Many service specialists nowadays offer video calls instead of or in addition to face-to-face meetings. This option is appreciated by a number of customers. But if we want to give a customer the best possible experience from their virtual meeting, simply appearing in front of the camera is not enough.
This is what the respondents shared about their preferences.
How do customers usually communicate with their service providers?
Some online services can be delivered either via a video call, an audio call or even chat. Our results show that a video connection is the most preferred option, yielding 60% of all responses.
A visual connection with the customer is always important and improves communication, but that doesn’t mean this is your customer’s preference. Therefore, don’t make assumptions – check with your client how they prefer to speak to you. There could be customers who prefer just to exchange messages or a simple phone call.
What are the most important factors for hosting a virtual meeting?
The 3veta market study shows it clearly – all factors are important. Customers seem to know what they want and they insist on getting it. ‘
When asked which factors matter the most in online services via video, they order them in the following way:
Easy access and registration
It’s easy to dismiss the ease of registration to your service as something that matters much to the customer. After all, you might have adopted the online service model quite recently. However almost three quarters of our respondents identified this factor as important in online services.
It’s apparent how much they value their time and they wouldn’t want to waste it in long registration processes with unnecessary steps. Think about this when you choose the platform that you will use for your virtual meeting. If it is too confusing, that might put customers off.
Good video connection
71% from the respondents emphasize on having a good internet connection during a virtual meeting. Of course, you can only control your side of it, therefore it is key to ensure that your connectivity is flawless.
And with regards to this, don’t forget that a good video connection has two components. One is a good internet connection and the other – a good quality web camera. Even the fastest broadband will disappoint you, if you are pairing it with a poor quality camera and vice versa.
Service quality
The quality of a service is undoubtedly important and as a respected professional you will ensure that you meet your client’s expectations.
But remember that the highest scoring factors in our survey are still “easy access” and “good video connection”. Even if your service is impeccable, your customer relation will not get off to a good start if the client had troubles accessing the meeting link you provided. If there are other easily available services of a similar quality around, they might choose differently next time.
Service price
The price of a service doesn’t make it into the Top 3 most important factors. This is indicative of the fact that it will be much easier for you to attract clients by emphasizing on the above 3 factors, than just offering a price discount. This is due to the multiple benefits that an online video service provides and you can read more about it here.
Confidentiality of the service
Confidentiality has a special place in online services. Your customers have to trust you that nobody else will listen to your conversations with them. Always reassure them that full confidentiality is guaranteed, even if they are not explicitly asking about it.
Online booking and payments
These factors are also part of the online aspect of virtual meeting. They come last in our survey but about half of all respondents have actually paid online for their video meeting (we told you – everything is important).
Furthermore, 68% of customers have stated they would use a video service in order to save time. If you contribute to that, then online booking and payments are a must for your business.
What should you be especially careful about?
Fortunately, the concerns about using online services via video are quite scarce. What is more, 36% of people aren’t concerned whatsoever about receiving a service via virtual meeting. Although the quality of the service and of the connection are quite important, only a small part of customers reckon that these can become a problem.
It is also encouraging that online platforms and payments aren’t a cause for worry among our respondents. So offer them without a hesitation – they will be beneficial not only for the client, but for you as well!
The most demanding clients are the ones who push you forward
Our survey shows that the size of the market for virtual meeting services is significant. But that’s not the most important conclusion. What really matters is that whatever the service you offer, the way it is being offered everywhere is changing.
The customers – your clients – are already aware of the change, they accept it and are not worried about it. You, as a professional, will benefit greatly, if you closely follow the new trends and don’t fall behind. The journey to providing online services is really not that hard. You are already in the right place to embark on it.