Knowledge base tool

Think of a knowledge base as your company's very helpful brain -- an organized, often pretty, repository of important articles, videos, and other content that your customer can search. More than a database, which simply stores information, a knowledge base is designed to draw conclusions from your data based on its knowledge of the world. That intuitive element means it's worlds better than FAQs at giving the correct solution to your user every time, thereby reducing friction and frustration.

The best knowledge software anticipates your users' most common problems and makes it quick and easy for them to find the solution they need. That's why knowledge base software is also useful for customer service agents. While working on a user's ticket, an agent can interact with your intuitive knowledge base content to learn more about their problem. The 20% of the workday that, according to McKinsey, employees spend looking for the information they need to do their jobs? You can cut this dramatically.

Making your files easy to access, despite your information's complexity, takes some planning. Here are some vital steps:

• Understand your user. Map out your target audience and the questions they have in granular detail—then build a knowledge base that is responsive, intuitive, and intelligent. Zendesk Guide offers a knowledge base that is simple and incredibly easy to customize. You can then measure how well the content is connecting with its intended audience: the platform knows what users are looking for and whether they're able to find the right information via in-built reports, allowing you to continually improve the user's experience. To make things even more localized, the platform can translate content into more than 40 languages.
• Understand your end goal. Consider what questions your users are most likely to need help with. Is there a way to put the answers to the top few questions front and center? How will your users find answers to more nuanced, complex questions? Can even the most beginner user have a successful experience navigating your knowledge base? And most important -- what kind of impression about your company does your knowledge base give the user? Does your customer support come across as helpful, providing the information clearly and succinctly? Or is your system a frustrating maze that will make a bad impression on your user? Since the knowledge base will be frequented by customers who are curious or even frustrated with your product, spend some time considering how to make the experience a positive and genuinely helpful one.