Heretto 2024 State of Customer Self Service Report logo

Introduction

In today's digitally-driven era, the demand for instant solutions has transformed how businesses approach customer support. Gone are the days of switchboard operators and crowded call centers; today, forward-thinking support strategies are leading the charge, and merely staying current is not enough. To truly excel—to capture and retain customers—businesses must not only keep pace, but set the pace.

Over 700 professionals across industries delivered one clear message: self-service is essential for success. The data in this report reveals how self-service has transcended its traditional support role to now influence every stage of the customer journey.  With  every department represented in this data, it is apparent that the entire company has a vested interest in delivering an exceptional self-service experience - from the earliest pre-sales interactions through implementations, onboarding, and ongoing customer support. This mission-critical shift positions self-service not just as a support channel, but as the driving force for enriched customer experiences that foster loyalty, retention, and growth.
This report dives into the impact of self-service, unveiling the strategies and best practices that empower organizations to not only keep pace but to set the pace in a digitally-driven era where instant solutions are the expectation, not the exception.

Setting the Foundation

Before participating, we offered this definition of self-service to ensure everyone was on the same page:
Customer self-service is the digital-first approach to customer support where organizations empower users to independently resolve issues and find information online.
Recognizing that a variety of voices would contribute to this survey, it was obvious to start with a pivotal question:
This marks a notable move towards self-service, indicating that even those not yet prioritizing it in their customer experience strategy recognize its value and will be prioritizing it in the near term.

This survey captured perspectives from a wide range of professionals, representing a variety of industries, serving a diverse audience. Not surprisingly, technical writers made up the largest section of contributors, but Executive Leadership and Customer Experience/Support were tied in second-most contributions, followed closely by Product and Engineering. This widespread involvement of numerous departments is an early indicator that a self-service strategy impacts the entire organization and relies on robust cross-collaboration for success.
Graph 1: Survey Respondents by Department
26%
Technical Writting and Info Development
16%
CX and Support
16%
Executive and Leardership
15%
Product and Engineering
6%
Sales and Marketing
3%
Education and Research
2%
Consulting
2%
HR
14%
Other
The Technology & Software industry, renowned for innovation, represented the largest segment of contributors. For the tech industry, online information and support is not just important, but mandatory as their customers are often digital-first companies who expect a frictionless issue resolution experience. The other heavily represented industries, like Consumer Goods & Retail,  revolve around consumer experiences where providing positive support experiences are crucial to customer retention and growth.
Graph 2: Industries Represented by Respondents
The survey captured an array of company sizes, ranging from small startups to large enterprises, providing proof that organizations of all sizes are increasingly considering self-service to streamline processes, enhance customer experiences, and optimize operational efficiency.
Graph 3: Respondent Breakdown by Employee Size
Graph 4: Company Customer Type
B2C and B2B organizations make up the vast majority of respondents, most likely due to their substantial market presence and customer-centric focus. Both sectors rely on customer satisfaction and retention for success, with B2C companies prioritizing direct consumer engagement and B2B organizations emphasizing client retention and contract renewals.
CHAPTER ONE

Self-Service at the Forefront of a Modern Support Strategy

As customer support options continue to evolve, there are more and more to choose from. Every customer is unique with individual needs and preferences, so, based on the data, how do you make customers happy? Provide options.

Does that mean an organization should invest in every single type of customer support and hope for the best? Absolutely not. What the data does suggest, though, is that while there may not be a one-size-fits-all approach to customer experience, it is clear self-service comes first.
Graph 5: B2B First Touch Support Channel
Graph 6: Software First Touch Support Channel
In the rapidly evolving landscape of customer support, self-service has emerged as the resounding frontrunner, with 44% of B2B companys' customers opting for self-service channels as their initial touchpoint. This preference for immediate, on-demand solutions is even more pronounced in the software industry, where a remarkable two-thirds of customers turn to self-service first, underscoring its pivotal role in satisfying customers' immediate needs.
Reinforcing this trend, a Harvard Business Review article reveals an almost identical statistical picture that a staggering 57% of support calls originate from customers who have already visited the help site first, highlighting two critical points:

1. Customers instinctively seek answers online as their initial step
2. More than half of these support calls could potentially be avoided with effective self-service solutions
Notably, the effectiveness of self-service content plays a pivotal role in this equation. A self-service platform that is easy to find and user-friendly ultimately serves no purpose if the answers that customers seek cannot be found or is inaccurate, leading to frustration, a poor customer experience, and further strain on human-led support channels.

