A leader in cloud-based security intelligence solutions, has revamped its customer support program to increase customer satisfaction and improve efficiencies. As this company brings the power of software-as-a-service (SaaS) to Internet security for consumers and businesses, the company is also a pioneer in providing cutting-edge customer support via the cloud, frequently resolving issues before a customer picks up the phone. noHold empowers the leader in the security industry with interactive and diagnostic Virtual Agent technology and Knowledge Management solutions as a part of its program.
Webroot, a leader in cloud-based security intelligence solutions, has revamped its customer support program to increase customer satisfaction and improve efficiencies. As Webroot brings the power of software-as-a-service (SaaS) to Internet security for consumers and businesses, the company is also a pioneer in providing cutting-edge customer support via the cloud, frequently resolving issues before a customer picks up the phone. noHold empowers Webroot with interactive and diagnostic Virtual Agent technology and knowledge management solutions as a part of its program.
In preparing for the introduction of its SecureAnywhere product line in2011, Webroot set out to transform its customer experience. The company conducted a series of surveys with its existing antivirus customers to identify problem areas and prioritize issues to focus on. These areas included: reducing security infections or breaches, improving system performance and productivity, simplifying management and control, and making quality customer support fast and easy to receive. Overall, the objective to improve went beyond customer support and encompassed agent training, product development and engineering.
“We had to look at the team structure, training and career path as well as the way that our customers contacted us to start identifying a complete solution,” said Amy Wiley, Vice President of Worldwide Customer Support and Threat Research at Webroot. “Our customers needed to connect with the right people, with the right knowledge and in the right place, and it needed to be fast and easy. In addition, we felt that it was extremely important to carve out a technical operations team, whose job is to focus on why our customers were calling us, and ensure the information they need to help themselves is easily available.”
As a result of its surveys, Webroot identified several opportunities to improve the customer support experience by integrating support more deeply into the products, and improving support automation and self-help. By working with noHold and implementing several new support programs, Webroot not only reduced the volume of support calls and the average length of those calls, it also dramatically increased customer satisfaction, even as the customer base grew significantly.
“We view support as an extension of the product experience. By pairing with engineering, we were able to completely integrate the two and deliver support much more efficiently through the product interface,” explained Wiley. “For example, if the customer clicks on “Help and Support” from within the SecureAnywhere product, all relevant information from their device, including their key code and log files, is sent to Webroot through the cloud. With all of this information in front of us at the beginning, we can diagnose and solve many problems in less time that it would take the customer to dial support and reach an agent on the phone. And we’re able to deliver that support in 63 languages to quickly service our customers world-wide.”
Community Forum and Self-Help Support (Ask Webroot):
In addition to streamlined in-product support, Webroot established its own online community that provides a public forum for customers, partners and Webroot product experts to collaborate, share best practices and ask questions. Webroot personnel monitor the community for support issues and ensure they are addressed quickly. A similar approach was taken in integrating support into the company’s other social media outlets such as Facebook. Webroot has also created a rich self-help repository called “Ask Webroot.” It provides common answers to a multitude of Webroot SecureAnywhere topics and issues, as well as detailed step-by-step instructions and troubleshooting tips provided by an automated Webroot support agent. Frequently asked questions and product release notes may also be accessed from the Ask Webroot webpage.
In 2012, Webroot conducted a follow-up survey to ask its customers if the revamped customer support program had a major effect on resolving their issues, and if they were likely to recommend Webroot to a colleague or peer. The results revealed that 88 percent felt that its customer support had a major impact on resolving those issues and were very likely to recommend Webroot to others.
“This has been an incredible journey,” said Michael Davies, manager technical support operations at Webroot. “We have migrated all of our customers from the old support model to a new way. The new world is faster, leaner, meaner, smarter, and automated. We were already working hard to keep up, now we are working smarter too.”
Webroot’s research identified that poor support was a major pain point across the security industry and has set out to change the game. One of its primary corporate objectives is to “delight customers in every way including superior efficacy, an excellent service experience, and surprisingly wonderful support”. The company recognizes that malware does not stop on weekends or holidays, and knows no borders, and through their partnership with noHold, Webroot has been able to redefine the standard for support in the security market.
