Course Outline

Module 1: Self-Service Strategy & Customer Journey Mapping

• Why self-service: business cases and KPIs (containment rate, deflection, CSAT).

• Identifying candidate journeys for self-service (billing, onboarding, troubleshooting).

• Mapping customer intents and expected outcomes.

• Tools & platforms overview: Zendesk Guide, ServiceNow, Salesforce Communities, Confluence.

• Case Study: Self-service rollout that reduced ticket volumes in a finance context.

• Exercise: Create a self-service journey map for one common support use case.

Module 2: Knowledge Content Creation & Governance

• Writing for customers: clarity, scannability, tone, and templates.

• Article types: how-to, troubleshooting, policy, product updates, multimedia how-tos (video/screenshots).

• Content governance: ownership, review cycles, version control, archival policies.

• Localization and accessibility best practices (WCAG basics).

• Practical: Draft and peer-review 2 knowledge articles using a template.

• Deliverable: Knowledge article template + editorial checklist.

Module 3: Information Architecture, Search & Findability

• Taxonomy, categories, tags, metadata, and faceted navigation.

• Search optimization techniques (query synonyms, stop words, boosting).

• Implementing ElasticSearch/managed search tuning for relevance.

• Enhancing search with AI: suggestions, autocomplete, and RAG (document retrieval).

• Hands-on Lab: Configure search relevance boosts and build a sample navigation structure.

• Case Study: Solving low findability through taxonomy redesign.

Module 4: Automation, Chatbots & CRM Integration

• Using chatbots for guided self-service and handing off to agents when needed.

• Linking knowledge base articles to bot flows and suggested answers (intent → article mapping).

• Integrating portal with CRM/ticketing (Zendesk, ServiceNow, Salesforce): auto-create tickets, populate context.

• Escalation workflows: when to escalate, what context to include, SLA handoffs.

• Simulation: Build a chatbot flow that returns articles and creates a support ticket if unresolved.

• Exercise: Design a CRM-integrated escalation payload (what fields to pass).

Module 5: Analytics, Optimization & Continuous Improvement

• Key metrics: article views, search zero-results, article helpfulness, containment/deflection rate, time to containment.

• Setting up tracking with GA4 and exporting logs to Power BI for dashboards.

• Using feedback and queries to identify content gaps and product issues.

• A/B testing article formats, placement, and prompts for improved outcomes.

• Governance: audit cadence, scorecards, and KPI reporting to leadership.

• Capstone Project: Build a simple Power BI dashboard showing portal performance, identify top 3 content gaps, and present a 90-day improvement plan.