The evidence is clear: customers prefer self-service. Failing to provide a well-designed, intuitive platform with accurate, up-to-date information can lead to lost trust, dissatisfaction, and ultimately, lost customers. Conversely, a robust self-service strategy that empowers customers to find solutions independently can save companies time and resources while enhancing customer satisfaction, loyalty, and competitive advantage.
CHAPTER TWO

Self-Service is Mission Critical to the Entire Organization

Given the undeniable benefits of self-service for both customers and businesses, it is crucial for organizations to recognize that self-service is no longer just a nice-to-have feature, but a mission-critical component that impacts the entire customer journey and overall business success.

Self-service at Every Step of the Customer Journey

By delivering exceptional self-service experiences across all stages of the customer journey, organizations cultivate loyalty and retention from the initial encounter with their brand through the entire buying process and beyond. This not only boosts win rates but also has the potential to impact customer lifetime value.
Graph 7: User roles who took the survey
48%
Employees
32%
Current Customers
20%
Potential Buyers

Prospective Buyers

While self-service is often associated with post-sales support, this survey revealed a surprising finding: 20% of respondents identified prospective buyers as the primary audience for their self-service platforms. This is surprising because self-service is rarely considered an instrument in a pre-sales motion, yet these prospective buyers are present nevertheless.This insight calls attention to a critical opportunity for organizations to leverage self-service as a powerful sales enablement tool.
In today's digital age, prospective customers are increasingly empowered to conduct extensive research and due diligence before making a purchasing decision. They want to be fully informed about technical specifications, product capabilities, and compatibility with their existing digital ecosystems – and they want this information at their fingertips, on-demand.

Moreover, by catering to prospective buyers within their self-service strategy, organizations can gain valuable insights into the specific pain points, requirements, and decision criteria that drive purchasing behavior. This intelligence can inform product development, marketing strategies, and sales processes, enabling a more targeted and effective approach to customer acquisition.

Prospective buyers might not be the core demographic for self-service at first glance, but as this survey highlights, these individuals are clearly leveraging self-service channels, if and when available, to make informed decisions. By recognizing and capitalizing on this trend, organizations can influence purchasing decisions, drive conversions, and ultimately contribute to overall new business sales growth.
By recognizing and capitalizing on self-service, organizations can influence purchasing decisions, drive conversions, and ultimately contribute to overall new business sales growth.

Active Customers

The survey results shed light on the prevalent types of issues that active customers are addressing through self-service channels, providing valuable insights for enhancing the customer experience throughout their journey.

Notably, technical issues emerged as the primary concern addressed via self-service, accounting for almost half of responses. This finding underscores the critical importance of seamless onboarding processes and readily available self-service resources.

By consistently providing accurate, up-to-date self-service resources, organizations can empower customers to resolve technical challenges independently, streamlining issue resolution and minimizing reliance on human-led channels. This fosters a sense of self-sufficiency and confidence in the product or service.

Moreover, prioritizing self-service for technical issues during onboarding sets the tone for the entire customer journey, influencing initial impressions and long-term satisfaction. When customers perceive that their needs are efficiently addressed through self-service, they are more likely to develop trust and loyalty towards the brand.
Graph 8: Most Common Self-Service Issues
Moreover, prioritizing self-service for technical issues during onboarding sets the tone for the entire customer journey, influencing initial impressions and long-term satisfaction. When customers perceive that their needs are efficiently addressed through self-service, they are more likely to develop trust and loyalty towards the brand.

