Best Ways to Implement Video into Your Customer Support Toolset

Best Ways to Implement Video into Your Customer Support Toolset

Customer experience ·

The COVID-19 pandemic and the diffusion of FaceTime, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc., taught us how video chat could add a personal touch to how we interact digitally. The ability to communicate and see each other in real-time has helped us feel closer to our loved ones, and this new way of communicating is also redefining customer service.

The idea is simple. Previously, customer service interactions were usually via call, text, or email. With the advent of cloud-based technology, businesses have started integrating video customer support to extend the customer service experience.

Implementing video solutions into the customer support toolset can be particularly helpful for customer onboarding. It makes the set-up process simpler, faster, and cost-efficient while keeping the customers engaged. Providing video support, especially for product installation, is one of the biggest trends in 2022. If you want to learn more about customer support trends, click here.

Although integrating video into your customer service toolset is an incredible channel, it must be approached with proper planning and execution. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of video communication and different ways to introduce this channel to your customer support toolset.

Why should you use instructional videos in customer support?

Since March 2020, integrating video chat for customer support has witnessed an increase of an astounding 70 percent. This proves that the video channel is fast becoming one of the preferred customer contact channels. There are several reasons behind this.

Marketing experts and sales professionals have always talked about how effective video is for communication, especially for instructional content.

Videos can not only convey massive amounts of information in very little time, but it is also effective in teaching people how to do things. In fact, How to is one of the most searched categories on YouTube, and viewers often rely on these videos to learn basic things.

It is a no-brainer that customers would rather watch a video to solve a problem instead of waiting in line to get in touch with the support team. Videos can humanize the digital customer experience. Face-to-face contact helps build rapport between the brand and the customer and makes it far more effective in achieving meaningful communication.

Benefits of using video customer support

The benefits of using videos in the customer support toolset are not limited to the customers; video customer service can be a great solution for your company as well. Here are the benefits of introducing video customer support:

1. Increase in online sales

Since offering video chat for customer service, leading UK retail brand, Bravissimo has noticed their shopping cart abandonment drop to just 6 percent. This is primarily because video chat has a higher customer satisfaction rate, and the majority of customers view video chat as a positive experience.

2. Drives customer retention rate

Implementing videos into the customer support toolset provides a personal touch to customer-brand communications, thus strengthening the relationship between you and your customers. Marketing experience says that giving attentive care and personalized interactions can drive the customer retention rate and encourage customers to be loyal to the brand.

3. Reduces burden on the customer support staff

Integrating instructional video into a customer support toolset is an incredible self-service technique that helps customers help themselves. Deflecting tickets and providing self-service instruments can also reduce the significant burden on the customer support staff. It allows the customer support staff to focus on solving more significant customer service issues.

4. Decreases time-to-resolution

On average, video interactions have a lower handling time than other customer support contact channels. Live web chat interactions usually last for about ten minutes, whereas video interactions can be resolved at an average of five to six minutes. Thus, video solutions decrease time-to-resolution, thus increasing efficiency.

5. Cost-efficiency

Offering video solutions translates to less reliance on physical locations, and therefore, it can reduce overhead costs. Brands can save up a major portion of their budget on support costs by providing video channels and closing customer tickets sooner.

6. Increases customer satisfaction

Offering video chat solutions can humanize the customer service experience, increasing customer satisfaction by transforming the service process into a meaningful experience.

Effective customer service videos should focus on delivering knowledge and providing assistance on the specific issue the customer is facing. The best customer support video solutions are the ones that foster individual connections between the customers and the brand, thus making the consumers feel cared for.

Curious about the steps to use video for customer support? Here are some tips!

6 Tips on how to integrate video into customer support toolset

Introducing video to your customer support toolset is far easier than you think. Depending on the products and services your brand offers, there is a huge variety of ways in which you can integrate videos into your brand services.

