Leveraging Accumulated Customer Knowledge in Electronic Knowledge Repositories for Superior Customer Service

Abstract

Customers are now demanding ever better service from customer service representatives (CSRs) to create superior customer service. Accordingly, CSRs are required to have more specialized knowledge and abilities of customer service. This study examines the roles of accumulated customer knowledge in electronic knowledge repositories (EKRs), which a firm has developed for customer service over time to enhance CSRs’ work capabilities and work performance, in the context of call centers. To test the proposed research model and hypotheses, we conducted LISREL analysis using 261 responses collected on CSRs working for inbound call centers. The key results are as follows. First, accumulated customer knowledge in EKRs enhances CSRs’ knowledge utilization and service expertise during the customer contact. Second, CSRs’ knowledge utilization reinforces service expertise. Finally, service quality depends on CSRs’ knowledge utilization and service expertise, but it is not directly related to accumulated customer knowledge. Overall, the findings suggest that accumulated customer knowledge in EKRs enhances CSRs’ knowledge utilization and service expertise, and thereby leading to superior service quality.