Video Calls. Lunch break away messages. Virtual check-ins.
Work is looking a lot different these days. With 88 percent of organizations either encouraging or requiring employees to work from home since the onset of COVID-19, the current workforce is facing a major shift in how they get things done.
As a UC provider, you can help make this transition a seamless one.
The collaboration tools and cloud-based solutions that you deliver (by default) are key to this new way of WFH life. But for many users, these tools have never been touched, consumed, or used on a daily basis until now.
This is where your online training and support become increasingly important. Make adapting that much easier for this class of new at-home workers with these four strategies:
1. Understand this is a new remote worker audience.
Before this major shift to the WFH model, there were still about 36 million people in the U.S. who worked remotely at least occasionally, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. That number has skyrocketed since – and these new additions are mostly employees that would otherwise not be considered “remote workers.” Yet here they are.
Naturally, Cloud UC products go hand-in-hand with remote work to create a smoother, more connected experience. But this new audience is in unfamiliar territory, so extra considerations should be made.
Speed up product adoption and improve the end-user experience by creating fresh content specifically for them and regrouping your digital resources in ways that will address the needs of these newcomers.
2. Know (and Solve) Customer Pain Points
Stay one step ahead of end-user struggles by researching, understanding, and solving your customer pain points.
Don’t assume you know what they’re struggling with. Remember, this is a whole new ballpark for everyone. Instead, ask specific, open-ended questions when interacting with your end-users to learn more about their experience. Some potential WFH pain points could include fear of missing phone calls and lost business or coworker availability – but your own research will offer the most insight.
Once you’ve solved these pain points, share the solutions in a way that’s easy and convenient for your customers. You can highlight top product features and demonstrate how they solve problems in daily work, addressing the needs of your customer’s administrators and end-user roles.
3. Provide an Online Knowledge Base for Products
With new WFH users come new responsibilities. They’ll be training to catch up on products and features that they’ve never had to use before, so you’ll want to make all of your training and troubleshooting centrally located and user-friendly.
The goal is to empower your users to solve their own problems quickly and painlessly.
When your end-user knows exactly where to go to find things like videos, product guides, and FAQs, you’ll see quicker product adoption, less resistance to change, and reduced strain on your support staff.
4. Utilize Virtual Training Resources
A wave of new users (or users interacting with your products in novel ways) can quickly overwhelm your support staff if all the training and problem-solving falls on their shoulders. Luckily, you can decrease reliance on support by implementing virtual training resources like webinars to help them adjust to their new tools and systems.
You can also pivot your email or phone-based customer support to a chat-based model for quick resolutions to simple problems. The best part? Instant chat means the problems get solved without too much interruption or time lost. Without the extra time spent back and forth in the email inbox or putting customers on hold, your team can focus more on your product and user experience, and that’s the really good stuff.
Boost WFH Productivity with B-Lynk Custom Training Solutions
With so many more workers transitioning from office to remote, it’s in your best interests as a UC provider to make that change as seamless and pain-free as possible.
Use the tips above to help you get acclimated to this new audience and solve their pain points before they become a real problem. Through a central, cohesive online knowledge base and updated virtual resources like webinars and chat support, you can ensure that your end-users will find their productivity flow while WFH.
Eager to get all of these pieces in place? Contact B-Lynk today to learn more about our custom business training solutions.