1. Integrating videos into your guides

Studies show that more than 73 percent of customers prefer self-service solutions and try to solve their problems alone before contacting the support staff. Creating a knowledge-centered service (KCS) is imperative to provide self-service solutions.

Adding videos to your guides can be a great way to introduce this new channel. When customers have queries, they can directly search into your guide and find instructional videos that help them find solutions easily.

Remember that videos are far more effective than product manuals, written guides, PDFs, etc. so start thinking about how to effectively integrate them. Your customers would rather watch a short and engaging video than read hundreds of pages of written guides.

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2. Integrating videos with the customer onboarding process

The customer onboarding process is the first and the most critical step in the customer journey. Getting familiarized with a new brand and its products can be confusing, and video can make this easier.

Whenever a customer purchases one of your products, you can send them a comprehensive library of onboarding videos. These videos can take the customers through the setup process, familiarize them with the device, or show the best features your products have to offer.

A quality onboarding experience can make customers more eager to start trusting your brand, and it helps customers feel more invested in your products. Moreover, it reduces the number of onboarding-related tickets your support staff has to manage.

3. Sending thank you and celebratory videos

Brands should leverage any opportunity to reach out and celebrate their customers. It is important to thank your customers for their time and loyalty. However, instead of sending a dry email, this can be effectively done with a personalized video from the brand.

An engaging and personalized thank you video will not only catch your customer’s attention but will also seal the deal. If you want your customers to be loyal advocates for your brand, you must go the extra mile. This attention can increase the brand’s Net Promoter Score (NPS).

4. Promoting a product launch

If your brand is launching a new product or innovating the existing line of products, the best way to promote them is through promotional videos. These videos can be integrated with the brand website or support platform so that customers will see them whenever they open the website or the mobile app. This way, they will be aware of the launches of new products or new features thus opening cross-selling and up-selling opportunities.

By using videos for product launches, you will create hype for the anticipated release and get your customers excited. Ensure these videos are engaging enough to catch a user’s attention.

5. Resolving support tickets

When customers don’t find answers in your guides, they normally contact the company’s support agents. Previously, text-based responses were more popular and customers used to text for hours with agents to get to a solution to their problems. Nowadays, it is more efficient to send video messages. Individually-tailored walkthroughs and tutorials that can quickly resolve complex issues in a few minutes.

Adding videos to the customer support toolset streamlines customer service and makes things easier for both the customer and your agents. This way, support tickets can be closed faster, and the support staff can become more productive. They can focus on more important or urgent issues by sending pre-recorded video walkthroughs.

6. Live video support

In some cases, a pre-recorded video tutorial is not enough. In this case, more complex queries should be handled with a one-to-one connection between the customer and the support agent. Live video chat customer support allows the brand to connect with customers on the other side of the world and provide them with the assistance they need.

Leading brands have started using live video support as a way to differentiate themselves from competitors. This way they can offer a customer experience that is incredibly smooth and customer-centered. Personalized video customer service means top-tier customer support and this leads to happy and loyal customers.

How to boost video chat for customer support

To make videos part of the customer support toolset, it is important to understand how to create them. If your brand already offers video support, these tips can help elevate your customer service experience to the next level.

And, if your brand is new at this, these tips will help you start incorporating video chat for customer support.

1. Know when to use video support

It is best not to offer video chat sessions for every customer ticket immediately, and support agents must understand which situations require video tools over others. Here’s an example.

Imagine you are a retailer that specializes in smartphones and laptops, and you want to offer video support while solving customer service queries. Customer one recently bought a smartphone online and cannot understand the instructions required for setting up. And customer two wants to know if the latest smartphone model is in stock.

In this scenario, which customer do you think would benefit more from live video chat? More likely the customer one, right? Thus, not every customer ticket requires video solutions. Agents can shift to video when complex issues arise for a more detailed discussion.

