Forward-looking businesses are always searching for new ways to provide added value to their customers and drive long-term loyalty.

What has traditionally been a nice-to-have capability, but is now expected by customers throughout their journey, is the availability of self-service channels that make it easy for them to adopt your product, answer their own questions, and resolve issues independently.

Companies that are able to scale while keeping customers happy through exceptional self-service are the ones that will thrive in today's business climate. By empowering customers to find the answers they need through effortless digital experiences, they can drive greater customer satisfaction, lowercustomer-support costs, and reduce churn.

Below, we highlight three important ways that integrating self-service into your product helps create empowered, satisfied and loyal customers.

1. Boost customer satisfaction

Customer experience is overtaking price and product as the key brand differentiator (Customers 2020: A Progress Report). So as products become more complex and self-service becomes the norm, organizations must deliver experiences that not only satisfy customers needs, but also differentiate them from their competitors.

When customers can't easily find the answers they need to use your product, or can’t comprehend its full value, they get frustrated. A majority of people will escalate the issue to more expensive channels like web chat or the telephone, while many will give up and go to a competitor, and others will abandon their effort entirely (Forrester).

Every issue that customers encounter puts their loyalty at risk, and now with this crisis widening the support gap, you must empower them to find success on their own. Just as self-service provides the quickest path to onboarding and resolving issues, it can strengthen customers’ perception of your product and position your company as a customer-driven brand.

2. Drive product adoption

Successful product adoption depends on meeting and exceeding your users’ expectations. Customers leave when they can’t figure out how your product benefits them, so educating them as they onboard and continue to use your product will help them overcome any stumbling blocks.

Embedding relevant information at key points in the customer journey – like during onboarding – creates a positive initial experience, encourages deeper product adoption, and ensures customers are more likely to stick with your product in the long run. This also drives more engagement by better communicating new features and exposing the full functionality of your product.

3. Resolve issues faster

Businesses seeking to combat today’s churn risk must invest in their ability to keep up with customers’ growing demand for self-directed support. Numerous studies show an overwhelming appetite for it, with 81% of customers attempting to take care of matters themselves before reaching out to a live representative (HBR).

Whether or not your digital platforms are built for it, customers are using them to look for answers. And a robust self-service strategy means they can find answers without getting frustrated or needing to open a support ticket.

Innovative self-service is already a major priority for forward-thinking companies who realize its business value. They understand that the easiest support path is one that allows people to find answers on their own, in their own time, through their preferred channel – and that this also frees up support agents’ time to deal with more complex cases.