Chatbots Vs. Knowledge Bases: Choose the Ideal Support Tool

Chatbots vs. Knowledge bases is a tricky choice to make.

Surely, keeping up with customer engagement is a 24/7 job.

Coming out of the pandemic, we’re on the other side in 2024, where customer expectations are rising. If you resist them, they prefer to handle resolutions themselves.

As per the state survey of customer service, three overly discussed topics we heard from leaders were:

• Rapid changes in customer expectations
• The advent of AI-powered chatbots
• More focus on internal collaboration

That made us realize companies are constantly putting more demand on support teams to provide better experiences to customers.

As people-focused professionals, we believe the only thing that can make the difference is ‘Agility’. That’s what CRM and support leaders are building strategies around that involve

• self-service capabilities,
• AI-powered tools and
• Streamlining workflows

All this makes sense when you onboard a new user, and they need more visibility or peeping into your product.

This is where chatbots and knowledge bases come into play. They act as a gated strategy to help your customer provide better CX.

Again, it circles us back to the main question: Chatbot or Knowledge Base: Which one should you choose? Let us help you choose the right self-service strategy for your needs.

We’ll break the blog talking on both sides and open the end for you to decide.

Let’s start!

How Chatbots Help in SaaS Customer Support

Research says AI chatbots are the most preferred channel for customer service. Is it? We’ll see.

By definition, AI chatbots work the same way as humans when solving customer queries via online chat. They answer customer queries, offer solutions by asking relevant questions, and assign the queries to humans when they’re out of their capabilities. AI chatbots work on NLP models and learn from real-time interactions.

Learn how you can turn to AI chatbots to handle queries and alleviate pressure on service reps:

1. Always On, Always Responsive

AI chatbots never sleep.

Chatbots provide 24/7 customer support. Always monitor your website, checking queries, answering them, or escalating problems to service reps if or when they arise. It’s working even when your team member is on vacation. The customer journey is never fixed; every single time a customer comes with different levels of service questions, AI chatbots handle varying complexity levels within the same conversation.

For example, a customer in a different time zone is facing an issue with software access late at night. Instead of waiting for business hours, they can ask the chatbot and get immediate help, such as resetting their password or checking account settings.

2. Instant Responses to Queries/Help to reduce churn

“For a SaaS company, and I will stake my reputation on this, the most important metric is net revenue retention, “ says  Janet Schijns, CEO of channel consultancy JS Group. Later in the conversation, she also mentioned that churn saturates your revenue.

A customer shared an experience, in which the sales team was very active until a deal was sold and then stopped communicating with the customer until the renewal period came around.

For B2B SaaS buyers, the partnership is more valuable than a mere transaction; hence, they always look for top-notch customer support. In such cases, AI chatbots prevent top-level churn by instantly responding to surface-level queries, and if trained well, it help to solve high-level tickets as well.

Image Source: Freshworks

3. Reduces the burden on the support team/Frees up support agents

28% of agents quit their jobs largely due to burnout; AI chatbots significantly reduce their workload and increase the current support agents’ productivity.

Chatbots take over routine tasks, and agents can focus on building a smooth support workflow so that SaaS companies can build high-authority customer support.

4. Handles Multiple Queries with Personalized Touch

Chatbots utilize stored customer information to quickly analyze and provide tailored support.

They retain a record of each user interaction, ensuring customers don’t need to re-explain their issues during future conversations, enhancing the overall user experience with consistent and personalized responses. It’s all about how you are training your advanced chatbots using machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP).

The more you explore it, the more you reap the benefits. AI can sharpen your self-service chatbots to handle highly granular customer service requests in less time.

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How Does Knowledge Base Help in Customer Self-Service?

A knowledge base, also known as a help center, is a self-help portal designed to help users navigate the product without the hassle of customer support. The knowledge base is a strategic asset to customer success. To deliver a great customer experience, there is no way to cut corners (reduce customer service costs); customers must have a knowledge database to use as a source of single-truth information.

