For 50 years, NCCW has been utilizing its knowledge, experience, and vision to automate the operations of housing corporations with the ERP system XBIS. The focus is not only on providing integrated software but also on collaborating with housing corporations to strengthen their positions. Providing efficient and clear user support is one of the primary focal points, and this is now proceeding as desired.
NCCW is a leading software company focused on providing solutions for housing corporations. With over 50 years of knowledge, experience, and vision, the company primarily aims to automate operations within housing corporations using the ERP system XBIS. With more than 70 employees, NCCW not only delivers software that meets the needs and requirements of housing corporations, their staff, and tenants but also emphasizes providing user support. Within the organization, there is a strong awareness that customers must be supported in a clear and efficient manner while using XBIS.
At NCCW, delivering high-quality user support is always a top priority, and the organization is open to implementing improvements in this area. Housing corporations using the XBIS software can rely on the support of a robust support department, but they were previously provided with documents containing instructions, user guides, and process descriptions in PDF format. Satisfaction with these documents had declined in recent years. Deanne, a consultant at NCCW, shares insights about the format and condition of the documents:
“Our user guides were sometimes as long as 300 pages, often outdated, and not always in the customer’s language. Essentially, our guides were not very user-friendly or future-proof”
The use of these outdated documents proved to be increasingly inefficient, primarily due to the time-consuming process of updating them and the limited usage. Because NCCW remained convinced of the value of instructions, user guides, and process descriptions, and due to the increasing demand for a tool to alleviate pressure on the support department from recurring inquiries, they sought a new form of support.
In their search for a new form of support, NCCW was open to many options but did set some requirements. For instance, there was a strong desire to work more with visual instructions, ensuring that the instructions always displayed images of the most current version of the software and were easily accessible to users. Additionally, a fully digital solution was needed that could accommodate both detailed process descriptions and the creation of short instructions to quickly address recurring questions from the support department. Deanne explains that SelfGuide emerged as a potential solution:
“SelfGuide appeared to us as a complete and user-friendly solution. It also played a role that we noticed several housing corporations were already using SelfGuide.”
SelfGuide provided NCCW with the ability to easily document knowledge, processes, and actions related to the use of XBIS in user-friendly instructions. Process descriptions can then be easily accessed by customers, and the support department at NCCW can quickly address recurring customer inquiries using these user-friendly instructions.
After the final decision to choose SelfGuide, the implementation was reportedly trouble-free. Both the technical and functional implementations were experienced as quick and smooth. The so-called kick-off session, where a consultant helps the organization get started with SelfGuide on-site, was particularly appreciated. Additionally, several supplementary sessions were organized at the request of NCCW. According to customer success consultant Anne, there was ample opportunity to ask questions during the functional implementation:
“It was very valuable to be able to ask all our questions to the consultant. We quickly discovered how simple SelfGuide is and were able to try things out. It was very helpful”
At NCCW, the consultants and support staff primarily took the lead in creating instructions. Agreements were quickly made regarding who would be responsible for which instruction and how the quality of the instructions would be monitored.
Where previously little use was made of the available instructions in PDF format, clear and up-to-date instructions are now valued highly. More time is now allocated to creating and maintaining instructions, primarily due to the extent to which SelfGuide instructions are accessed and the satisfaction among customers regarding these instructions. Anne explains:
“We asked customers for feedback on our instructions in SelfGuide. They are really satisfied, especially because the instructions are very clear and current.”
For NCCW, it is now evident that SelfGuide has elevated the support for XBIS users to a higher level. In addition to being able to assist customers more efficiently with issues, Deanne believes that SelfGuide has fostered greater self-sufficiency among clients:
“Since we can easily refer to instructions with process descriptions using SelfGuide, we’re receiving fewer questions. Additionally, we create instructions for frequently asked questions. I am confident that this has already contributed to the self-sufficiency of XBIS users”
NCCW is still in the process of replacing all PDF documents with instructions in SelfGuide. So far, this has been achieved for the most important process descriptions and frequently asked questions received by the support department. The organization is now making significant progress in creating instructions in SelfGuide. Their ambition is to transfer all existing instructions as quickly as possible and to fully support customers digitally with SelfGuide. Additionally, according to Anne, NCCW maintains close contact with the consultants from SelfGuide:
“The lines of communication with the people at SelfGuide are very short. That is truly an advantage. Whenever we have questions, issues, or suggestions regarding SelfGuide, we reach out to a consultant, and it gets resolved quickly for us.”
In the future, NCCW also aims to utilize the training functionality in SelfGuide. In addition to using standalone instructions, this feature allows them to compile multiple instructions into an effective training program with several modules. NCCW can then easily share these trainings with (new) users of XBIS.
