Overview
Self-service offers the potential
to provide a low cost, highly effective supplement
to live service and support. Self-service
can result in a number of business benefits
such as reducing service delivery costs, increasing
service level performance and improving customer
satisfaction. To determine how well self-services
are working, it is imperative to institute
formal measurement processes.
The
foundation for a successful self-service measurement
strategy is the ability to quantify the business
impact from self-service initiatives. Effective
self-service measurement efforts must be able
to answer the question: What impact is self-service
having on the business?
One of the most important yet misunderstood
metrics of self-service business impact is
deflection.
What
is Deflection?
Self-service deflection is a specific measure
of self-service success. Self-service deflection
is defined as the rate that self-service resources
and/or content eliminate a customer’s
need for live assistance. The notion that
deflection is a measure on the impact of self-service
on reducing live support requests is generally
accepted. It should be noted that deflection
rate is not the same as success rate. Self-service
success is defined as the rate that customers
indicate they complete their desired transaction
and/or found useful information. Self-service
success does not imply, however, that the
customers’ need for live assistance
was fully satisfied. This subtle, yet important
distinction is the key difference between
self-service success and deflection.
According
to a recent survey by ServiceXRG, the reported
deflection rate is 23.4% and the reported
success rate is 48.1%.
A
New Approach for Measuring Self-Service Deflection
To effectively measure self-service deflection
it is necessary to establish a definition
of what constitutes a self-service transaction,
a determination of customer intent and entitlement
and the outcome of the transaction. This process
requires direct customer input collected through
a survey process.
Figure 1: Calculating
Self-Service Deflection
Source: ServiceXRG
An Industry Standard Definition for Deflection
A more comprehensive and accurate definition
of self-service deflection is the rate that
customers entitled to live support services
are able to successfully resolve an issue
by using self-service resources that they
intended to submit to support. This definition
and the methodology for measuring self-service
deflection include the following unique characteristics:
|
The
first characteristic of self-service deflection
is the indication of a successful transaction. |
|
A
successful transaction must sufficiently
satisfy the customers’ needs such
that no additional action or live assistance
is required. |
|
Since
deflection is a measure of the rate of
reduction in live support demand, the
customer must have the intent to seek
live assistance. |
|
The
customer using self-service must be entitled
to receive live assistance in order for
a successful transaction to be considered
deflected. |
The
self-service deflection opportunity is represented
in the figure below by the intersection of
self-service users that are entitled to live
support, have the intent to seek live assistance
and successfully satisfy their need without
a need for further assistance.
Conclusion
While measuring self-service deflection is
only one of several key metrics required for
tracking self-service performance, it is the
most tangible way to understand the business
impact of self-services initiatives. The measure
of deflection indicates the actual performance
of self-service in allowing users to resolve
issues without the need for further live assistance.
Accurately measuring deflection provides a
solid basis for calculating the true return
of self-service implementation and administration
costs. While there are many methods used to
calculate deflection, few reveal the true
business impact of self-service. The measurement
methodology outlined within this article provides
an industry standard method for understanding
the true impact of self-service initiatives.
