Public libraries were few and far between, with limited buy phone number list access. Although at its height, the great library of Alexandria is known to have housed up to 400,000 scrolls of information. 1 . We cannot imagine the effort and manpower required to maintain such volumes of information.
With the development of science and technology, knowledge gradually became public knowledge. The invention of the printing press helped experts publish many books, articles, scientific facts, etc. Then came educational institutes and schools that specialized in creating customized educational content and programs for businesses. To a large extent, this knowledge remained within these institutions and was rarely ever shared with any organization.
The advent of software technologies and the Internet has revolutionized the way information is stored and shared. Today, information is largely digitized, and organizations can easily create and access large repositories, commonly referred to as knowledge bases.
What is a knowledge base?
A knowledge base is a repository of information about your organization and the products or services you provide.
Information can:
Be in the form of Google or Word documents, PDFs, videos, GIFs, FAQs, etc.,
Information can be easily obtained as the data is carefully organized and classified.
Include content about business communication, technology, products and services.
Can be used by various teams such as development, HR, marketing and sales departments.
Even your website can be part of a knowledge base. The possibilities are endless as to what you can include in one.
So a knowledge base is essentially the collective knowledge your organization has recorded about products, business processes, and your customers. It can come from the product itself, from employees, and even from customers.
Why does an organization need a knowledge base?
Knowledge can be scattered across an organization – for different products (or services) by different teams. And the world, which is today a global village, can be spread all over the world. It also makes sense that employees leave your organization and take this treasure with them.
Wouldn’t you like to record this information in one place so that you can access it when needed? Imagine what an asset a knowledge base can be and its potential!
This repository helps in two ways: internally – to your employees and externally – to your customers. Let’s see how.
Knowledge base for your employees
Why do you think your employees might need a Knowledge Base? There are many reasons why it might be useful for different teams.
If your business is expanding or hiring employees, would you want to invest in expensive training programs? If you have access to documentation, you can create customized training programs. You can use this to help new employees learn the product and assimilate into the organization. You can quickly train your employees on new features.
Customer support teams will have easy access to this information. They can easily troubleshoot customer issues or direct them to corrective actions.
HR groups can disseminate policies and guidelines, especially with dispersed employees.
Other teams, such as sales, marketing, and development, can use the platform to publish documentation on approaches, branding, standards, etc.
Having a knowledge base means quick access to data. Onboarding new employees is faster. Consistent policy enforcement is easier. On the operational front, it helps with branding guidelines and reduces customer service issues and pre-sales inquiries. Here are some interesting tidbits you might want to consider. 47% of companies with a knowledge base have seen positive sales growth. 45% of companies surveyed report an increase in self-service sales. And 54% have seen a spike in web traffic 3 .
And the best benefit? Your teams will be able to deliver an enriching experience for your customers.
Knowledge base for your customers
Does a customer’s relationship with you end with a sale?
No, it doesn’t. In fact, customers often contact you after the sale – with questions about products or service issues, or they may simply be looking for information. A study conducted by Coleman Parkers for Amdocs found that 91% of respondents would use an online knowledge base if it were accessible and tailored to their needs. 2 . A knowledge base acts as a self-help center where customers can search for information rather than contacting customer service.
You can use a knowledge base to:
Attract new customers with ease.
Help customers learn and use the product on their own.
You can continue to build a relationship with a customer long after you’ve made a sale by consistently providing quality content. A knowledge base helps retain customers.
In both cases, the information should be available anytime, anywhere, in an easy-to-understand format.
The knowledge base is the only source of truth
As customer requirements change to meet business needs, so do the applications and products that meet those requirements. It is vital that documentation keeps up with this pace of change and that there is a single source of information available to both customers and your employers. So how do you achieve this? Simple, a Knowledge Base!
A Knowledge Base will be a platform for a “single source of truth” – with information about the latest version of a feature or capability.
It unifies corporate data from different sources so that your sales, support, marketing or training teams can have the latest information, along with your customers. A Knowledge Base helps avoid miscommunication and improves customer service.
Are you using a Knowledge Base in your organization? Check out the Vtiger CRM Knowledge Base here.