Digital transformation is no longer a new concept. However, the COVID-19 pandemic created a need for enterprises to put their foot on the gas and accelerate initiatives. According to Twilio, COVID-19 accelerated companies’ digital communications strategy by an average of 6 years, while 97% of enterprise decision-makers believe the pandemic sped up their company’s digital transformation.
As enterprises worked harder than ever to accelerate digital transformation, supporting the customer journey became a hot topic. You see, there are moments when self-service is a more cost-effective choice for a business and the least amount of friction for the consumer. Then there are those moments when a financial transaction has a high dollar amount, the length or impact of the decision is long, and one’s ability to understand the alternatives is low.
Those moments tend to be more personal, emotional, and complex. In these critical advisory moments, the proper engagement channel can be a game-changer for brands looking to win customer loyalty.
Solving the human connection gap
Businesses see critical advisory moments as a fork in the road. A point where do-it-yourself may cause frustration and abandonment. A successful approach we’ve seen out in the wild is when an agent or an advisor joins a session with video and says, ‘Let’s do it together.’
As mentioned earlier, innovative brands look for ways to ensure their customers take the road best traveled. They knew that using video as a communication channel could de-escalate an issue or improve the customer experience. They also know that an opportunity to build trust and a rapport with their customers could open the flood gates to a potential revenue stream.
Three pillars of an exceptional video experience
As the rise of video is becoming ever prevalent, so is the need to provide a frictionless experience for consumers. If you’re looking to join the ranks of companies such as Intuit and adopt a video strategy or sharpen what you currently have, here are three checkmarks for your feature list:
- In-the-moment
- In brand
- Secure and safe
In-the-moment
When a customer is stuck, they need assistance, and they need it right away. When it comes to emotional buying decisions, video can help cool the temperature of a call. Even when the temperature is not high, adding a video experience can help build trust and move a customer from intent to action. Video should be a frictionless part of your customer and employee experience. With one click and zero downloading, both should be able to connect easily.
In brand
Building an online user experience for your web properties is a heavy expense. So why would you want your customers to leave your website or app and download software to chat? Embedding video into your current domain benefits your customers and your brand. There is no need to leave your website or app, and your brand stays top of mind. Using third-party software can also expose your brand to security and data privacy issues.
Secure and safe
During last year’s lockdowns, enterprises had to spin up a way to communicate quickly. Some industries rushed to adopt the quickest possible communication software they could. However, convenience comes at the price of vulnerability. A secure video experience has characteristics such as authentication, encryption in motion, and information masking when paired with cobrowse functionality.
The opportunity to create emotive and powerful experiences for customers is out there, and leaders can inspire human-centric thinking that resonates with a positive brand experience across all lines of business. When you need to convey complex information or data, when customers have a difficult decision or need expert support to decide, guided customer experiences using video put your best people where your best customers are.
If you’ve enjoyed this topic and want to hear more, check out a replay of our webinar with TMC Adding video to your digital customer engagements.
