Customer service has gone beyond answering your customer’s call. It’s time to start using cobrowsing technology to improve communications with customers and make them feel as though they were in the same room with the customer agent, guiding them accordingly and fixing their problems in real-time.

A Forrester Research Paper observes that “companies increasingly leverage visual engagement – video, co-browsing, screen sharing, and annotations – to cut through the customer conversation clutter, to be better understood, and to connect emotionally.”

Complex transactions can be boring and discourage the customer. But if you share the web browser or screen with them, you can actively help them fill forms, try product demos, complete an order, and so on.

When it comes to customer service, many people have argued that both cobrowsing and screen sharing will play a key role in the future of customer service, and it’s true. But how do these two differ?

Before going into in-depth analysis of cobrowsing, let’s understand differences between cobrowsing and screen sharing.

Cobrowsing vs. screen sharing

Screen sharing applications have been here for quite a while, however, their downsides led to the development of cobrowsing solutions which is a better alternative.

Cobrowsing solutions allow the customer service agent to be on the same page with their customer while helping them to fix their challenges.

Yes, screen sharing applications also do the same thing but here is the biggest difference: most of the time, both parties need to install a 3rd party application beforehand, limiting the use cases. Screen sharing is also less secure because there's no way to restrict access or mask sensitive data.

Now, I’ll explain in detail why co-browsing (and not screen share) is preferred and is the future of customer service.

How does cobrowsing improve your customer engagement?

Here are some co-browsing benefits:

1) Cobrowsing protects your client's private information

Cobrowsing allows your clients to take control of their computer systems and protects their privacy. Co-browsing allows the agent to see only your browser screen — and the customer can also restrict the agent from accessing other tabs, and other parts of their screen which contain sensitive information.

For example, a field that requires you to enter your credit card details will be a sensitive field you don’t want to expose.

Studies show that many internet users are making continuous efforts to stay anonymous online and to stay protected. Therefore, it’s important you stick with a solution that's designed with the users' privacy in mind – namely, cobrowsing.

2) Cobrowsing doesn't require any downloads

“Adding a human touch to your customer’s experience can help you distinguish your brand. Visual engagement tools such as cobrowsing and video chat can help build an emotional bond with customers.” – Venesha Brooks

When it comes to co-browsing, your customers don’t have to install any software. All they need is their browser.

So no matter the device they are using to access your website, they can quickly have a cobrowsing session with your customer service agent if they have challenges using your website to complete their orders or have challenges filling forms, and so on.

During a chat, if a user says “I’m clicking a button and it’s not working, can you help me?”, you don’t have to spend time giving them abstract directions on. You can request to cobrowse with them, and once accepted, you can see what they are saying as it happens in real-time and show them how to solve the problem – no installations needed.

3) Cobrowsing increases customer satisfaction and loyalty

In this competitive world, it is very important that you meet your customer’s expectations. You should take every opportunity to deliver the best services to your customers. Reports show that more than 70% of online customers expect that their queries get solved within 5 minutes. And customers get satisfied and become loyal to brands when their issues get resolved the first time over the call or chat.

With the help of co-browsing, problem resolution is easier. Co-browsing allows agents to see customer’s browser and can see where customers are facing issues. At the same time, customers can see what exactly agents are doing and how problems are resolved, thus building trust.

So, using real-time features like cobrowsing will help to retain customers and attract new customers and improve business performance.

4). Cobrowsing increases support speed

Since clients and customers are not required to download and install any software before they get support, it will increase the speed at which you respond to their questions.

According to Aberdeen, 78% of customers are satisfied when they use a cobrowsing experience compared to 47% who say they are satisfied using a web self-service.

A happy customer is a loyal customer, so a good cobrowsing experience will not only make your prospects and customers happy, but it will also make them feel like they are a part of your brand. No wonder 86% of customers will pay more for a better customer service experience.

5) Cobrowsing allows for browsing on other tabs

While cobrowsing allows you to have a one-on-one contact with your customers, it doesn’t restrict either of you from using your browser. It allows you or your customers to visit other websites while in a cobrowsing session.

So, if, for example, you want to get more information on Google to give your customer further support, you can easily do that without losing connection with your customer.

A company can enhance their customer experience when buying products or service with a cobrowsing and a call-back feature integrated into their website.

6) Cobrowsing works for e-commerce and shopping cart abandonment

A sales representative may help the customers complete their purchase with the help of cobrowsing integrated into your e-commerce website.

A lot of people drop off their carts when it’s time to give credit card details because of their fear issues. With the help of cobrowsing, a sales executive can assist the customers to fill out an order form. This will reduce cart abandonment rate considerably and improve the online shopping experience for the customers.

7) Cobrowsing increases ROI

With the help of a cobrowsing feature enabled in an e-commerce website, customer service teams will be able to look at customer’s browser and will help them in completing the purchase. Customers get satisfied when their queries get solved instantly. This will result in higher conversion rate and thus will boost ROI of the company without extra costs attached to each issue resolved or sales outreach because of the feature.

Conclusion

There’s a peace of mind customers have when they know that they have someone out there (a customer agent) ready to guide them when they have challenges using a website, product, or portal.

Especially when they don’t have to screenshot and write a lot of words to make the agents understand what their problem is.

Cobrowsing makes it a lot easier to guide your prospects through to the bottom of the sales funnel. You should consider using it today.