The FAQ Answer to 80% of E-Mail Overload
Web Marketing Today, Issue 44, May 1, 1998
 Vilfredo Pareto |
Ever since then people have been holding up 80% and 20% templates to all sorts of problems. "Hmmm, fits here," they grunt. For example, you'll discover that 80% of the all questions you're asked can be answered in 20% of the time by referring people to a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page on your website. If you aren't using one of these work-saving tools, here's how you do it.
1. Capture the Questions. Ask the person who answers your phone, "What are the main questions people call about?" Ask the person who sorts your e-mail, "What questions keep popping up again and again?" Keep a list for a week. This isn't the time to filter them into important/unimportant or frequent/infrequent. Just list them.
2. Sort the Questions. Now analyze the list and try to sort questions. You'll find (if you're normal) that 80% of the time people are asking the same five or 10 or 15 questions. Sure, they phrase them differently, but they involve the same information. (If you're not normal, be sure not to tell anyone!) Sort by frequency, not importance. A question becomes important to you by the very fact that it takes up your time to keep answering it. Now select the most frequently asked questions for inclusion.
3. Rephrase the Questions. Find the most common way that your customers ask a question, and frame it using the words they would use. I've visited too many websites where the questions and answers used such technical gobbledy-gook that I come away saying, "Huh?" The point is not to impress industry insiders, but to communicate to your newbie customers. If you must use technical vocabulary, link technical jargon words to a glossary that defines them. You'll only save time answering e-mail if people understand what you're talking about in the FAQ.
4. Answer the Questions. Now phrase a clear, concise answer to these common questions. Nothing gets my wife more frustrated than when I try to tell her some computer trivia she doesn't think she needs to know. I'm showing off my superior knowledge, but she's fuming. If she had a mouse she would have clicked to another Web page before I had barely begun. Provide the answer that 80% of the people need to know, and stop.
5. Arrange the Questions. Which questions should be first? 80% of me wants to say that the first question should be the most frequently asked question. But 20% of me realizes that a FAQ is really an educational document. Some people will become acquainted with your product or discipline or industry by reading the FAQ. So 20% of the time you'll probably want to start with the most basic question and work up to the most technical, defining terms as you go.
6. Make your FAQ easy to navigate. You aren't finished when you turn this into a Web page. You also need to make it easy to scan. People who are looking for answers don't want to read 80% of the FAQ before they arrive at their question. List the questions at the top of the page, and provide links so your customers can jump to the answers (with questions repeated) farther down the page (or on other Web pages if you have lots of questions or many long answers).
7. Link to the FAQ from your home page. You'll probably want to link your newly-written FAQ from your home page. A well-written FAQ is destined to be one of your most popular pages. Make it easy to find.
8. Hyperlink your answers to action pages. Once you've answered your customer's question, you'll want to move her towards taking action. Does she need to purchase an accessory to solve her problem? Provide a link to the product page where she can order it immediately. Does she need to download a software patch? At the end of your answer provide a link to the file she needs.
But what does this have to do with e-mail overload, you ask? Just this. If you can help people quickly find answers to 80% of their questions on your website, only 20% of them will need to e-mail you for more information, thus cutting your workload substantially -- and providing excellent customer service and a higher percentage of unassisted sales.
But 20% of the people will probably e-mail you anyway. They just don't get it, didn't find it, or are generally dense. And 80% of them will probably e-mail you asking one of your Frequently Asked Questions. Let your FAQ do double duty. Prepare standard text files preloaded with answers to the questions you are commonly asked. After completing the online FAQ, copy and paste each question and answer into one of these boilerplate files which can be easily used to reply to e-mailed questions. Be sure to personalize the answer just a bit so your customer feels like you're really listening, and be sure to read through the entire e-mailed question so you can fill in a couple of applications that the e-mail boilerplate doesn't cover (the other 20%).
I write this saddened by the knowledge that 80% of you will probably never get around to developing an FAQ page. But let's look at the positive: 20% of you will develop an FAQ and be on your way to capturing 80% of the business.
Read more articles from Web Marketing Today, Issue 44, May 1, 1998
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