Employees

Most surprisingly, respondents reported employees are the audience segment that utilizes self-service content the most. This highlights an important reality – employees need access to the same answers as customers and prospects in order to properly serve customers. While self-service platforms are typically built with external users in mind, it is crucial to remember that they have far-reaching impacts across the entire organization.
Employees, especially those in customer-facing roles like support, success, and sales/marketing, rely on self-service resources to assist users, resolve inquiries, and guide prospects. By having access to the same knowledge base, they can provide a seamless and consistent experience, fostering trust and reinforcing brand credibility. This unified approach ultimately nurtures lasting customer loyalty.

However, the benefits of self-service extend beyond external interactions. By empowering employees to serve customers with comprehensive self-service resources, organizations can streamline internal processes, boost productivity, and cultivate a culture of self-sufficiency. When employees can effortlessly access the information they need, they can focus on delivering exceptional service, driving innovation, and propelling the organization forward.
The data underscores a profound strategic shift, where self-service transcends its traditional role in customer support to become an enterprise-wide catalyst for operational excellence, employee empowerment, and unparalleled customer experiences. This holistic, organization-wide commitment to self-service excellence is poised to separate industry leaders from followers in an increasingly competitive landscape.
CHAPTER THREE

Ownership and Collaboration

Who Owns Self-Service Strategy?

To better understand a company's self-service ownership,  the survey focused on two main aspects: how customers access answers and the content providing those answers. Respondents reported the Customer Experience department owning the overall self-service strategy, a logical outcome due to this department being responsible for positive support interactions.

Who Owns Self-Service Content?

Interestingly, Technical Communications take the lead when it comes to creating and managing the content for self-service. However, it is only a slight lead over Customer Experience and IT, which are followed closely by Support. This further supports the notion that self-service is a multi-departmental initiative.
Graph 9: Department That Owns Self-Service Strategy
Graph 10: Department That Owns Self-Service Content

Who’s Involved with Self-Service?

The survey findings resoundingly affirm that self-service initiatives can no longer be siloed within a single department or viewed as a responsibility confined to traditional customer support roles. Respondents emphasized that self-service initiatives require input and collaboration from various departments across the organization, solidifying the indisputable reality that self-service is a company-wide mission.
Graph 11: Departments Most Involved with Self-Service Strategy & Implementation
1
Customer Experience
2
Support
3
Product
4
Executive Leadership
5
IT
6
Business Operations
7
Marketing
8
Technical Communications
9
Engineering
This cross-functional imperative stems from the far-reaching impact of self-service on the customer journey. As discussed previously, from product design and development to marketing, sales, and post-sales support, every touchpoint along the customer journey is influenced by the availability and effectiveness of self-service resources. Consequently, a truly successful self-service strategy demands a holistic approach that harmonizes the efforts of multiple stakeholders.

By fostering cross-departmental collaboration and breaking down silos, organizations can unlock the full potential of self-service, transforming it from a mere support function into a strategic differentiator that permeates every facet of the customer journey. This collaborative approach not only enhances the customer experience but also drives operational efficiencies, reduces support costs, and cultivates a culture of continuous improvement as insights from various departments converge to refine and optimize self-service offerings continually.
CHAPTER four

Technology and Tools

Recognizing the diverse needs of organizations to deliver self-service experiences and the content that fuels them, the survey allowed respondents to make more than one selection when indicating which tools they were using. Again, the survey broke this down into two sections:  the end-user experience platform and the tool for creating and managing content on the backend.

What Tools are Used for Self-Service Experience?

According to the survey data, the top-ranking self-service solutions implemented for end-users are web-based platforms, including customer portals, knowledge base platforms, and websites. These serve as dedicated, independent spaces for self-service support. Chatbots and interactive guides/tutorials closely follow, typically embedded within existing web pages.

When selecting a tool for delivering self-service experiences, organizations should consider factors like:
  • User experience (UX)
  • Scalability
  • Multichannel/omnichannel support
  • Analytics/reporting capabilities
  • Customization options
  • Security/compliance
Graph 12: Top Channels for End-User Self-Service Experience
With organizations deploying a diverse array of self-service touchpoints, it becomes even more crucial to maintain a cohesive, unified experience across all these channels. Customers expect seamless handoffs and consistent information whether they are interacting with a knowledge base article, a chatbot conversation, or an online tutorial. Any contradictions or redundancies will undermine trust in the self-service capabilities.

