When you’re stuck with something at work, you have two options. One, you can Google it. Or two, you can ask a coworker with more experience and get it resolved.
But imagine if you had a platform that combined both options: You could search, in everyday language, about the problem you’re facing, and the search engine would provide you with the solution. Quick and concise. The interesting part is that it’s based on the knowledge and wisdom of other people in your organization.
Maybe someone else had the same problem and solved it. An employee can access that knowledge in seconds, no matter where in the world they’re working.
English philosopher and scientist Francis Bacon famously said, ‘Knowledge is power.’ We’ll explore how these tools empower your employees by sharing and capturing knowledge, enabling your entire team to become better problem solvers and your business becomes smarter and interconnected.
Why Is Knowledge Centralization Critical for Modern Businesses?
Imagine this: your marketing team is working on a campaign, and they need the latest product specs. Meanwhile, the sales team needs access to the same information to answer client queries. Without a centralized knowledge system, they might spend hours searching through emails, old files, or contacting colleagues, wasting valuable time.
Centralizing knowledge ensures that all employees have access to the information they need when they need it. This not only saves time but also ensures consistency across the organization. Whether it’s product details, company policies, or customer service scripts, having a single source of truth helps everyone stay on the same page.
AI Copilots Are Taking Over Work. Here’s How Centralized Knowledge Builds Trust
These AI assistants are designed to help you be more efficient and productive, but how do we make sure they’re reliable partners? The answer lies in organized knowledge.
Just like a human copilot needs a clear understanding of the flight plan, your AI copilot thrives on well-organized information. A centralized knowledge base acts as that flight plan, storing all the important details and making them easily accessible. This allows the AI to learn from past experiences and data, leading to more accurate decisions and ultimately, building trust in its capabilities.
This grounded and contextualized data is the fuel that powers your AI copilot. Trained on this information, the AI can learn much faster and understand situations more effectively. Here’s how a centralized knowledge base empowers your AI partner:
- Rapid knowledge sharing: No more waiting for emails or meetings – the AI can access information from different areas of the company instantly.
- Diverse learning: By drawing from various departments and projects, the AI gains a broader perspective, leading to better solutions.
- Your personal knowledge assistant: Through prompts and questions, you can easily tap into the information you need, allowing the AI to become a powerful learning and problem-solving tool.
Are We Closer to AI-Driven Decision Making?
The Role of Centralized Knowledge Building Trusted AI-Decisions
As we mentioned earlier, when you train LLMs (large language models) with data from a known source and long-accumulated data generated by various members of the organization, such as sales call logs, email exchanges, and marketing PDFs, you create a highly accurate and valuable knowledge base for your business.
Having a platform that makes all this knowledge accessible sets the perfect stage for AI to make precise decisions. With all your data in one place, you can also perform more effective data analysis. This helps in spotting opportunities for improvement. These AI-driven decisions are faster, follow data patterns that humans might miss, and reduce operational costs.
And that is already happening: More than 40% of CEOs say they use generative AI to inform their decision-making processes.
In fact, the World Economic Forum predicts that future competitiveness among companies will not be about who has the most advanced AI but about who can best incorporate this technology into their strategic decision-making processes.
Amazon is a great example of this. By integrating AI across its operations, Amazon’s recommendation engine alone generates 35% of its revenue. They use an AI management strategy called the “flywheel,” which ensures continuous improvement and innovation across the company. For instance, the data from their Amazon Go stores and the Alexa voice assistant contribute to better decision-making and customer service across different departments.
What Tools Do Salesforce and ServiceNow Offer for Knowledge Centralization?
Both Salesforce and ServiceNow offer robust solutions for knowledge centralization, each with its unique features and strengths.
Salesforce Unified Knowledge:
This tool is integrated with Salesforce’s CRM system, making it ideal for businesses focused on customer relationship management. It allows you to create, manage, and share knowledge articles within your Salesforce environment. This is particularly useful for sales and customer service teams who need quick access to product information, troubleshooting guides, and customer interaction histories.
ServiceNow Knowledge Management:
Designed to work seamlessly with ServiceNow’s IT Service Management (ITSM) suite, this tool is perfect for organizations looking to streamline their IT operations. It helps in creating, categorizing, and sharing knowledge articles related to IT support, HR policies, and internal processes. This is particularly beneficial for IT departments and internal support teams.
How Do These Tools Differ in Their Approach and Functionalities?
- Focus Areas: Salesforce Unified Knowledge is best for customer-facing functions like sales and support, while ServiceNow Knowledge Management is geared towards internal support and IT operations.
- Integration: Salesforce’s tool integrates deeply with its CRM, providing a comprehensive view of customer interactions. ServiceNow’s tool integrates with its ITSM suite, making it ideal for managing IT workflows and internal knowledge.
- Features: Both offer features like article creation, categorization, and advanced search capabilities. However, Salesforce leverages its AI tool, Einstein, for smart search and recommendations, while ServiceNow focuses on lifecycle management of knowledge articles within IT workflows.
Which Part of Operations Is Each Platform Suited For?
Salesforce Unified Knowledge:
- Customer Service Operations: Ideal for customer support teams needing quick access to solutions for customer queries and issues.
- Sales Operations: Supports sales teams by providing instant access to product information, sales strategies, and customer history, enhancing the sales process.
- Marketing Operations: Useful for marketing teams to access and share marketing collateral, campaign information, and customer insights.
ServiceNow Knowledge Management:
- IT Operations: Perfect for IT departments to manage support documentation, troubleshooting guides, and best practices.
- HR Operations: Facilitates HR processes by centralizing policy documents, onboarding materials, and employee guidelines.
- Internal Support Operations: Enhances internal help desk functions by providing comprehensive knowledge bases for resolving common issues.
Contact Us!
At Inclusion Cloud, we are proud partners of both Salesforce and ServiceNow. Our certified specialists can help you implement, fine-tune, and support these platforms to get the best results for your business. Book a call with us to learn more, and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates and insights.
