Redefining Customer Experience: Transitioning from Voice to Video
The race to deliver the best customer experience is on! Businesses that deliver superior, unparalleled experiences to their consumers are more likely to rise above their peers, and in turn, able to witness increased growth and success over the period of time. Therefore, in an attempt to hit the nail right, the rapidly evolving consumer preferences, behaviors and demands are being extensively taken into account by a majority of brands, which aids them in devising appropriate customer support and engagement strategies using the right technology.
It is no longer a trend but an established fact that the consumer now prefers the digital way of communication with brands over other traditional channels. Amongst the digital mediums too, video has successfully taken the lead over voice or SMS. More so, during the current turbulent times of Covid-19, where the physical buying activity of the consumer has been fairly limited, video technology has effectively been a boon for both, consumers and businesses.
For consumers, it allows them to engage in a face-to-face, personalized interaction with the brand representatives and receive instant visual support in the most seamless, cost-effective manner. Be it choosing products, learning about their features, raising queries or receiving any kind of customer support – visual engagement makes it all so simple and at times, enjoyable too.
For brands, the visual channel turns out to be a great way to conduct product demos and visually showcase and explain the features and benefits of their products or services in an almost store-like manner. It also helps them address consumer queries almost instantly, deliver faster responses, establish a great relationship with customers and win their trust, all in a cost-effective manner. Customer acquisition, retention and satisfaction, all ultimately improve, which further enhances the brand credibility and paves way for business growth.
As compared to other modes of brand communication such as voice or SMS, video clearly gains an upper edge. According to a recent report, 33% of the consumers lose their cool while reaching out to brands through voice. This is because at times, it becomes difficult for the consumer to communicate the issue at hand or perhaps, difficult for the representative to gain a perfect understanding of the same. Often, the customers have to repeat themselves multiple times to multiple representatives. As a result, most of them simply hang up and simply consider switching to other brands.
As per another report, 34% of the customers who hang up actually never bother to return again. This could be a serious irreparable loss to the business, as it implies loss of consumer, negative word-of-mouth publicity, loss of credibility and declining numbers.
A majority of the businesses have started to integrate the LIVE video chat feature in their marketing strategies as part of their proactive approach to appeal to consumers. A recent key report reveals that LIVE video chat results in 73% customer satisfaction levels, as compared to 61% for email and 44% for phone.
Clearly, the employment of visual engagement tools can offer a bounty of benefits to both businesses and their consumers. The idea is to innovate and give them what they want, through their preferred channel at their preferred time. This is the success mantra for the modern businesses to prosper.
(The author Pankaj Gupta is CEO & Founder, EnableX.io and the views expressed in this article are his own)
