement within the community. Additionally, the integration with other ServiceNow applications such as case management and knowledge management allows for the escalation of unresolved questions to support cases and the harvesting of community content into the structured knowledge base.

Best Practices for Creating Successful Communities

Creating a successful community requires careful planning and management. Here are some best practices to consider:

1. Gain senior support management commitment: Ensure that senior management understands and supports the value of communities as a support channel.

2. Assign unanswered threads to support agents: Give the external community a chance to answer questions first by setting a designated time period before support agents intervene.

3. Moderate content: Have moderators review and move posts to the appropriate forums to ensure content is organized and easily accessible.

4. Establish a code of conduct: Create guidelines for acceptable behavior and ensure participants adhere to them.

5. Encourage marking responses as helpful or accepted solutions: Encourage community members to mark helpful responses and solutions to provide credibility and recognition to contributors.

6. Measure and improve through metrics: Establish metrics for community participation and monitor them regularly. Use these metrics to continuously improve the community and recognize top contributors.

7. Reward and recognize contributors: Provide certificates, plaques, and other forms of recognition to top contributors. Consider budgeting for travel costs to events or workshops as well.

Keywords: online community, customer experience, enterprise support, brand advocates, self-service, digital native, product feedback, support costs, gamification, knowledge management

FAQ:

Q: How can communities help in reducing support costs?
A: Communities provide customers with a self-service opportunity to find answers to their questions and solutions to their problems. By encouraging customers to engage with each other in the community, businesses can deflect support calls and reduce the need for costly one-on-one support interactions.

Q: Can communities be integrated with other enterprise systems?
A: Yes, the ServiceNow customer service management communities product can be integrated with other enterprise systems. It offers integration with case management and knowledge management, allowing for the escalation of unanswered questions to support cases and the harvesting of community content into the knowledge base.

Q: How can businesses ensure engagement in their communities?
A: Businesses can encourage engagement in their communities by recognizing and rewarding top contributors, providing gamification features such as leaderboards and badges, and fostering a positive and supportive community culture. It is also important to regularly monitor metrics and improve the community based on the feedback received from community members.