Imagine this: You’re on a deadline and need critical information from the organization’s database. When you searched for the information, the search results fetched were irrelevant. Frustrating, isn’t it?
Now imagine this scenario for the whole team and the rest of your organization. The outcome?
- Frustrated employees and customers
- Low employee productivity
- Decreased efficiency
And worst of all… missed opportunities.
This is where search relevance comes into play. Not just is it about finding information, but finding the right information at the right time. Finding information should be as easy as finding the sun on a sunny day.
What is the Cost of Irrelevant Results?
As per a report shared by McKinsey, “Employees spend 1.8 hours every day searching and gathering information. On average, that’s 9.3 hours per week!” For a company with 500 employees, this translates to an annual cost of millions in lost productivity.
When we analyze the same on the customer end, poor search relevance can lead to:
- Frustrated customers
- Abandoned carts
- Longer resolution times
- Lost trust in the brand
Thus, improving search relevance can improve the customer service experience. In fact, even Salesforce Research states, “89% of consumers are more likely to make another purchase after a positive customer service experience.” All of this makes search relevance a necessity for the success of an organization.
What are the Business Benefits of Relevant Search?
Here’s the main question now, why should your business care about search relevance?
1. Improves employee productivity
When search results are relevant, it would reduce the time spent on browsing for information allowing employees to meet deadlines on time, and resolve customer queries faster. Further, it will save their time to focus on more important tasks and tickets.
2. Informed decision making
In the business world, when decision-makers are provided with updated data and insights it becomes easier for them to make accurate decisions. This informed decision-making leads to business success, reducing the risks that pertain to business growth.
3. Better collaboration
The easy access to accurate and relevant information leads to seamless collaboration between teams. If the search functionality is poor, it creates information silos that trap information within department silos.
4. Growth in Revenue
A relevant search leads to a good customer service experience which automatically builds customers’ trust in the brand. This leads to an increase in revenue. Additionally, with time saved from browsing, employee productivity increases.
Final Thoughts
Now that we know search relevance has a great impact on business growth and success – the next step is to measure the relevancy of your search. This is where search relevance metrics come into the picture. Find out the top search relevance metrics to measure the success of your enterprise search.
Check out our blog to learn more!
