COVID-19, the “Great Resignation,” and the WFH revolution have all driven more and more workers out of their offices and into more flexible, remote working environments. In 2019, fewer than 6% of Americans worked primarily from home, as compared to the 45% in 2021 who reported working either completely (20%) or part-time (25%) from home.
This mad rush of demand in the collaboration and communications space has led to more competition among businesses providing these solutions, making it more important than ever to deliver an excellent customer experience to find success in the industry.
It’s not enough to just have a great product anymore. Beginning with the first discovery session through closing the sale, onboarding, and continued support, customers have high expectations for a positive experience throughout.
Here’s what you need to know to stand out in the UC customer experience space:
First Contact: Discovery Meeting
The discovery meetings are your opportunity to make the right first impression on your potential customers. Make them count.
Show up having already done your homework, aware of the customer’s business and general needs. Prepare several questions that will help build rapport and shed light on what aspect of their communication tools could be improved.
Two great ones to start with are:
- “What challenges do you have today with your current solution?”
- “How much do you know about cloud-based UC solutions?”
(Pro Tip: During discovery, if you want a tool to introduce a complex product and share its benefits, product marketing videos can be a great way to simplify it in a way your customer understands.)
Onboarding & Product Launch
After you see the sales cycle all the way through and close the deal, keep up the momentum with a welcoming and informative onboarding program and product launch solutions.
To keep everyone on the same page and keep your customer happy during the onboarding phase, start by setting expectations early on, and make them clear.
Customize your training to the group you’re working with, and vary your types of content to appeal to all learner types to keep engagement high. A mix of live virtual training, how-to videos and tutorials, FAQs, and user guides can cover all of the content in different formats so it’s dynamic and easier for everyone to digest. B-Lynk offers all of these content types, custom-made for your product by UC experts and designed with the end-user in mind.
Tips for Onboarding:
Make your onboarding experience even better with these tips and tricks from our training pros:
- Use GIFs – GIFs are quick, short clips that deliver a message succinctly and repeatedly. They’re affordable and fast to make, versatile enough to be used for marketing or training, and accessible on any device.
- User Guides – When writing user guides for onboarding, write the same way you speak and try to marry the technical knowledge with everyday language, steering clear of jargon. Developing searchability is also a great way to make them more efficient.
- Video Training – Supplement your onboarding with video training, but keep them short, sweet, and focused on a singular objective.
Product Launch
When introducing existing users to a new product or feature launch, avoid overwhelming them with instructions. Begin with a launch announcement to prepare users and break down the natural human resistance to change.
Then, set goals for training, begin to educate your users on the “why” behind the changes and maintain accessible support even after initial training is over.
Ongoing Support
A big error that businesses in the UC industry often make is dropping the ball after initial training and leaving end-users to struggle with their tools on their own.
Empowering the users to solve their problems through the support resources you provide not only helps users overcome challenges along the way and become more proficient but also reduces dependence on Tier 1 support staff and cuts some of those costs for businesses.
Ongoing support comes in many shapes and sizes. B-Lynk provides varied solutions, including Smart-Lynk, a fully managed training portal, live chat support for on-demand answers to quick questions, recurring webinars to maintain engagement, and customized training sessions to meet specific needs as they evolve.
Stand Out in the Customer Experience Space with B-Lynk
Being successful in the UC customer experience space is an ongoing challenge that evolves constantly, but establishing systems and providing your end-users with the resources they need to get comfortable with their UC products will serve you well and keep customers happy regardless of the new competition coming in.
Rely on B-Lynk to help create the engaging, effective training and support content you need to stand out in the best ways. Get in touch to learn more or get started today.