By: IrisCX • 19 September 2022

Connected products create a new customer service challenge [+ 3 ways to combat it]

There’s no doubt about it, we interact with brands differently than we used to. Our smartphone allows us to interact with hundreds of brands daily through our social media feeds, financial apps, and apps to support our home products – just to name a few. Not to mention all of the other smart products we use on a daily basis.Our touchpoints with brands have increased from maybe one per day to several interactions across different channels. As ‘always on’ consumers, we expect an ‘always on’ customer experience to match.Consumers that purchase connected and smart products seek a more connected, interactive experience with their environment. Using these products allows them to interact with their surroundings with ease. The obvious surrounding is their home, but it also impacts their interactions with family, friends, work, entertainment – and the brands they do business with.

Smart product complexity creates a new challenge for support teams

Early adopters of connected products might be able to handle self-installation with minimal guidance, but for the majority of consumers, smart devices can be challenging to install and connect to the other devices in their home.Providing a frictionless customer experience has become a key challenge for product companies as consumers install more devices in their homes and try to connect them with legacy home products like lighting, HVAC and refrigerators.55% of 1600+ American adults surveyed said they had moderate to severe challenges troubleshooting issues with connected products. Another 44% said syncing devices with other devices was problematic. And 62% said they're likely to return smart home products if they are too complicated to use.As a result, support teams have started to leverage new technologies to improve their customer journey.

3 strategies to improve the connected customer experience

Create frictionless support touchpoints through their journey
Learn how your customers are interacting with your products
Predict and prevent negative customer experiences

Create frictionless support touchpoints through their journey

The three main areas where customers commonly need support when they purchase a connected product for their home are choosing, installing, and troubleshooting the product. By offering live and self-service appointments at each of these touchpoints, you’re building trust with your customer.These additional touchpoints help your team ensure a good product-customer fit, provide upsell opportunities, and build a stronger rapport with your customers.

Learn how your customers are interacting with your products

When your team collects and analyzes data from these touchpoints, you can begin to identify trends and inform decisions across every department.For example, you can see where your customers set up the product in their home, or what areas of friction they encounter during the installation process. This can help you inform your marketing or support processes in the future. You can track what product issues occur most often, and loop in your product development team.

Predict and prevent negative customer experiences

Once you have a method to identify areas of friction, you can iterate on your processes faster. Are customers getting stuck at Step 6 of your installation process? Add some clarity and test it. Is the screen on your product malfunctioning after 6 months? Talk to your supplier and remedy the issue as soon as possible.When data is driving your decision making process, you can learn and evolve faster, which will become a key differentiator in your customer experience.

Smart video is the next step for CX

Connected products simplify the way we live. It’s time for the customer experience to reflect that, too.IrisCX uses smart video to resolve consumer problems faster. Our smart video platform allows consumers to either self-assess their issue, schedule a time to talk to a service expert or show a service expert what their concern is to receive help in real-time.With Iris, you can apply the data generated from video sessions to create a more cohesive understanding of your customers and start delivering the service they want to receive.

Give your customers what they want. A more human experience, with IrisCX.

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