ICMI's Customer Management Insight - January 2008 - (Page 27)

O P E R AT I O N S A feature that engages internal users and helps with system adoption is the ability to track who contributes and authors content. The KM system contains reports that not only identify who suggests and authors content, but also report on which content is used most often to resolve questions. The reports are a valuable tool that organizations can use to encourage employees to contribute their knowledge before it walks out the door. The reports identify contributions and how often solutions are used to resolve questions, enabling solution finetuning for relevance and usefulness. However, be cautious of deleting solutions that are not often used; these may be valuable and useful, although infrequently accessed, solutions. Reports also identify questions or problems that are not being answered or gaps in the knowledge bases. A knowledge manager can use the reports to proactively develop content or solutions to fill the gaps. Many systems include a rating option that allows agents to look at solutions returned from a search and provide feedback on how useful the item is in resolving their question, which is valuable for fine-tuning the system. EXTEND TO SELF-HELP M GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE Key Implementation Steps for KM 1. Identify a KM program sponsor 2. Define the project goals and scope 3. Initiate your program with change management, starting with education and awareness building 4. Define vision and requirements a. Explore customer behavior and define requirements b. Identify and document current state business processes c. Identify and document information sources and related processes d. Identify and document end-state business processes e. Identify business-specific language and vocabulary requirements 5. Select a KM vendor and solution 6. Develop KM processes based on KCS (extendable to the enterprise) 7 Develop KM system and design requirements to initiate . implementation 8. Develop and integrate 9. Test thoroughly 10. Conduct a pilot with a defined group of users 11. Roll out to broad user base (internal and external) 12. Continuously manage and optimize After you engage your internal teams, KM systems can be extended directly to customers for selfhelp. This improves agent productivity (and potentially lowers cost) by reducing the quantity of agenthandled interactions. Many systems will integrate with the Web site to promote self-help as a search function or by providing FAQs. Web site design can enable customers to find answers to questions by icmi’s insight searching the same content resources that agents use. The KM system protects information by restricting access based on user type. Some systems enable integration with a “contact us” function on a Web site to drive answers to questions without agent assistance. The system can first attempt to answer the question with solutions or FAQs. If the system does not find the answer, the email is then automatically sent to the agent or a chat interaction is initiated through a multimedia contact center solution. In addition, while providing selfhelp opportunities to customers can reduce the overall costs of handling inquiries, customers can also contribute knowledge. Customers can be a great source of information for others to use. Users can be prompted by the system to suggest new knowledge and use a template to enter information, data or other content. The new solution is then delivered to a knowledge manager for review as part of the knowledge creation and authoring process. The knowledge manager has the option to establish an incentive program for customers to contribute knowledge. Leveraging customers for this application is likely to be more successful in scenarios where the customer relationship is very close (e.g., exclusive distributor). WHY KCS MATTERS In many organizations, data and information are used as knowledge, but fail to capture the true benefits of providing knowledge to solve problems. This means knowledge tends to be considered a relatively static commodity. The truly dynamic nature of knowledge creates an | JANUARY 2008 www.icmi.com 27 http://www.icmi.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ICMI's Customer Management Insight - January 2008

ICMI's Customer Management Insight - January 2008 Contents Customer Care Technologies Ad Index Editor's Page Contact Center Spotlight People: Prehire Tests In The Center Strategy: Video Contact Centers Show Preview Operations: Knowledge Management Industry Research Contact Centers Face Today's Realities: A Case for Consolidation 2.0 Is Your Agent Training Process Evolving with the Role? The Key to Innovation Is Maintaining Your Strengths Becoming Strategic: Using Customer Contact Analytics to Empower the Contact Center's Role

ICMI's Customer Management Insight - January 2008

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