The 2015 CRM Rising Stars: WalkMe Unleashes Guided Self-Service for the Web
Companies and their Web sites are constantly evolving, featuring new products, upgrades, services, pricing, and company information. Considering the increasing amount of content that Web site visitors have to wade through, it's sometimes a wonder they can find any relevant information at all. Fortunately, WalkMe aims to simplify the online customer experience with its guided self-service platform.
WalkMe can be thought of as an online GPS, guiding Web site visitors every step of the way to successfully completing their online tasks. Through a series of interactive tip balloons overlaid on the screen, tasks are broken down into short, step-by-step guided instructions. The result is increased self-service adoption, which leads to reduced incoming contact center requests, freeing agents to focus on more critical and complex customer interactions.
The platform also features contextual promotions, cross-selling capabilities, and advanced analytics that enable businesses to track just how users interacted with it and the Web site in general. This invaluable data allows companies to further fine-tune the online instructions to match user needs.
Paul Greenberg, president of The 56 Group, says WalkMe is "rife with potential," largely because it fits across multiple channels and verticals.
Its customers come from a wide range of industries and include banks and other financial institutions, retail, tourism, software, technology, and more.
Greenberg calls WalkMe "arguably the best-thought-out help tool...I've ever seen."
The technology, he adds, not only makes self-service as user-friendly as possible, but is also "only as obtrusive as you want it to be. Unlike other tools, it doesn't block anything else you are doing while it makes its appearance," he says.
And with a new user interface that the company introduced in mid-August as part of a much larger product upgrade, the platform is now even more intuitive in how it leads prospects, customers, employees, or partners through Web experiences.
The interface was completely redesigned with distinct, functional layers so companies can create the calls to action needed to guide and engage Web audiences. New segmentation capabilities allow companies to define with whom to engage and in what language based on any criteria, such as location, role, and language.
Also new are launcher icons that can be placed anywhere on the site to direct users to the WalkMe widget or automatically start a Walk-Thru. The widget contains a list of Walk-Thrus, content, and tailored search engine results. The Content feature integrates existing support resources with the WalkMe widget. A Permalinks feature enables businesses to embed links that automatically play a Walk-Thru into support email, chat sessions, or social media posts. The Auto Play feature enables businesses to engage target segments by automatically playing Walk-Thrus based on specific criteria. They can, for example, engage first-time visitors to the Web site with a brief tour or provide others with very specific and customized alerts, such as if a bill is almost due. And, with new connections to Google, Bing, Zendesk, and Desk.com, the WalkMe Search Widget can scour all relevant documentation to assist customers.
"They take into account the necessary content to guide users...to the optimal use of the technology, increasing adoption as a result," Greenberg says, "but also take into account the behavior of the user."
Though the San Francisco–based company has only been in existence since 2011, by 2014, it had already amassed $17.5 million in funding. At the same time, the company has doubled its size and increased its revenue more than fivefold.
"There is no real category for them, which makes it tough to define the market," Greenberg says, "but the quality of what they have and their growth and evolution over the past year are indisputable."
WALKME
CEO: Dan Adika
President: Rafi Sweary
Founded: 2011
Headquarters: San Francisco
Revenue: $10 million
Employees: 125
Customer Count: N/A