Are you tired of answering the same questions over and over again every day like "can I exchange it?", "when will it be delivered?", "what is the price?" Are not? The customer service team is both time consuming and inconsistent in their responses. Some people say this, others say that, making customers even more frustrated. So what should we do so that customers can search for themselves and have staff respond quickly and accurately?
Knowledge base (KB, also known as knowledge bank) is a set of articles that standardize questions, instructions and procedures for customers to look up and employees to answer quickly, instead of having to rewrite each time. You don't need 100 entries to start, just 5 entries hitting the most repeatable questions to see changes. It is the 35% reduction in operating costs that Zenify recorded in businesses that built warehouses early that made many shop owners start working immediately. So what are the 5 articles you should create first?
TL;DR
- KB = standardized articles for customers to look up and staff to respond quickly.
- Start from the 5 most repeated questions, no need for 100.
- Data from ticket: which sentences are repeated a lot → write that article.
- KB for guests (public) and for employees (internal).
- Good KB reduces ~30% re-ask tickets; AI/chatbot uses KB to respond automatically.
The first 5 posts should be created
Start with your most recurring question, list the last 30 days of tickets to choose from. Below are 5 popular groups that almost every business needs:
Lesson 1: Instructions for using basic products/services
Write "How to use [product] from start to finish", with photos or step by step.
This article answers the question "how to..." that appears every day.
Lesson 2: Return / warranty policy
Encapsulate the conditions, time and return process in a single article so that staff can quote correctly.
Thanks to that, the question "can it be exchanged?" repeat.
Lesson 3: Delivery time and shipping fee
List shipping packages, areas, estimated times and fees, remember to update when there are changes.
This is the group that is asked the most by sales businesses.
Lesson 4: Price list and questions about prices
State the price structure, service packages, running promotions and payment methods.
Be sure to clearly state the effective date to avoid incorrectly responding to the old price.
Lesson 5: Fix common errors
Write something like "What to do if you encounter error X", listing 3-5 most common errors with how to fix it yourself.
This article reduces trivial technical tickets, the team focuses on difficult problems.
How to choose the next song
KB is not written once, but is a continuously maintained loop:
Every week, see which tickets are repeated a lot without any posts.
Write an article for a question that appears 3+ times per week.
When an employee replies but doesn't have a post yet, suggest creating one immediately. Modern tools can do this.
Guest KB vs internal KB
Type | Object | Content | Purpose
Public | Customers | Guidelines, policies, FAQs | Customers self-check, discount tickets
Internal | Staff | Process, template, complaint handling | Staff respond quickly and consistently
If you don't know where to start, do the internal KB first because the team can use it right away, then gradually publish the articles that customers can look up themselves.
Lợi ích của KB với helpdesk
Reduce repeat tickets: customers or staff look up instead of asking, estimated to reduce repeat tickets by ~30%.
Consistent answer: Everyone quotes the same information, no one makes up their own content.
Quick Onboarding: New employees read the KB to understand the job (see also Onboarding 30 days).
Foundation for chatbot/AI: chatbot answers based on KB, correct and not fabricated (see also Auto-reply Zalo).
4 mistakes to avoid when building KB
Write according to "what the company wants to say" instead of the question the customer actually sent, the article is finished and no one finds it.
Old content not updated: Old prices, old processes cause employees to lose trust and leave KB.
Long rambling article: keep it short, answer first, details later.
No one is responsible for updates: KB dies after 1 month, please assign a content manager.