Hey there! I’m Harper.
I am a Wistia Customer Champion

Yes, these are all names I have been called by actual customers
Jan

Support interactions can often
be mechanical and impersonal
This is largely influenced by the mediums that we use

How many folks use
email for support?
How many people here work in
support or customer happiness?

“I want to speak to a real
human”
Email is useful in many ways, but is lacking in humanity

Let’s not forget about our friends
who use phone or live chat
Those tools have their uses & strengths but they
lack the visual cues of face-to-face communication.

Enhance & Humanize Your
Support w/ Video!
Using video in support interactions is a great medium for demonstrating
solutions in a clear, understandable way, and adds a human element that is
often missing in email, phone, or even live chat

Roadmap
• Why do it? (you are here)
• Storytime: our journey with support video
• Hurdles to Adoption
• Workflows & Production Tips
•Tech Suggestions

Why do it? (cont.)
But let’s face it - in order to argue for something new or make a
change at your company/organization, you need to show that
the new tool/tech/strategy moves the needle
Now I’m not really a numbers guy…

Story Time: How we got here

Story Time: How we got here
At Wistia, we’re encouraged to make videos from day 1.

I worked in film before Wistia, and even I found it daunting.
on camera can be scary, especially i
Then some colleagues put together a webcam record feature:

2 clicks > record a video > share
Video De-mystified

So we started firing off some video
responses to things like feedback:

We also used them for saying
goodbye to customers:

The earliest things we were doing with videos
in support was just adding that human element.

For tech support, the screencast is one
of the best tools we have available.
Whether it's a GIF or an instructional piece with voiceover, showing
the exact steps to reproduce or fix something is second to none

Now we have Soapbox to make
this process even easier.
https://happiness.wistia.com/medias/gyb9sci9ug

Hurdles to Adoption
The hard part is actually *doing it*.
In my opinion, there are a few key reasons for that:
• It's a big departure from well-worn workflows.
• Not everyone wants to be on camera
• It can be disruptive to those around you if you work in a quiet space
• Kind of like reading a book, it's easier to see the short-term gain of not
doing it rather than appreciating the long-term value of doing it

Hurdles to Adoption
Here are my suggestions for getting your people prepared &
practiced for leaping clear over those hurdles:
• Give them time. You may need to explicitly loosen expectations around time spent pe
• If your office is normally quiet, set up a designated space for recording videos
• Provide the skills & tools for looking great on camera
• Find easy wins to use video responses - layups build confidence

Hurdles to Adoption
It's going to feel weird at first, and it will probably take more time initially than it would to

Workflows & Production Tips
• You will do multiple takes. Accept this & plan accordingly
• Be deliberate with your lighting:
* Avoid backlighting
* Aim for contrast from your background
* Use a key light for that extra pop - desk lamp or cheap LED
• Just freakin’ do it! The more experience, the easier it will get

Workflows & Production Tips
Here’s a handy outline for making support videos:
1. Say hello
2. Restate the problem
3. Show the solution & how you got there
4. Summarize
5. Leave space for follow-up

Workflows & Production Tips
When I'm done, I'll do a quick primer in email:
Hey, shot a quick video for you to answer the question:
<video>
Let me know if anything is unclear, or if you have trouble watching that!
Cheers,
Harps
Depending on your business, you may want to include more context in the email.

Tech Suggestions
Logitech C920
Blue snowball Blue Yeti

Questions?