With the holidays just around the corner, many people are traveling across the country to visit family and friends. When all these holiday travelers get to the airport, they have three options: check themselves in at one of the airport kiosks, check-in with a designated app from their airline of choice, or check-in with an agent behind the desk. In today’s tech-fueled world, most people choose to help themselves. In a recent survey, Forrester found that self-service usage increased from 67 percent in 2012 to 76 percent in 2014.
These days, the majority of customers and users would rather help themselves than speak with an actual person. As we’ve gotten further and further from the brick-and-mortar storefront, we’ve begun to expect a very different kind of assistance: an almost invisible one. Customers expect to be provided with the tools to do it themselves. Whether it’s at the airport, on our computers, or on our phones, we’re living in the “I’ll just do it myself” era.
For mobile, providing self-sufficiency consists largely of having an excellent in-app FAQs with articles to help explain tips, tricks and ideas for navigating through problems. If users are able to quickly get answers to their questions without having to leave your app, engagement will rise and in turn, churn will drop. You wouldn’t want to be caught this holiday season (or any time of year) without them. The top three aspects of mobile FAQs consist of:
Make It Native
Instead of downloading content from the Web, cache it on the actual device. When users are in-app, they don’t want to leave the app, open their web browser to find an FAQ, or wait for an embedded one to load.
Make It Searchable
We live in a “just Google it” generation. Users are used to search, so having an in-app search bar that auto-loads with relevant results as the user types is crucial. They may not even know exactly what they’re looking for initially, but auto-loading search results can help them figure it out. This level of intelligence is a secret weapon to keep customers satisfied and returning to your app.
Analytics Are Your Best Friend
Metrics and feedback loops turn your FAQ into a living, breathing entity that changes along with its readers. For example, if 400 users have opened the “How do I make a payment?” article in your FAQ, but 240 still contacted customer support after reading it, you’ll know two things: you likely need to make a slight product change to make the payment process clearer, and your FAQ needs updating. By analyzing these performance metrics (which FAQs lead to tickets, which lead to good ratings, etc.) along with user data (like what device they’re using, where they were in the app when they ran into the issue, etc.), your support teams can identify patterns and in turn, improve FAQs and app updates.
Native, easily searchable FAQs are a crucial aspect of mobile customer service that goes beyond revenue. In a recent survey described on VentureBeat, 38 percent of small app businesses reported their primary purpose was improving customer service. In the same survey, less than 25 percent said the purpose of app creation was increasing revenue. A system that allows users to help themselves as efficiently as possible should be the centerpiece of your customer service strategy.
Think back to those holiday travelers are the airport. Are you more likely to remember a flight that went smoothly or a flight where the airline lost your luggage? Users are much more likely to remember a negative experience than a positive one. Providing an in-app, searchable FAQ is the mobile version of that flight kiosk. Even if the app crashes or the user has a negative experience, if they can immediately find the answer to their question they’ll be far more likely to come back/remain in the app.
The result of a great native FAQ is a win-win all around: the user is better equipped to answer their own questions, which leads to a reduction of tickets for agents to deal with. Ultimately it allows the user to spend more time in the app rather than dealing with customer support.
Mobile is an inherently solitary medium. If we wanted to chat with a support agent, we wouldn’t be using an app. Being true to the medium is of the utmost importance when creating customer care. Otherwise, you’re forcing the user to engage in an interaction that they clearly aren’t desiring. Keeping the customer in the app as they ask questions and resolve issues is of paramount importance when it comes to their satisfaction and your user retention.
A version of this article appeared on the author’s blog.
