FiNC Technologies, a health tech venture specializing in preventive healthcare and AI, adopted Helpfeel for the help centers of three services: the FiNC health app (the number one Health & Fitness app in Japan 1*), FiNC Plus, and FiNC MALL.
1: Based on the total number of downloads in the “Health & Fitness” category of the App Store and Google Play in Japan (January to December 2019) / Source: App Annie
We spoke to three individuals involved in the introduction and operation of Helpfeel at FiNC Technologies to understand the background and effect of implementation.
Interviewees
CRE Group, Technology Development Department, Platform Division
- Kawaguchi Unno
Customer Service Group, Operation Promotion Department, Platform Division
- Ryohei Fukushima
- Misaki Komuro
The help center for each of their three services were operated separately, creating time and resource challenges.
──Please tell us about your three services that have started using Helpfeel.
Fukushima: FiNC is a free health management app with a built-in AI personal trainer that tracks steps, diet, weight, sleep, and menstrual cycle. FiNC Plus is a paid version with added features like carbohydrate management and advice reports. FiNC MALL is a wellness shop that works with FiNC and allows users to redeem FiNC points accumulated through the app.
──What kind of setup do you use for customer support overall?
Fukushima: We have support teams for each service, responding to user inquiries via email, chat, and our help center.
──What issues did you face in customer support before introducing Helpfeel?
Fukushima: Our help centers were ineffective in enabling users to solve their problems, resulting in a high volume of inquiries, especially regarding basic app operations and settings. With media exposure leading to an influx of new users, our support workload increased. To maintain and improve support quality with limited staff, we needed users to solve their issues via the help center, reducing the number of inquiries.
──What issues did you have with the help centers you were using for your three services before?
Fukushima: We managed self-service differently for each service: FiNC used a third-party help center, FiNC MALL used an open-source CMS, and FiNC Plus had content directly on the site. This complexity was problematic.
Helpfeel can migrate over existing help pages in a short period of time and keep running costs down.
──What considerations did you make when choosing Helpfeel for your new help center?
Kawaguchi: Initially, we compared two systems. One was difficult to implement due to language limitations on the management screen. The other was costlier than expected. We needed a help center that could quickly migrate help pages for all three services and serve as both a help center and a knowledge-sharing tool to reduce running costs. Helpfeel emerged as the best candidate.
──How did you first learn about Helpfeel
Fukushima: We were already using Helpfeel's Cosense (prev. Scrapbox) for internal knowledge sharing, which led us to Helpfeel Search.
──Since the Helpfeel CMS is based on Cosense, which your company already used, was that a major factor in your decision?
Komuro: Since we extensively use Cosense for various tasks like meeting minutes and quick notes, we felt we could easily create help pages and share knowledge with Helpfeel.
Kawaguchi: When I tried Helpfeel from a user's perspective, I was impressed by its keyword search function. Despite initial skepticism about usability differences among help centers, Helpfeel stood out, and we quickly decided to implement it.
*Cosense（prev. Scrapbox) is a new knowledge-sharing service developed by Helpfeel that allows you to organize all kinds of information as easily as a chat app.
Helpfeel's team was very attentive, adjusting text and creating keyword lists. One month after adding Helpfeel, contacts dropped 40%.
──How long did it take to complete migration after you chose Helpfeel?
Komuro: We started the project in early July 2020, migrated 176 help pages from the three services, and launched Helpfeel in mid-August 2020.
──Were there any challenges your company had to address with in the migration?
Fukushima: The migration required minimal effort on our part. The man-hours were much lower than expected, which was a pleasant surprise. Helpfeel's team was very attentive, adjusting text and creating keyword lists.
──What results did you get after implementation?
Fukushima: One month after implementing Helpfeel, contracts dropped 40%. We were able to achieve our goal of reducing the number of inquiries by 30% by the end of 2020 well ahead of schedule. I think this is the result of the excellent keyword search performance, which also handles ambiguous and sensory word expressions and spelling errors, as well as the simple, easy-to-use design, which greatly improved the usability of the FAQ site and contributed to users being able to solve their own problems.
──Has there been a change in how you respond to contacts after the decrease?
Komuro: With reduced contacts, we now respond to emails and chats faster. Previously, it took 3-4 days for a first response, but now we respond immediately. Additionally, multiple staff members can edit help pages, quickly reflecting what we learn from users.
──What effect did you see from integrating your three help centers into one?
Fukushima: Integration has made maintenance easier and created a path for free FiNC users to learn about FiNC Plus and FiNC MALL. We expect this to accelerate the conversion of free members to paid members.
──What kind of initiatives do you have since introducing Helpfeel?
Fukushima: We have monthly meetings with the Helpfeel Customer Success team, who provide detailed metrics like search hit rates and dropout rates. This data helps us plan our next steps and understand user needs, which is valuable for app improvements and new business opportunities.
──Thank you. Finally, please share your thoughts on Helpfeel and your future plans.
Kawaguchi: Recent trends show users prefer self-service experiences for problem-solving. Helpfeel is ideal for achieving this. Reducing inquiries frees companies from customer support issues, allowing them to focus on service updates and improving customer satisfaction.
Fukushima: When considering system migration, functionality and cost are crucial, but Helpfeel's attentive customer success team is an added advantage. Even with limited resources, migration is smooth, making Helpfeel a highly recommended help center for companies facing similar challenges.
