Stop answering the same questions over and over again

Why is it so hard for people to stop doing the same things over and over again when we know there’s a better way? I don’t know – I am totally guilty of this myself.

For example, I paid for an amazing tool called TextExpander which allows me to create keyboard shortcuts for text that I use over and over again. Despite having this tool and successfully using it for years, I type out, or copy and paste, the same things over and over again.

Why am I not using TextExpander and instead spending hours repeating myself or searching for text to copy and paste? Why am I knowingly wasting time? Well, I got a new computer. Then I didn’t reinstall TextExpander. So even though that might only take me 5-10 minutes to set up so I could use shortcuts, I’m constantly putting this off because I’m “too busy” (but really I’m just being lazy). I even talk to people about my laziness that is causing me all this extra work.

Have I installed TextExpander? Nope, but I know I should. Just like I know I need to blog and work on our knowledge base. This bring us to how knowledge base software can actually help you stop answering the same questions over and over again if you can just break out of your bad habits and do it. Recently we were playing around with this fun tool called PowToon and made a quick video for HelpGizmo about this very topic. It took less than an hour and turned out pretty adorable!

Is your [insert name here] team answering the same questions over and over again?

While we made the video with customer support in mind, repetitive questions are a common problem among for sorts of teams: human resources, sales, development, quality assurance, customer service, technical support, training, IT, administration, billing, accounts receivable, and management (just to name a few!). It’s not only frustrating to answer the same questions over repeatedly, but it’s frustrating for the person asking the question not to be able to solve it on the own.

External and internal knowledge base software can help stop the insanity.

One of the most popular and scalable solutions for knowledge sharing is external and/or internal knowledge base software tools. By putting information in a single location, that is easy to search and easy to use, your employees and customers can find information faster and without having to ask an individual for help.

Create better self-service.

Self-service helps both you and the knowledge seeker in more ways than one. It’s easy to think of the selfish reasons why self-service rocks: less support emails and calls, lower support costs, and more time to spend on other priorities. Yet many people overlook the fact that customers (and employees) actually prefer self-service and being able to solve issues on their own. Research shows just how sexy self-service is and why it is good for your business.

Reduce external and internal customer questions and support.

External and internal knowledge bases can help you reduce the amount of repetitive questions you get from employees and customers. Whether it is internal or external, repetitive questions cost companies time and money. Implementing knowledge base software can help you reduce this extraneous business expense and focus on doing other things to grow and be successful.

Save time and money!

Recently, I read a blog article on productivity that suggested how much time could be saved if people replied to questions with blog posts or knowledge base articles instead of emails. Since time translates to money, creating good habits of documenting and sharing knowledge can help you save both time and money.

Yet sometimes it’s hard to stop our bad habits. I’m still copying and pasting text rather than using TextExpander, and there’s tons of stuff on my “I really need to do this” list that hasn’t gotten done. While knowledge bases aren’t the only way to prevent people from asking the same questions over and over again, it can be amazingly helpful. So how can we help?