Long gone are the days of the Wild, Wild West of the Internet when the “anything goes” mentality was the law of the land. Today, it’s dog-eat-dog in the online business world as companies compete for the same prey and drink from the same watering hole, while evolving in order to hunt more effectively. It is no longer enough to just have a website with information about your company; it is not even enough to have an interactive website with flashy graphics that look cool. Web users expect more from web sites and their attention spans have become even shorter than before. Companies typically have about 8 seconds to capture the attention of a web visitor before the visitor either leaves the site or decides their next move and hopefully browse within. This is why your website’s home page should be optimized to capture your audiences’ attention and communicate your services within this small window of time. With that said, it is important for your customers and web visitors to know that they can reach out for live help at anytime and feel they are being taken care of.

When offering live help, it is very important to make sure the vehicle in which you deliver that live help is effective and easy to use. Co Browsing, also known as Collaborative Browsing is a somewhat new experience to web users and even more new to companies using it to offer live help to their customers. Insurance companies are learning that their web visitors would much rather service themselves but are often limited in their ability to do so and are forced to contact someone for live help because of complex forms or web site navigation that is not intuitive. Co Browsing helps break down barriers between the web visitor and the support agent at the insurance company because it allows the agent to view the visitor’s screen to avoid confusion and to expedite live help. There are several Co Browsing tools on the market today, some are clunky and require a download for both parties, and some are light, easy to use and do not require a download or installation. LiveLOOK offers the latter, a clean, light-weight easy to use Co Browsing solution that many people have found simple and have said “it just works”. Live help is an area of focus that many companies in the insurance industry are trying to enhance while not breaking the bank in the process. The next time you are on a website and have trouble or need help, contact their customer support center and insist that they offer live help with tools that are easy to use so that they can resolve your issue and the both of you can go on with your day. Co Browsing is a must-have for any company offering support to their web visitors but it is an absolute ‘no-brainer’ for the insurance industry as they try to accelerate the transition for their customers to self-service themselves. Insurance companies are in a unique position to use this ‘rebuilding’ period to their advantage and ultimately we hope they do what’s best for the customer because in the end, it affects us all in one way or another.

Why is this not so for visual communication, often called screen sharing or co browsing?  Lot’s of reasons.

1. Incompatible systems.  Some screen sharing systems only work with certain browsers or operating systems.  So you can’t reliably “pick up the phone” so to speak and know the person on the other end of the conference will “hear” you.  Or see your screen in this case.  So spontaneity is out.
2. Dangerous stuff on the Internet.  Ironically, the very same way a lot of screen sharing systems work is exactly how the most malicious software on the Internet works.  They write software to your disk as silently and stealthily as possible and leave little or no trace they were ever there.  So security systems and people both are alarmed to have to bypass their firewalls, anti-virus, anti-trojan, anti-bot, anti-spyware . . .  well you get the picture.
3. Too confusing.  There are some really feature-rich powerful systems out there today that install pretty silently so why doesn’t everyone use it?  Features = confusing & intimidating.  How many “features” of your phone have you ever really used?  Enough said.
4. Time.  All the things already mentioned add time to a conversation.  Call centers (known in the world today as multi-channel customer contact centers) live and die by speed.  If a rep has to trouble-shoot getting by security systems and wait for software to download, you have to sell a lot to make up for the extra time.
5. Change & disruptive technology.  Finally, even if all these problems can be solved (and they are with LiveLOOK) it takes a long time for people to adopt new technology and change their habits.  People want new results, but they hate change!!!

Getting live help online today is an area where co browsing makes absolute sense.  Many of us, who were born before the 1980s remember a time when live help consisted of a phone call, some hold music – usually some elevator version of your favorite song or a holiday theme if season appropriate – then eventually connect with a human on the other end.  Your problem would either be resolved or escalated.  Either way, you were sure to connect with a human who can offer live help.  Today’s web-based generation, and those of us who have adapted readily to technology, embrace a different mindset of “live help… right now… from my computer…” you get the idea.  So, look at how live help communication can impact your business and change your processes.  Imagine being able to immediately and reliably “show” your presentation or software to a prospect from their computer so you know they have not disengaged & started reading email.  Or to guide them through a tough problem they are having with the software you sold them.

In future posts, we will explore potential and real-life examples of the impact of live help communication in the real world, ranging from financial services to healthcare.

-LiveLOOK, Inc.