Knowledge is Power: Knowledge Management for Today's Customer Service

I was watching a video of School House Rock with my kids and a line from the lyrics caught my ear: Knowledge is Power.

Conquerers certainly know this; the first thing they do is destroy or capture the knowledge the competition has (or assimilate it as the Borg do). And businesses know it. Business Intelligence is one of the modern watchwords as is Knowledge Management. But what does it mean?

Some businesses have determined that if they save all the information they can find about any part of the business, then they will have business intelligence. Then they discover that they don't have information, they merely have data. It won't become information until it is put in a form that can be used to answer questions. In comes Knowledge Management. KM, as it is oftened shortened, takes that data and sifts it, classifies it, makes it searchable so that it can become information. In turn that information can become intelligence when used as part of a plan to increase business, improve processes, and decrease defects.

Knowledge Management makes information accessible and when used as part of a customer self service application, it makes information empowering. Increasingly, customer service is including methods of helping the customer help themselves. Customers can access Forums, Knowledge Bases, FAQs, and myriad content that will keep their business going without a single phone call. In turn, those phone calls that are never made are no longer blocking those calls that represent new business or a frustrated customer who needs personal care, or that simply bog down the service desk with routine, easily handled matters to the detriment of service agents and customers alike.

Managing Knowledge to strengthen business. Now that's power.

For a demonstration of a self service center web portal, visit http://tracker.phaseware.com/selfservicecenter/

Or go to www.PhaseWare.com to learn more about other customer support and service solutions.