Merrill Lynch Seeks an Edge for Mass Affluent Clients

From OnWallStreet.com:

With co-browsing, customers get live assistance from technical advisors who can browse the site along with them, resolve issues and point them in the right direction.

The effort is useful for “some of our clients who are less tech-savvy,’’ said Delp. “They want to get out and see their account online. They want to place trades. But they have trouble enrolling their account or just finding things on the web site.’’

Read the full article here: http://www.onwallstreet.com/news/merrill-edge-interactive-customer-service-projects-2677871-1.html

One of our customers recently shared this:

“Prior to using LiveLOOK Presenter, our sales team tried some other popular screen sharing solutions. We ran into many problems with our target audience not having the right technology or settings, and in one week ran into five or six situations where a prospect could not use the screen share software at all.

We knew we had to find a product that doesn’t require a download and doesn’t have all of the compatibility issues we were experiencing.

Within one week of switching to LiveLOOK Presenter, our sales team was thrilled. They love how fast it is to launch and how simple it is to use. By getting up and running within seconds, and avoiding technical issues, our team is able to save time and close more business.”

- Sapling Learning

“Co Browse was an invaluable tool for our online banking system migration and the ongoing support of the home banking website…” – Rob Harloe, VP of Technology at Nortrhop Grumman FCU

In 2011, Northrop Grumman Federal Credit Union transitioned to a robust new online banking platform.  Knowing that previous large-scale upgrades to the home banking website had resulted in increased support calls, with members reporting trouble logging in, navigating the site, and/or understanding new features, Northrop Grumman FCU sought out a tool that would help its agents better assist members through this migration, and that would make long-term continued support easier as well.

Read the full case study here

Linda Ziemba, LiveLOOK’s Executive Vice President, has been asked to participate in a panel on Optimizing Multi-Channel Customer Interactions at ACCE 2012. The conference takes place May 7-12 in Seattle, and is shaping up to be an incredible event.

We hope to see you there!

“One of the strongest ways to improve the customer experience is to join forces with customers using collaboration tools such as Web co-browsing, screen-sharing, white boarding, form-filling, conferencing, pre-recorded video, agent-to-expert collaboration, and live desktop video.”

Customer Collaboration: A Richer Customer Experience Drives Profits
Frost & Sullivan, November 2011

LiveLOOK’s co browse technology  has been deployed across nearly every industry. Our security and privacy options make us the go-to solution for financial services, healthcare and retail companies concerned with HIPAA, PCI and other compliance issues. However, we’ve been surprised this year to see how quickly one specific industry is adopting co browse technology as the standard in “customer” experience: online education.

A recent blog post on 1-to-1 Media’s Think Customers blog describes Kaplan University’s approach to student experience.

“Customer experience is a journey, not a destination,” Sophie Vlessing reminded attendees during her session at NACCM earlier this week.

Vlessing, senior vice president of strategic marketing and student experience at Kaplan University, shared her roadmap for taking a customer experience journey that leads to ongoing innovation:

• Start with customer understanding
• Innovate based on insights
• Engage throughout entire lifecycle
• Provide value-added content and experiences
• Inspire to build emotional connection and vision for future
• Leverage and enable student advocacy through social media

We’ve heard similar goals echoed across the industry in recent months as online universities drive towards optimizing the online experience for students – both traditional and adult learners. The interest in co browse revolves around helping students through the enrollment and financial aid processes more quickly, accurately and efficiently, and also incorporates training capability to ensure students are utilizing online tools and services to their full potential.

A new study released by long-time LiveLOOK customer Intuit reveals that, while bank customers tend to be loyal (45% have been with their current bank or credit union for more than 10 years), better customer service is a key reason they make a change. 33% of respondents said they would switch to a financial insitution that offered them a better customer experience.

“Banking on customer inertia is not a viable growth strategy,” said CeCe Morken, president and general manager of Intuit Financial Services. “Financial institutions should instead lead by engaging customers on their terms and delivering the experience they define.”

While the study focuses largely on mobile banking, the researchers note that more Americans than ever are turning to online banking versus making in-person visits to a bank branch. As customers spend more time banking online and continue to raise their expectations of customer service and experience, customer support tools like Co Browse become increasingly important.

2012 is right around the corner, and our team has been attending shows, talking to partners, working with customers, watching the industry, and tossing around some thoughts on what’s ahead for live support software in the coming year.

Here are five innovations we see coming for live support software in 2012:

1. Mobile/tablet compatibility, keeping up with customer demand to get what they need wherever they are when they need it.
2. More interactive, multimedia elements within the support experience to drive a sense of collaboration between customers and support professionals.
3. Mechanisms to help capitalize on positive customer experiences, encouraging brand advocacy and harnassing the power of social media.
4. Better balance between automation and personalized support.
5. Co Browse integrations; Co Browse technology is steadily becomming a standard offering within live support software solutions, and as more customers become accustomed to getting help this way, more businesses will look for co browse to round out their multi-channel support strategies.

What do you think? Do you see some additional trends on the horizon?

http://news.yahoo.com/dvds-stay-netflix-website-qwikster-name-dropped-120514851.html

Netflix announced today that it will not proceed with separating into two entities – Netflix for streaming content and Qwikster for DVD rentals. The previous decision to separate caused a backlash that reminded the world how powerful a voice consumers have in the age of social media. While it seemed that Netflix was set on charging forward, news today that they’ve scrapped those plans shows that they value customer feedback. In an increasingly competitive market, where consumers have a growing number of venues for getting entertainment content, being the brand that doesn’t listen to customers is risky business.

Said Reed Hastings, CEO:

“there is a difference between moving quickly — which Netflix has done very well for years — and moving too fast, which is what we did in this case.”

In today’s world, the value of a product or service only counts for so much. How brands treat, respond to and support their customers is the key differentiator. Loyalty is everything.

If you’re planning to attend the ICMI Call Center Demo & Conference in Dallas, Texas this week, stop by LiveLOOK’s booth to meet with one of our Sales Directors and see a demonstration of LiveLOOK’s Co Browse solution in action.

If you haven’t registered yet, sign up here:

http://www.icmi.com/CCDemo

The ICMI team has put together a great agenda. Be sure to check out one of Lori Bocklund’s sessions, and don’t forget to download the white paper she recently published on Co Browse technology. Lori is President of Strategic Contact, an independent consulting firm focused on helping companies optimize the strategic value of their customer contact technology and operations. Strategic Contact helps companies succeed through projects that develop and execute plans tied to business goals, such as VoIP migration planning, outsourcing evaluations, and technology strategies.