It can be a real struggle to create experiences that meet customer expectations. In today’s world, new apps and channels have made it easier than ever to interact with a company’s brand across platforms and devices. This has generated a never-ending stream of customer data that’s disconnected, especially when building apps that enhance the customer experience.

They also bring lousy headlines. Hey, they can’t all be hits.

As consumers’ preferred channel for solving simple queries, self-service can play a huge role in helping businesses scale in a customer-centric way. Take it from Freshly. Founded in 2015, the meal delivery subscription service brings nutrient-rich, chef-cooked meals right to customers’ doors, eliminating the confusion around (or lack of interest in) recipes or evening grocery store runs.

Sometimes even the most experienced agents will face a customer service issue so complex that it leaves them stumped. That’s understandable—after all, as the technology driving many products and services becomes increasingly complicated, the need for guidance from experts on other teams has become commonplace.

Defining good customer service can seem to be a bit of a moving target, especially in this era of ever-increasing customer expectations. But the forward-thinking companies leading the charge in this new reality—such as Zendesk strategic partners Guru, Lessonly, and Stella Connect—are keenly aware that it’s their customers who get to make that determination, not them.

As bonafide subject matter experts collaborating cross-functionally across the company, agents play an important part in knowledge management. Self-service content is increasingly being used beyond the help center, such as in 1:1 channels, as served up by AI, or for cross-functional collaboration between teams. As your content changes, the processes your team takes to maintain it need to change, too.

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An omnichannel approach to customer support requires a dedicated strategy—will you designate agents to focus on single channels or will they multitask? Are there channels that you want to guide customers towards? How do you properly staff agents on these channels throughout day, month, or year to keep up with customer requests?

In the world of customer service, there’s nothing more stressful than a rising ticket backlog and overworked, stressed out agents. If your agents are inundated with emails, calls, and inquiries––something needs to change. If your agents are constantly switching between channels and unable to communicate and collaborate in real time, there are serious consequences—think low CSAT, low ASAT, and a general lack of support efficiency.

Providing great customer service is one of the best ways for a company to achieve success and ultimately, grow. But with that growth comes the challenge of maintaining it without sacrificing the very things that made you successful in the first place. And since having a bigger team doesn’t automatically mean you’ll perform better, companies that scale well learn to strategically organize their support team in a way that increases efficiency and reduces costs.