If a great customer experience depends on great customer service, you better make sure you have a solid knowledge management (KM) system integrated with your CRM platform.

Quite simply, you need to make your employees and agents experts across many different product lines and service scenarios while increasing the effectiveness of your self-service options. With the proper ongoing support of a strong KM system, you can build collective intelligence and an effective knowledge base that allows employees to get answers quickly. Just as important as supporting your customer-facing agents is providing that information directly to your customers in an easy format on your Web site or applications. Clear, concise, and consistent information that is easy to find is the basic foundation for smart customer service, and it demands a KM system that is up to the task. 

In the following pages of this month’s Best Practices Guide, you’ll hear from four top KM providers who offer their insights into how to use knowledge management to maximize your customer service efforts and improve your customers’ experience.

Bob Fernekees
VP/Group Publisher
CRM Media
Information Today, Inc.