While implementing disparate point solutions may be expedient, brands looking to differentiate through exceptional customer service should prioritize an integrated self-service strategy from the outset.

What Tools are used for Self-Service Content?

While a unified end-user experience is crucial for overall success, there is no experience without the content. The content itself holds equal importance.
If users cannot find the answers they need, or if the content is outdated, inaccurate, or poorly organized, self-service falls short of its intended purpose. High-quality, relevant, and easily accessible content is the backbone of an effective self-service strategy. 

However, the survey revealed that, similarly to the fragmented tool landscape for end-user experiences, respondents are utilizing a wide variety of tools simultaneously for creating and managing self-service content across their organizations.

This siloed, disjointed approach to content production mirrors the larger organizational challenges. Disjointed, outdated or low-quality content will inevitably lead to poor customer satisfaction, regardless of how well the self-service channels are designed. 
Graph 13: Tool(s) for Creating & Managing Self-Service Content
1
Microsoft Word
2
CMS
3
CCMS
4
Google Docs
5
Proprietary
6
Markdown Editors
7
Unsure
Any inaccuracies or contradictions in the content can destroy credibility and trust, driving users away from self-service towards more costly support avenues. Even fragmented content structures  add unnecessary friction when trying to locate information. Organizations must therefore treat their self-service content supply chain with the same level of governance and quality control as other core business assets by implementing: 
  • Centralized content management
  • Automated review workflows
  • Structured content models
  • Continuous optimization based on usage analytics
These foundational content tenants are critical for maintaining a truly world-class self-service experience aligned with customer expectations in the digital age. A disconnected tool chain for authoring, managing and publishing content will invariably lead to disconnected experiences for users.

If creating a cohesive, seamless customer experience is the goal, then unifying the technology stack for content management and end-user experiences should also be a priority. Over half of respondents utilize advanced features like predictive issue resolution to proactively address potential issues, but this functionality may be hindered by siloed systems.

A unified technology stack becomes even more critical for enterprises operating across multiple languages, regions and products.
Graph 14: Does your company employ proactive customer support features in self-service, such as predictive issue resolution or preemptive notifications?
Graph 15: Is your self-service content localized to cater to diverse customer demographics?
With more than 55% of respondents localizing content, requirements like translation, cultural adaptation, and regional compliance add an extra layer of complexity to content management. Relying on disparate tools and workflows for each language or geo increases the risk of inconsistencies, inefficiencies and governance issues. An integrated platform that supports structured content modeling, terminology management, translation memory and centralized localization workflows can streamline global content delivery and result in a high return on investment.

Fragmented self-service initiatives held together by duct tape and legacy systems will inevitably crumble under the weight of escalating customer demands. To stay competitive and meet modern expectations, organizations must make unifying their self-service delivery a core strategic priority. 
An integrated technology platform providing centralized content authoring, unified knowledgebase, intelligent content services, and analytics-driven optimization forms the bedrock for exceptional self-service experiences. Only through this unified approach can organizations empower customers with the seamless, personalized, and trusted self-service journeys they deserve, while unlocking new efficiencies and insights to propel their service operations into the future.
CHAPTER FIFTH

Measuring Success

Self-Service Success Metrics

As revealed through our comprehensive survey, companies are navigating the self-service landscape with a keen eye on selecting the right tools, but also a recognition that understanding how to holistically measure success across the entire customer journey is equally crucial.
The success metrics survey participants highlighted demonstrate its broad influence from pre-sales awareness to ongoing support and retention efforts.
The emphasis on metrics like customer satisfaction, retention, and usage rates underscores self-service's strategic significance beyond just operational efficiency. While cost-related metrics like deflection rates and cost per resolution remain important, companies are clearly prioritizing self-service's pivotal role in enhancing satisfaction, reducing resolution times, and cultivating loyalty.

