Rishabh leads the content strategy at Content Beta, a creative video and design agency for Tech & SaaS companies.
In this guide, we will discuss how customer support videos can help your B2B SaaS company to create a stress-free workplace for the customer support team.
Before we continue, let us examine the terminology of the word ‘customer support’.
This interlude is necessary to examine whether both customer support and customer service are same or different.
There is a subtle difference between the two terms, but they are often used interchangeably, including in this article.
Knowing the distinction between them, however, is necessary to get a better understanding of the working of the two departments.
“In simple terms, customer support is a subset of customer service.”
This means they both serve a few common purposes. Both help enrich customer experience and build long-term relationships with customers.
Depending on the organization’s structure, resources, and needs, there would be two distinct entities to manage the customer-related responsibilities. However, it is not uncommon to see the workload being shared under the ‘Customer service’ banner.
Which brings us to the next question: what is the main responsibility of Customer Support staff?
Strictly speaking, they are expected to solve technical issues such as applications not loading; customers not finding a menu item; customers wanting to change a setting; customers wanting to transfer their data, and so on.
As already mentioned, they may be asked to also help out with other customer service tasks.
Customer service, on the other hand, aims to satisfy customers throughout the customer lifecycle. Of course, they need customer support to help them do that.
Customer support is probably the most neglected aspect of SaaS businesses. It is not uncommon to see the contributions of the customer support department being overshadowed by some of the fancier and more glamorous job descriptions in the organization.
Tom Peters, Speaker and Author, has this to say about the value of good customer service:
“It never ceases to amaze me that companies spend millions to attract new customers (people they don’t know) and spend next to nothing to keep the ones they’ve got! Seems to me the budgets should be reversed!”
And who helps B2B SaaS companies save millions by helping to retain high-spending customers and another million or two by winning new customers with their communication and problem-solving skills?
It is the customer service of course. Who gets the brickbats when things go wrong? It is CS. Who has to bear the wrath of irate customers on a Monday morning? It is CS, again!
You see the value they add to your business, don’t you?
So, why not recognize their hard work and make their job—and lives—easier?
Fortunately, there is an easy way to help our under-appreciated and overworked colleagues—with customer support videos.
Customer Support videos are created at a one-time cost and help in saving money and resources and help in drastically reducing customer support tickets.
Best customer Support videos are planned and executed by the B2B company in a way that enables clear understanding for the customers and figuring out the blind spots in the features, answering their most asked questions and doubts, while using the right soft skills, focusing on the brand, and using an efficient learning method to help with product adoption.
1. Sign-up walkthrough: Customer support videos are used to help new users in signing in and set up their accounts for the SaaS product or service.
2. Quick answers: Video customer support insurance that the most frequently asked questions my customers can be addressed immediately With the help of prerecorded. answers and instructions in video format.
3. Smooth onboarding: Video support ensure that help can be provided at every step of the onboarding journey for new users via videos.
Let us use the following scenario to understand why B2B SaaS companies should use video-based customer service.
Bob is a customer service professional with a B2B SaaS company that is about to release, in the next 15 days, a new productivity tool that they are betting big on.
Bob doesn’t know much about product usage at this stage. Nor does he have a lot of time to sit with his colleagues in the development, sales, or marketing department to familiarize himself with its features, the UI, and the technical details.
Suddenly, Bob doesn’t feel so good about his choice of career. He dreads answering customer calls wanting to know how to use the tool and maybe, even do some troubleshooting for them. Bob is beginning to get the feeling that time is fast running out.
Luckily for Bob, his Manager Sue understands and empathizes with him, having risen from the ranks herself.
She calls for a team meeting and announces that she spoke to Melissa, Managing Director, and impressed upon her the need to create video customer support to help with the impending product launch. And Melissa is impressed with the idea, she adds.
The team is unfamiliar with the concept, and they ask Sue to elaborate on the subject.
Sue produces a bound technical manual—all five-hundred pages of it—from her desk drawer and slams it on the desk with a flourish.
The affable manager then goes on to make the following announcement:
“Ladies and gents, here is some light reading for you that is guaranteed to make you an expert on our new product. The alternative option is watching a half dozen highly entertaining and informative videos with a run time of 3 minutes each. So take your pick.”
As Sue expected, most of the team, including our friend Bob, make an instant decision about which way they want to go, before the dust from slamming the technical manual has had a chance to settle! So, the trend is clear: people would rather watch an animated customer service video than read a manual.
There are many effective strategies B2B SaaS companies use to provide video customer service. Here are some of them, for inspiration:
But how does using the video work from the customers’ perspective?
Let us look at it this way: It’s hard enough to get people to buy your products, let alone convince them to stick around once they’re a customer. So, why not start by providing them with a positive customer experience?
Happy customers tell their friends, family, and neighbors about their positive experiences with your SaaS brand. That means you can earn yourself testimonials without even asking for it.
“For customers, time is money. They want solutions that are quick and easy. If a video can give them that, they will take it.”
But to provide exemplary customer service, your SaaS business needs to help your employees to do the best job they can.
However, customer service can be a tricky business. One bad call, and it’s easy to ruin a customer’s day. To use social media jargon, one bad tweet, and it can go viral.
Fortunately, SaaS businesses can train employees faster, more effectively, and also make the training more memorable with customer support training videos.
“With good customer support videos, not only can your business please your customers, but also let your staff do the job more efficiently.”
The benefits of using video are not limited to increased brand recognition and revenue. B2B SaaS Companies have found that using video in training leads to improved customer satisfaction, lower absenteeism, and lower turnover.
Here is an example customer support video created by Content Beta for ChiroTouch:
We saw how customer service video can benefit both customers and customer support reps. But what kind of videos should you be creating to improve the quality of customer support?
