Killer Apps, Sweet Spots, and Silver Bullets for KM

Self Service Sweet Spots

We’ve developed other terms to describe game-changing technologies. We talk about “silver bullets” and “sweet spots.” Verint Global Consulting Service’s John Chmaj, Senior Practice Director, Knowledge Management, sees the sweet spot for self-service as having a good knowledge base and fine-tuned knowledge delivery system. In today’s omnichannel world, knowledge must reach customers regardless of what they’re using to connect to the company.

When he considers chatbots, the sweet spot is ensuring that the knowledge provided fits the scope of individual interactions. Some might be fine with short, direct answers, while others require database-driven results or actual articles. Web knowledge bases should have consistent, task-focused content structures, accurate and intuitive tagging, and customer-focused language. These add up to a sweet spot for ease of use by customers.

As customers increasingly crave self-service via their mobile devices, lengthy, convoluted answers are unhelpful. Instead, concentrate on focused content that is clear and short. You want information that can be quickly found and easily read on a mobile device. But not everyone shoots off a quick question from their phone. Email is not dead, regardless of what some time travelers might think. The sweet spot for responding to emails involves having a focused, reusable template that provides sufficient detail for including in email responses.

Another trend in self-service is community. Online, customers can share comments, questions, and ideas—not unmoderated, of course. The company needs to provide targeted assistance. But a community channel can provide value when experts share their knowledge about known questions, driving “best answers” across the community space. Self-service is clearly attractive to many people. Thus, accommodating self-service by providing timely, accurate information from a well-developed knowledge base is key to delighting customers.

Now that you’ve returned from 1979 and looked at various killer apps, sweet spots, and silver bullets available today, it’s time to leave the fictional world of time travel and embrace modern knowledge technologies. Avoid falling into black holes and set your engines full throttle ahead. Find the silver bullet and enjoy that killer app that works best for your organization.