Newton Inc. operates private spaces for parties and other events such as Karaoke Pasela and Grace Bali.
In this interview, we asked Tomoyuki Kitami, Manager of the Business Development Department at Newton about the issues he was facing in customer support, why he chose Helpfeel from many providers, and the impact they saw after introducing Helpfeel.
Since each store handled contacts and created help pages independently, responses were inconsistent.
──What were some of the challenges you faced with your customer support operations before implementing Helpfeel?
We had set up a telephone contact point at each of our Karaoke Pasela stores to respond to customer contacts, and at the same time, each store had its own help center web page. Many of our customers were unable to solve their problems through the help centers, so they would call us on the phone to get help.
──So each location was incurring its own costs in responding to contacts?
Yes, it was. Not only did it cost a lot of money, but each store responded in its own way, and the company was not able to provide consistent responses to contacts.
──If the content of answers isn't standardized, customers get the impression that each store responds differently ...and this further increases the number of contacts, doesn’t it?
Exactly right. The cost of contacts was ballooning due to the lack of consistency in responses. Therefore, we decided to centralize the contact point for inquiries at the head office.
──So that’s why you decided to consolidate into one help center also. What kind of contact messages did you receive at Karaoke Pasela?
Pasela is used not only for karaoke but also for other purposes. We receive a variety of contacts, especially about the various parts of the system. Many people ask about how to connect the TVs installed in the rooms with their phones, or whether they can bring their own food and drinks into the rooms. Since these questions are asked during the consideration stage of selecting a location, failing to answer them promptly and accurately can lead to customer churn.
With our previous approach, in addition to the problem of different answers at each store in the first place, there was also the problem that the existing help center was not easy to use, and customers could not get the answers they needed even when they searched for the right keywords.
It's an exciting search experience... Helpfeel is the only tool that could predict what our customers wanted from the first touch.
──What made you choose Helpfeel when you were considering a new help center tool?
The first view of a help center is basically the same in all tools. There is a search box, a search button with a magnifying glass next to it, and the most frequently searched articles are displayed below. However, while Helpfeel's first view is familiar, the action after entering a search word is clearly different from other tools.
It's an exciting search experience the way the system reads the user's search and displays suggestions as if anticipating their intent.
──Do you mean that you chose Helpfeel because of its ease of use from the customer's perspective?
Yes, that's right. When introducing a system, it is a natural way of thinking to compare several products, but when it came to help center tools, I had the impression that all tools were about the same and none could really meet the customer's needs. We never got the results we expected, and that was the norm....In such a situation, we felt that Helpfeel was the only tool that could predict what our customers wanted from the first touch. So there was no comparison with other tools.
──Did you refer to the help centers of other companies that had already implemented Helpfeel?
Yes, we did. We found that all the existing customer sites were very simple and easy to use. I felt that the design of Helpfeel's Help Center was simple but was designed in a way that was close to the look and feel of the main page of the site. I thought it was good that they were designed in such a way to make the user feel comfortable.
In one month we were able to get the system up and running, and reduced the number of contacts handled by staff by about 60%.
──How are you using Helpfeel today?
For one example, at Grace Bali we placed a link to our Helpfeel help center in the navigation bar contact menu on every page.
──On the top right of the help page, there is a link that says “Contact Us”, and from there you can also go to the contact form, right? This means that even if you can't find the answer you're looking for in the help center, you can take the next step immediately.
Yes. We also introduced the Helpfeel Contact Form which predicts what people need and displays questions based on the words they type in the contact form. We are now able to solve customer needs even when people are on the brink of making a contact.
──What effect did you see from introducing Helpfeel and the Helpfeel Contact Form?
In one month we were able to get the system up and running, and reduced the number of contacts handled by staff by about 60%. Even though the number of staff has been drastically reduced by consolidating multiple contact centers into one at our head office, we have been able to handle support without any backlogs. The company-wide unification of the customer support system was also significant in terms of branding. In the future I would like to use it as a tool for internal training.
──You said that each location used to have its own help center. Did you consolidate the help content when moving to Helpfeel?
Yes. At that time, Helpfeel's customer success staff was able to suggest improvements to the content of each article and the overall structure of the articles. It was very encouraging that they not only replaced the system, but also checked the content of the articles and followed up with us.
──How has it been operating Helpfeel after implementation?
At our regular monthly meetings, Helpfeel’s Customer Success team provides us with suggestions for improvement based on the usage of the help center and detailed data on the content of articles and search terms. We also appreciate the feedback we receive not only on how the help center is being used, but also on the content of the contacts we receive through the form. Understanding the needs of our customers gives us hints for new projects and future business development.
──Thank you! Finally, do you have a message for companies that are facing similar challenges with their help center?
The know-how of using online tools for marketing and customer support is not widespread among companies like ours that sell lodging and entertainment experiences, but it is actually possible to provide online support to customers.
If you are looking for a self-service help center, Helpfeel is the right choice. Not only does Helpfeel promise to fulfill the original role of a help center, which is to provide customer service and support online with excellent search performance, but it also quantitatively captures customer needs from the search results, which are often missed offline, and this helps you to recognize new business opportunities.
