Whether you sell software, games, or something else, the first thing customers or players notice when they contact support is how well agents know the product. It’s why the importance of domain knowledge can’t be overstated. Training, knowledge sharing, and generating product experience through discussion and interaction across your company all contribute to a better understanding of the product on the frontline. In turn, it increases satisfaction and confidence in your support. Here’s how to leverage deep domain knowledge to your advantage.

Think about it, what do customers typically notice during virtual interactions? They notice when conversations aren’t succinct, informative, and effective, and when customers have a bad support experience, they don’t keep it quiet.

In-depth knowledge of what your business does is as important as an understanding of the product.

If your support teams don’t have a thorough understanding of all your products, how can they cross-sell or provide recommendations?

Whether insourced or outsourced, your team must always know more about your business and product than your customers.

Effective ongoing training, including in-depth company overviews and updates on service offerings or game patches, ensures your agents are knowledgeable about your company, culture, product, and values. If a customer mentions they are also interested in another service or game you offer, a team member must be able to discuss this with them clearly and effectively.

And this is even more vital in the games industry as many games have extremely knowledgeable player bases that remember even the slightest details, but this just makes domain knowledge even more critical.

Everyone shops around. Consumers are aware of the best prices, products, games, and services in your sector. That means it’s all about what separates you from your competitors, how you sell your products and services, and how customers perceive your brand’s value. An understanding of the wider industry, and your company’s standing within it, is key to your customer service team knowing what makes your offering unique. It helps them put your best features first. In short, your team’s industry knowledge is your greatest differentiator.

What’s more, when support teams deliver greater satisfaction and handle tickets faster, your new and existing customers come to view your support channels as more effective and knowledgeable than your competitors – another great differentiator.

So how can your teams gain deeper domain knowledge and expertise? Invite customer service agents to build first-hand knowledge by joining relevant meetings, conversing with subject matter experts, and taking part in cross-team dialogues. This is a far better way to help them gain domain knowledge than fact sheets and feature lists because it gets them engaged. But be aware, building this expertise doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a holistic approach that expands over time.

And taking a long view here can really pay dividends. The goal should always be to create a foundation of knowledge and expertise that can be expanded upon and repurposed. If outsourcing is required, meetings and discussions can easily be handled remotely and still engage everyone involved.

It isn’t only your agent’s knowledge that improves, deep domain knowledge also informs other aspects of support service. Using insights from past support interactions gives you a wider view of how customers use your service.

Plugging in deep domain knowledge when creating buyer personas helps identify potential gaps and pressure points within your service flow. To take this one step further, using this information to create customer journey maps that outline a customer’s journey through your services will markedly improve how your agents understand the product and business, allowing them to ensure customers speak to the right department at the right time. In this way, identifying and analyzing strengths and weaknesses in your service becomes more rewarding for both customers and agents.

Ultimately, deep domain knowledge is vital to enhancing your support services. By refining information, you gain from each customer’s journey into knowledge-based actions, you can create opportunities for smoother, more enjoyable interactions for your customers and agents.

Want to know how PTW takes care of its players and customers? Check out our Customer Experience page now or get in touch.