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7 Ways Co-Browsing Is Useful in Customer Engagement
In todayโs age of constantly changing consumer demands and expectations, it is imperative that you stand in the shoes of your customers from time to time. The endgame should always be serving the customers; whatever level of commitment it takes.
And if you havenโt gone through this perspective shift, you need to do so fast. Walker suggests that by 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. This is one of the largest fundamental shifts in consumer habits from the inception of commercialisation.
The key to impeccable customer experience lies in engaging with them in real time. And to make sure that you keep delivering on this front, you need to constantly find new ways to delight your customers.
Enter co-browsing, a fast, unique, and personalised customer experience that has quickly climbed to the top of the engagement chain. This is backed by Forrester, who reports that co-browsing results in higher customer satisfaction rates (78%) than phone help (74%), or even live chat (69%)!
Letโs look at the ways in which co-browsing can power up your customer experience vertical:
1. Improved Customer Service
Co-browsers enables customer service agents to look at the screens of the customers from their point of view and in real time. This helps them understand the exact problem that customers are experiencing. But this does not make it a one-way street. Customers can also witness how the support agent is solving their problem after they have provided handed over the keys to them, only to securely regain control at the end of the process.
At the same time, agents can resolve the queries of customers at lightning speeds. They can swiftly switch between walking customers through the knowledge base and viewing their screens to address every nuance of the support process.
2. Online Training
With co-browsing, customers training on new software capabilities and updates become a breeze. The efficiency of online training has been limited only to video tutorials and related content. But making the experience real-time mimics the efficiency of classroom training.
For instance, the trainer can take control of the browser of the customer (such as a student) to show them how to make changes to a certain code. The student can then perform the same procedure with their performance being monitored.
3. Increased Customer Satisfaction
Solving the woes of customers as fast as possible leaves a lasting impression on their minds. With dramatically higher chances of their issues being resolved, co-browsing helps to foster a relationship of mutual trust. Hence, old customers are retained and new ones are attracted much more easily as the word about your unique customer experience gets out.
When customers are able to interact with agents in real-time, it makes the experience tangible for them. They can see someone putting efforts to resolve their issues right in front of their eyes, which boosts trust even further.
4. Boosts Agent Productivity
Since agents can solve the issues of customer quicker, they can handle a lot more customers in the same amount of time. Where does this leave them? At the helm of better productivity and performance levels. This increased level of agent utilisation also reduces costs and leaves them highly motivated and engaged. The result? They tend to serve customers much more enthusiastically and responsibly, positively affecting their experience.
In fact, Gallup mentions in their report โState of the American Workplaceโ that engaged employees are more likely to improve customer relationships, resulting in a 20% increase in sales!
5. Customer Retention
This one is directly tied with customer experience since memorable experiences make them come back for more. If customers are constantly dissatisfied with your customer service, you are bound to lose them to your competitors. Co-browsing creates unique visual experiences, boosting retention rates and increasing the lifetime value (LTV) of an average customer!
Basically, it all comes down to settle their fears. When customer support becomes visual and tangible, customers know that they can trust you. It is only natural for this trust to eventually pay off. Customers understand that you are putting in extra efforts to deliver only the best quality service to them. As a result, they become loyal to your brand.
6. Make On-Boarding Better (and Faster)
On-boarding is the most critical point in the engagement arc of any customer, one that can either make or break your case. Even if you have a much more superior product than your competitors and a world-class team behind it, you can easily lose out on a significant amount of customers if your support system is not robust enough. Leveraging co-browsing in the on-boarding process comes with a lot of benefits:
- You can hand hold your customers as they walk through product demos and features.
- Assist customers in setting up the full-fledged version of the software.
- Explain to customers the best use cases of every possible feature that can work in their favour.
7. Minimises Cart Abandon Rate
Cart abandonment rate for online retailers today ranges between 60-80% with the average hovering about 68%. This is both a dire scenario in the world of online shopping, as well as an opportunity for the e-commerce industry to significantly boost their sales. Customers often face issues such as a complex navigational website (that make it difficult for them to find what they are looking for) or glitches in codes that interfere with website performance. Some might just be wanting to stay clear of sharing credit card details!
By integrating co-browsing into your e-commerce website, you can improve the shopping experience of your customers, pushing them towards conversions. Hereโs how agents can do this:
- They can educate customers about the items that they want to buy.
- Solve every resulting query about the product or the buyout process.
- Walk them through the checkout process by ensuring that all their sensitive information will be securely saved.
Conclusion
Co-browsing is indeed revolutionising how the industry looks at customer support. Companies such as Acquire are making it extremely easy for the ecosystem to realise and leverage the benefits of the technology, implementing it within minutes.
If you are looking at building a long-lasting rapport with your customers, co-browsing is surely a promising vertical to explore.
About the author:
Sam Makad is an experienced writer and marketing consultant. His expertise lies in marketing and advertising. He helps small & medium enterprises to grow their business and overall ROI. Reach out to Sam Makad on Twitter or LinkedIn

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