FR: What is the potential for screen sharing solutions like vScreen in Financial Services?
There is little doubt that the potential for screen sharing in financial services using systems like vScreen is massive. Because of the flexibility of the system there are no restrictions on which products can be sold using vScreen or the geographical location of either the adviser or the customer. This means that financial services firms can manage resource to ensure that customers can be engaged using advisers who may otherwise not have been available.
Telephone based sales are already used extensively for mortgages, investments, insurances and credit cards and the benefits of adding a visual element to what is traditionally an audio only call means that this has the opportunity to develop even further. It is because of this that expansion with the financial services sector is restricted only by the market itself.
FR: Is there any hard evidence that using visuals improves the sales process?
Yes! Independent US research has proved that using visuals makes a significant difference to the sales process. The US Department of Labor state that adding a visual element increases retention of information over six fold from 10% to 65%, and the University of Minnesota revealed that presenters who use visual aids are 43% more effective in persuading audience members to take a desire course of action.
There is not just academic research. Banks and insurance companies have seen similar results. For example, the use of vScreen in Santander’s credit card department delivered an increase in sales of 45% with credit cards delivered 12 days earlier. Additionally, feedback from customers was also impressive with a 98% positive response to their vScreen session. And, Santander is not an isolated example as vScreen results show high levels of customer satisfaction across all clients and improved sales.
FR: Why do you think the use of visuals is so beneficial to a remote sale?
The key reason why the use of visuals is so beneficial to a remote sale is because the customer becomes so much more engaged. Human eyes represent 70% of all sense receptors in the body, which is why people engage so much more when visuals are used.
Typically sales are either face to face which offered a high service level but was expensive, or a telephone sale which was lower cost but considered a lower service offering. By using a remote face to face solution advisers can have the low cost of a remote call combined with the high service through the use of visual material.
FR: What considerations should businesses have with adopting screen sharing?
It may sound simple but perhaps the most important consideration should be whether a solution works first time, every time. That may sound flippant but solutions that require software to be downloaded onto the agents or customers PC invariably falls foul of firewalls and other security features.
One of the key hurdles of most technological products trying to enter financial services is that they require a huge IT implementation project. Ideally solutions need to be ‘plug and play’ for the benefit of both customer and presenter, so all either party needs is access to the internet. This means that a solution can sit on top of existing systems meaning that no new infrastructure or IT implementation is required.
FR: Do you think that screen sharing can really help firms to avoid fines and misselling claims?
Yes, definitely. We believe that screen sharing solves many issues not only in remote sales such as from a call centre but it can also help in face-to-face scenarios such as within a branch as it can prove what has been shown to the customer.
With regulation remaining a robust element of the financial services sector, the ability to not only do the right thing but prove you’ve done the right thing will continue to be essential.
We have seen too many fines levied on firms who have been unable to prove they followed a compliant sales process so the use of screen sharing can certainly help address this issue and offer a heightened level of compliance oversight. vScreen sessions are time and date stamped with a full and complete record of information presented including electronic signatures on completed documents.