This diversity in metrics suggests a recognition of self-service's multifaceted benefits throughout the customer lifecycle, including the pre-sales journey. Metrics like usage and traffic can illuminate self-service's role in driving awareness, education, and conversion during the critical pre-sales phase.

Operational metrics such as first-contact resolution rates, deflection rate, and time to resolution reflect self-service's capacity to drive efficiencies and reduce support burdens across all stages of the customer journey.
Graph 16: Self-service Success Metrics
By holistically measuring self-service across this comprehensive spectrum of metrics, organizations can optimize offerings to deliver exceptional experiences at every touchpoint, from initial awareness to ongoing support, while simultaneously driving cost efficiencies. This balanced approach underscores self-service's maturation as a strategic imperative shaping the entire customer journey, poised to unlock competitive advantages in satisfaction, loyalty, conversions, and overall business outcomes.
CHAPTER six

The Future of Self-Service

As organizations look ahead to the future of self-service, one trend stands out prominently: Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the recent survey, a staggering 83% of respondents identified AI as the next big trend they are preparing for.
Goldman Sachs Research estimates that AI investment within businesses could reach $100 billion in the U.S. and $200 billion globally by 2025, highlighting its growing significance across industries. AI holds immense potential for enhancing every aspect of business operations, including customer experience.

Leveraging AI within a self-service strategy, particularly with content, opens up new avenues for efficiency and profitability. When self-service experiences are fueled by structured content– information that is organized in a consistent, hierarchical way– AI models can process it more easily, thus making the path to adopting AI within an organization smoother and more efficient. 
The need for structured content within a self-service strategy is the exact reason why Etto, Heretto’s AI Copilot, was created. As more and more organizations recognize the need for structured content to unlock AI, Heretto recognized the need for an easier path to adoption. 

AI is poised to be the “central brain” of customer support, according to IBM. As AI’s role within an organization continues to evolve, its integration promises not only enhanced functionality for self-service channels but also invaluable support for human-led interactions, ultimately leading to faster, more efficient resolutions and greater customer satisfaction.

Additionally, the remaining responses showed a strong emphasis on in-app and in-product support as the second-most prevalent trend for self-service. As customers become increasingly accustomed to seamless, contextual experiences, they expect self-service resources to be integrated directly within the applications and products they use.

Comprehensive in-app/in-product self-service materials, such as contextual tooltips, embedded guides, and interactive walkthroughs, empower customers to resolve issues and access support without ever leaving the application or product interface. This frictionless approach not only enhances the overall user experience but also increases the likelihood of self-service adoption and success.
In conclusion, while AI emerges as the frontrunner, the rapid rise of in-app/in-product support underscores the evolving customer expectations for seamless, contextual experiences.
As organizations prepare for the transformative potential of AI and structured content, they must also prioritize integrating self-service resources directly into their products and applications to meet customer demands and stay ahead in an increasingly competitive market landscape.
CHAPTER seven

Conclusion

This comprehensive report affirms self-service as the strategic cornerstone of modern customer experience strategies. The data paints a clear picture - customers overwhelmingly prefer self-service. Moreso, self-service transcends its traditional support role, providing swift answers to questions at every step of the customer journey. Not only does this necessitate cross-departmental collaboration, organization-wide commitment is paramount  for true success.

Maintaining accurate, up-to-date self-service content is imperative to empowering customers and fostering trust. A user-friendly interface is no longer enough to stay ahead of modern customer demands. As self-service evolves, AI and structured content emerge as critical enablers, poised to revolutionize capabilities and unlock new efficiencies for the organizations that deploy self-service solutions and the customers that use them.

For organizations seeking to capture and retain customers, prioritizing self-service is no longer an option - it is an existential necessity. Those who foster cross-functional collaboration, continuously optimize offerings, and integrate AI-powered experiences will lead the way, gaining considerable ground against the competition. 
The future belongs to those who set the pace through self-service excellence.
State of Customer Self-Service Report 2024