Research shows that companies that use knowledge see 2.5 times the rate of customer self-service. Make a mark that it’s simply not a switch to have the full potential of AI self-service; you need AI knowledge base software that supports quality self-service experiences.

1. Empowers Customers to Find Answers Independently

Modern knowledge bases skip the traditional step of finding relevant links to find the specific answer to the question. With Document360’s Ask Eddy, AI search capabilities are enhanced by deep integration into their platforms. You can seamlessly integrate AskEddy AI into your products and deliver precise, relevant information without redirecting customers through multiple links. This improves the experience and reduces customers spending time searching for answers.

Results? Increased customer satisfaction and trust in self-service tools.

2. Provides detailed guides and documentation

Content creation takes time and effort; knowledge-based software like Document360 aids your documentation process. Using AI writer tools, you can perform actions like outline creation, improving text, changing tone, converting speech, and more.
You can create a database of your product’s technical specifications in depth, structure it clearly without worrying about the word limit, and host the knowledge base on your website.

3. Consistent Information

You can update content without any coding required, unlike chatbots, where you need to train NLP processors to provide the right answers. Here you can update content in multiple verticals like videos, text-only information pages, audio, or guided interaction with the app.

You process the information like a new feature or a transition in an existing feature. It’s good practice to update the knowledge base. This takes very little effort, and the information stays consistent without breaking the flow as multiple stakeholders are working on the document. Using self-service, you can share your company’s brand and values without any confusion.

What are the differences between a knowledge base and a chatbot?

If you ask us, our vote goes to the knowledge base, it’s a dedicated AI assistant that helps you scale self-support by creating an in-house help center with full access to your knowledge base.

The user can access all the resources without leaving your product, even your chatbot that’s integrated into your website. So, all hail knowledge-base sites or knowledge-base software like Document360 for enhancing customer self-service.

With fair intention, here’s a detailed differentiation between a chatbot and a knowledge base.

Here you go!

Still in a dilemma?  Read further.

What is AI Chatbots in Knowledge Bases: A next-gen Customer Self-Service

65% of CX leaders say traditional customer service methods are outdated compared to the self-service bots.

Traditional knowledge-base chatbots search for keywords and drop down the list of top knowledge-base articles to answer FAQs. But AI agents have more to it.

“AI Chatbots in knowledge bases provide AI-powered self-service, which includes a wide range of applications from evolved bots (aka AI agents) to automated responses to sentiment analysis—as well as tips for ensuring accurate advice, enabling smooth bot interactions, and striking the right tone or personality of bots. “

For example, Kommunicate is chat software for websites that allows customers to contact website handlers in real-time. Document360 comes with an integration feature where you can integrate Kommunicate with your Document360 knowledge base. Using Communicate also cuts costs, as a single agent can talk with several customers simultaneously and still retain the same high customer satisfaction rates.

What do these AI-powered chatbots do?

• Search through your knowledge base to find and summarize relevant information.
• Integrate with conversation flows and backend systems to offer personalized and precise responses to more complex inquiries.
• Deliver smarter, context-aware assistance for users.
• Recommend relevant articles or resources from the knowledge base.
• Analysis of the content gaps to help businesses optimize their content and refine their knowledge base for better accessibility.

The Verdict

Both chatbots and knowledge bases have their ups and downs in self-service. But if we count chatbots, they have many limitations, like complex training and compact support. And most importantly it still relies on a Knowledge base for training and fetching the answers.

Whereas, a knowledge base is a great self-service option as it helps SaaS users get their answers in a brief manner anytime without any delays.

Everything aside, your knowledge base reflects your product learning curve. It acts as an education hub for new users and helps them learn your product.

Want to start offering in-app self-service support?

An intuitive AI-powered knowledge base software to easily add your content and integrate it with any application. Give Document360 a try!

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