In this section, we will look at the types of videos you can create:
Training customer support staff is just like training any other employee; you want your team to feel confident in their ability to provide the best service possible. That starts with preparation, and that’s where videos come into play.
If you’ve spent any time in customer service in the software industry, you would know that it’s a stressful job. That makes hiring and retaining good customer service employees a challenging task.
“The best way for B2B SaaS companies to reduce employee turnover is to make their jobs more interesting. “
It means training new employees on the latest technology, enhancing their on-the-job experience, or even giving them the option to work on video training programs.
It means training new employees on the latest technology, enhancing their on-the-job experience, or even giving them the option to work on video training programs.
Takeaway:
A B2B SaaS company would do well to produce a good number of training videos to provide disruption-free animated customer service videos and make the training system-dependent rather than people-dependent.
Using customer support videos in conjunction with classroom training can keep the show running without a hitch.
The training video should make your staff:
An example of a general training video
Every customer support agent knows how repetitive customer questions can be. Did you say your SaaS business website has a comprehensive FAQ section?
Answering the same questions that have already been answered in the FAQ can be frustrating and exhausting for the staff, especially on a busy day. Some customers might still want you to explain it to them over the phone.
FAQ video customer support can make the whole process less painful. These are short question and answer videos that answer the most common questions people ask about your website, product or industry. They break down the information people need in an easily digestible format.
Takeaway:
Your training video should:
Here is an example Content Beta crated for ManyChat:
Product training or demo videos are becoming more prevalent in video customer support training, and with good reason.
These videos are short instructional videos that illustrate how to use a product. They can range from simple presentations to highly detailed demonstrations with all of the bells and whistles.
Takeaway:
Your product demo video should:
Here is an example video created by Content Beta for Upper Crew:
Customer onboarding is the process where new customers and employees are educated through explainers and walkthrough videos about how the software product works and how to use its features to gain the maximum benefit.
As a SaaS company, you should invest in customer onboarding videos. There is nothing like making your customers feel that they are getting their money’s worth and that they made the right decision when they purchased your product over other vendors’ offerings.
Takeaway
Your customer onboarding video should:
Here is an example video created by Content Beta for Taskworld:
A remote customer testimonial is a short video that a customer, who has bought a product or service, makes online about his or her experience with it.
Remote testimonial videos are sometimes called “customer testimonial videos”. These videos take the idea of testimonials to a new level. Instead of just posting a video with text, customers are asked to create a video that tells the story in their own voice.
There is nothing better than getting a customer’s praise to tell the world about your product or service.
Takeaway:
Your remote customer testimonial video should:
Example video created by Content Beta for ScaleX:
Customer experience is what matters most to B2B SaaS businesses today, and the best way to provide it is through personalized support. But customer support is a complex area, and it can be difficult to explain technical concepts to customers who may not understand the jargon.
Most customer support calls center on technical issues because they often get frustrated when they cannot figure out how to fix a particular problem on their own.
Customer service teams can use customer support videos to help employees interact better with customers, increase customer satisfaction, and optimize customer experience. But, why videos?
“Because videos handle technical explanations better.”
Rather than asking customers to repeat a support agent’s instructions, customer support videos can be used to simplify complicated ideas and demonstrate key steps.
Takeaway:
Your technical training video should:
Here is an example video:
A call-center setup is a little different from a traditional B2B SaaS businesses’ in-house CS department. As they typically employ contract workers, call centers tend to have higher employee turnover than other industries.
This means, employee training is a year-round exercise. Imagine a scenario where one of the trainers decides to quit the job at short notice and the chaos that might ensue in its wake!
Customer support videos should be the first choice of training call center employees because they can train more people and at their own pace.
Takeaway
Your call center training video should:
Here is an example video:
Best customer support videos offer a multitude of benefits: they can teach new staff, help train existing staff, or provide refresher courses.
As SaaS is dynamic in nature, using refresher training videos is a good idea to help reinforce the concepts and stay up-to-date with the release of newer versions of the software.
Takeaway:
Your refresher training video should:
Example video created by Content Beta for Dynamic Yield:
1. Video customer support in a short reduction in churn.
2. Customer support videos help in improving the image of the brand as it shows that the company cares about its users.
3. Customer support videos help in enhancing customer experience and increase customer satisfaction.
4. Video customer support is created at one-time cost and these videos are used time and again by a large number of people once they are created and pushed out on public platforms.
5. Customer support videos help in significantly improving product adoption.
Before we wrap up, let us recap how efficient customer support can benefit B2B SaaS businesses and the role of video customer support to achieve it.
Do’s
Don’ts
Conceding the fact that some customers do love to complain without valid treason, it is vital for SaaS companies to resolve all customer service issues as quickly as possible.
“Your business is to not judge your customers but to serve their needs.”
Finally, a B2B SaaS business can hardly afford to let a couple of negative reviews go viral and undo the genuine work that they have put in over the years, and one of the best ways for any B2B company to provide great customer service is by investing in video customer support.
As far as customer service support is concerned, they should produce customer support videos that cater to both their staff and customers. They could be customer onboarding, FAQ videos, refresher training videos, product training videos, technical training videos and so on.
Videos lend themselves well to explaining complex subjects simply, especially customer support video. They can be used to provide necessary information in a way that doesn’t overwhelm customers. Video Customer support can help both support staff and customers to learn about products and their usage.
According to Hubspot, Eighty-four percent of customers say that watching a brand video has persuaded them to purchase a product or service and more than 80% of video marketers reported that they had generated leads through video content, specifically customer support videos.
Customer support is part of customer service and deals mainly with technical issues faced by customers and helping to resolve them. But they also take on some of the non-technical responsibilities to help the customer service department as a whole to function smoothly. Customer support video can come handy in most cases.
