What your customers go through when requesting support, known as the customer experience, is an important aspect service teams must consider before introducing new tools or procedures. Remote visual support solutions such as AIRe Link have the ability to improve the overall experience for customers requesting support services. Before deciding if remote visual support is right for your service team, we recommend evaluating the factors outlined in this article and how they impact your end customers’ experience.
Why customer experience is important?
Before exploring how remote visual support improves the customer experience first, we must understand why their experience is important to consider. Positive customer experiences lead to sustainable business growth. Even when competitors offer similar services at cheaper rates, customers who receive positive experiences will perceive the value your service team delivers as higher justifying the increased cost.
Why focus on the customer experience?
When customers receive personalised support and fast resolutions the chance of becoming a life-long customer is increased. They might even promote your service team through word of mouth to friends increasing the chance you draw in more life-long customers. Loyalty is a factor to consider, as your service team becomes more trusted, it also becomes easier to upsell additional services thanks to your improved reputation and perceived value.
Positive experiences also decrease customer complaints, therefore the strain on your customer service department is reduced. Good experiences set you apart from competitors, customers are more likely to select your service team because of their past experiences, even when cheaper options exist.
How remote visual support improves the experience of field service customers
Enhanced communication between customer and technician
Remote visual support solutions such as AIRe Link take advantage of the customer’s camera to enhance communication. Customers are no longer required to explain in detail the issues they see, which can consume a great deal of time and cause frustration if misunderstood by technicians. Your customer now simply shows the technician issues at hand using their device’s camera.
“With AIRe Link, we can see exactly what the customer is seeing and provide remote visual support, which is much faster and more effective.” – Zoltán Hutkai, Service operator, Konica Minolta Hungary.
Technicians can also enhance communication using features such as the live pointer. For example, when requesting a closer look at specific elements, instead of explaining what they wish to see in more detail, which can cause confusion. An arrow can be overlayed onto the customer’s screen pointing directly at the element they need to show in more detail.
Customers can experience personalised support
It’s safe to say your customers will have varying levels of skills when it comes to maintaining the equipment they operate. So why wouldn’t you personalize support sessions to match their level of understanding? Through AIRe Link, support sessions can be personalized in a number of ways to match the customer’s level of understanding. While the same solution is delivered, the level of technical jargon and required explanations can be adjusted based on their knowledge levels.
For example, instructions can be provided without explanation to tech-savvy customers so solutions can be delivered fast. For less-savvy customers, technicians can take their time and guide them through resolution processes using AIRe Link features. Onscreen annotations are one feature that can be used to explain each step in detail using language they will understand. This way the customer doesn’t just blindly follow instructions, instead they understand what they are being told to do.
With this approach customers receiving solutions are also educated on the equipment they operate and, in the future, might be able to carry out basic maintenance without the support of your service team. “Our customers are becoming more autonomous in resolving issues allowing us to reduce support requests in the future” – Ugo Pelizzari, Makhymo service desk operator.
Customers experience faster resolutions remotely
When your customers encounter simple problems no longer must they wait for available engineers to arrive on-site to have them resolved. Now they can contact your support team and receive remote visual support invitation links to either their email address or phone via SMS. They connect with a technician who diagnoses the issue and guides them through a remote resolution without delay. Customers are not required to download applications as AIRe Link sessions are conducted within their device’s web browser.
“Most customers are supportive because of the fast troubleshooting. Furthermore, the convenience of not having to install any external applications is a significant advantage.” – Zoltán Hutkai, Service operator, Konica Minolta Hungary.
Remote diagnoses means faster on-site visits
We recommend service teams take advantage of the remote diagnoses approach in order to deliver the most effective solutions. Even when remote fixes are not possible, customers still experience faster levels of service. They no longer have to wait for engineers to arrive on-site to tell them spare parts are required so repairs will be conducted another day.
All this can already take place remotely through AIRe Link. Your technician diagnoses their issues and orders spare parts in advance while informing the attending engineer of the issues faced. Customers are then greeted by an engineer who already has the solution in mind greatly improving their experience.
Remote diagnoses sets meetable expectations
The last thing service teams want is for a customer who is facing urgent issues to accidentally have false expectations set which can damage their reputation. For example, saying the engineer will arrive on Monday might translate to the customer as “You will receive a solution on Monday”. But as stated above, additional parts might be required so the repair might in fact take place on Wednesday.
With the remote diagnosis approach, false expectations can be avoided. Your technician right away knows exactly what their issue is therefore can set the expectation on Wednesday the spare parts will be delivered, and an engineer dispatched to undertake repairs. This gives your service team an advantage over competitors who might be setting false expectations. Being able to set meetable expectations leads to repeat business as customers know they can trust your word.
Secure GDPR-compliant method of receiving support
Without secure GDPR-compliant remote visual support channels such as AIRe Link, service teams might be tempted to offer quick remote solutions through private chat apps such as WhatsApp or Telegram. This is not recommended as these channels are not secure under GDPR regulations and might leave customers with a non-professional feeling. This experience might put them off using your services again in the future.
With AIRe Link, you can offer customers quick remote resolutions through a secure GDPR-compliant channel that looks and feels professional from their perspective. Their experience can be further enhanced through the use of AIRe Link’s tools enabling technicians to interact with customers in new ways adding additional layers of information. This ensures miscommunication does not occur and remote fixes run smoothly, which you won’t find from private chat apps.
Agree on pricing for support outside of SLA’s
From time to time, customers may encounter problems that don’t fall under their outlined service level agreement. This can create problems especially when it comes to the cost of a resolution, the last thing service teams need is a dispute on pricing for already resolved issues. With AIRe Link this issue is almost non-existent.
Technicians resolving customer issues outside of outlined SLA’s can use AIRe Link’s paid assistance feature to agree on pricing before the remote support session occurs. This way, you get paid for support sessions while the customer clearly understands the cost. Both parties are on the same page with no potential for future disagreements on pricing which risks damaging your relationship.
Try AIRe Link
Now that we have explored ways in which remote visual support improves the customer experience, you might also be interested to learn how technicians are supported in performing their duties more efficiently. Not yet convinced? Try AIRe Link free for 30-days with no credit card requirements to test our features and see the impact on your customers first-hand.
