There’s a well-known maxim for online meeting participants: When some of the group are on headshot video and some aren’t, participation almost invariably devolves to just those who are on video – while the invisible people become merely observers.
It doesn’t seem as if it should be that way – since no one has muted them after all – but it’s a truth many of us have experienced, and it’s testament to the power of video.
The Value of Face-to-Face is Paramount
Access the On-Demand Webinar Playback of “AI, Teams, UC & Video” with Robin Gareiss, CEO and Principal Research Analyst, Metrigy and Jacki Tessmer, VP Product Marketing, Enghouse Interactive.
There are a few reasons why video is a new channel to many. Technological difficulties were familiar aspects for years, relating to cost, network and infrastructure issues, and protocol incompatibility.
Once these were resolved it has really taken the ubiquity of video in consumer device usage to remove the last barriers. And of course, COVID.
Recent experience with forced remote working has helped many of us overcome a natural reticence about video – a reluctance to put ourselves on camera. In the first days of lockdown my own manager told us we would be expected to try to use video for all internal meetings, to help mitigate the loss of that physical connection we’d had. Not only has it worked to maintain engagement with colleagues formerly in the same office, but we have now actually built closer relationships with our remote colleagues, with whom we previously only spoke to via audio.
The Benefits of Video in the Contact Centre
In a contact centre environment fact-to-face engagement is understood to impact in the following areas:
- The reason a successful salesperson always prefers in-person appointments to the phone is the reason video’s face-to-face engagement adds value: the human touch. The ability to read body language and facial cues boosts rapport, making the connection more difficult to either break or abuse. A face-to-face interaction is beneficial for both sales and services for this reason.
- In some industries video enables demonstration of a product being sold, or an issue being reported, significantly accelerating resolution.
- Cost is also a huge factor, reducing travel and again speeding outcomes, as well as enabling the availability of resources, regardless of location. VIP customers can be guaranteed a premium level of personalised service at a low cost, with the associated increased conversion opportunities.
- Lastly, video is also an immensely important internal collaboration tool, of increasing value when you consider that the majority of agents are still working from home, with more than half planning to continue that way through 2021 at least.
What the Data tells us
Research organisation Metrigy recently released survey results showing a 15.8% rise of video as a CX channel. Furthermore, the ‘success group’ of respondents – who recorded higher revenue and reduced costs, along with improved CX and agent productivity – were 21% more likely to use video than less successful organisations, indicating video as a successful improvement strategy.
Specifically:
- 59.1% of successful organisations who used video as a contact centre channel reported increased revenue compared with 37.3% not using video, indicating the contribution of a higher level of engagement.
- Organisations using video showed a massive 41.7% increase in CSAT (customer satisfaction) ratings as opposed to a 27.7% for those without video.
- Interaction handling efficiency with video was 8.7 percentage points higher than those without video.
Robin Gareiss of Metrigy noted that “the hard numbers [are] …showing that video is really, really helping. Companies are trying to interact with their customers and doing so in a way that’s going to drive revenue and make your customers happy, make your agents more efficient; video is really an important thing and one that I think if you’re not doing today you probably want to consider.”
Find out more:
Other resources to consider
Enghouse Interactive offers a portfolio of the latest customer experience tools to help your organisation meet your customer needs.
Check out some of our pages for more information:
Contact us to find out more about enabling video in the contact centre at helloAPAC@enghouse.com
GET IN TOUCH
