Knowledge management is a key factor for successful customer self-service. Evaluate yourself on these issues to see how ready you are.

• Do agents still go to three-ring binders for information?
• Are user manuals pristine and 100 percent up to date?
• Is there a process to ensure that changes are made immediately available to agents and to end users?
• Is there a method to capture changing customer information?
• Is staffing in place to handle the business knowledge and process?

Follow the 80 / 20 rule: 20 percent of your processes or knowledge will solve 80 percent of the customer issues. Focus on these first: build processes and tools for identifying, developing, organizing and presenting the information. The knowledge management process never ends but this will put you ahead in the long run.