2. Personal appearance

Customer support agents who will offer video chat support must be properly prepared. During a customer interaction, first appearances can matter a lot. The support agents must represent the brand respectably by paying attention to their personal clothing and grooming.

This is particularly important if your agents are working remotely. If your agents work from home, they should maintain a clean and professional background.

3. Pay attention to body language during a video support chat.

Customer support agents must be properly trained to conduct themselves on video chat. The service staff needs to learn how to appear friendly on screen.

Body language is crucial during communication, and so are facial expressions and gestures. Eye contact is paramount when interacting with customers on a one-to-one basis. The support agents must also know how to speak clearly, sit up straight, and engage customers in a conversation. The agents should appear confident and have excellent communication skills.

4. Audio/Visual appearance

Video chat support is not only a communication channel, but it also represents the brand. Therefore, every step must be taken to ensure a positive audio/visual appearance. Even if your support agents are adequately trained and well-groomed, poor video quality or muffled audio can appear incredibly unprofessional.

Brands should invest in high-quality equipment to integrate video chat support into their platform.

5. Training your staff in technical issues

To provide successful video interactions, your customer support staff should have high technical skills. They must be experts in video customer service software and should be able to offer accurate information to customer queries.

Even if your support agents can solve customer tickets efficiently, you do not want a technical problem to ruin the customer service experience. Therefore, brands should devote time to training agents and ensure that video users get the best support possible.

6. Using video chat to diffuse customer tension.

The most important benefit of video chat is that it allows the staff to build a personal connection and humanize the brand. With other customer support channels, tension is likely to arise if the customer is dissatisfied or feels disconnected from the agents.

Video chat allows customers and the support staff to foster empathy towards one another. In fact, it also allows the agents to better understand the customers and their struggles. On the other hand, the customers feel heard and attended to.

Maintaining a personal touch in all customer support queries leads to quicker resolution and diffuses customer tension. Overall, it shows the company’s positive attitude and efficient problem-solving abilities.

Examples of brands with successful video customer support toolset

While all this sounds incredible in theory, it is only beneficial if implemented in practice. Here are some inspiring examples of companies that have leveraged video chat in their customer support toolset:

Canyon Bicycles

Canyon Bicycles GmbH is a German manufacturer of road bikes, mountain bikes, hybrid bikes, triathlon bikes, and e-bikes based in Koblenz, Germany. Canyon Bicycles has a diverse range of customers from different corners of the world, speaking various languages. To effectively communicate with their customers and remove any linguistic barrier, Canyon has implemented an intelligent chat. With the help of this intelligent chat feature, customers are instantly connected to support staff in the customer’s preferred language.

Bravissimo

Bravissimo is a leading lingerie retailer that provides lingerie in D-L cup sizes and swimwear in a D-K cup range. Bravissimo provides customers with an in-store experience online through virtual shopping. The brand offers its site visitors video chat support, and this has reduced not only their live chat queues but also their chat abandonment rate and increased remote sales.

Bravissimo has also made creative use of video by implementing an expert fitting service for their customers. This has maximized their customer service success.

How Layerise can help you implement video into your customer support toolset

Want to learn more about leveraging video chat and improving the customer support experience? Layerise is the perfect solution for you. Layerise helps bridge the gap between a brand and the end-user by providing innovative tools that facilitate a unique customer experience.

With Layerise, brands can help and instruct their customers and create clever interactive stories using images and videos. We understand that creating engaging, gorgeous, useful, and powerful highlights can prove to be a highly beneficial method of providing information. Use captions, pictures, GIFs, or videos to provide instructions or troubleshoot.

With the Layerise Chat feature, brands can support their customers in real-time by engaging them through a chat interface and increasing customer satisfaction. The Chat has an incredible satisfaction rate and is compatible with any communication, including video. It is communication-rich and provides video, voice, and image sharing.

Therefore, with Layerise you can easily implement video chat support in your customer service toolset. If you want to learn more about how Layerise can help your business to grow, book a free demo now!