Every business is scrambling to find a place in the customer’s mindspace. That’s because today’s customers expect service delivery to be instant, personalized and meaningful every time, everywhere and across every channel. Undoubtedly, contact centers are doing a good job of resolving customer issues. But the challenge is in meeting the ever-changing needs of an ever-evolving customer. So, many contact centers adopted multiple channels besides voice to connect with their customers. But this doesn’t suffice anymore since it’s not about different channels delivering disparate experiences anymore.
Say hello to the era of omnichannel experiences. The time is ripe for contact centers to make the transition before they miss the bus. Omnichannel is about delivering services through multiple channels in a seamless manner. The company enjoys sundry benefits, including cost reduction, thanks to the consolidation of service delivery, while the customer benefits by experiencing a service that is swift and seamless across channels. But a few questions remain unanswered: Is there a tried and trusted way to jump-start the transition? Can the omnichannel strategy help deliver stellar customer service?
“Omnichannel is about delivering services through multiple channels in a seamless manner.”
Like any major initiative that impacts customers, this transition must be aligned with the company’s business goals and challenges. Also, there are no set rules to make it happen. It depends a lot on multiple factors like current channels, technological prowess, skills of existing agents, organizational culture, etc.
Since omnichannel is the way forward, there are no two ways about. So, it’s not about ‘Should we?’ but ‘When should we?’. That said, adopting a few best practices can help make the transition smoother. Outlined below are some of the universally tested steps that could be considered.
Outlining the Strategy
The overarching omnichannel strategy must be put in place now. It is important to identify the different customer personas so that their expectations at the various stages in the journey can be mapped to the business goals and deliverables. In a digitally mature world, every customer leaves a trail behind. So, it’s become easier to understand his/her behavior and deliver what is expected across channels. What’s even more critical is the need for a consistent voice across all the existing and proposed channels. Be it via phone, chat or email, the customer should feel that the messages originate from a single source and always follow a flow without any interruptions. The idea is to create an enjoyable journey from start to finish. Even if there is abandonment in between, due to unforeseen circumstances, guidance and escalation options must be built into the system.
Integrating the Channels
Voice, email, chat, mobile, video, message board, social media – the roster of channels continues to become longer with the advent of newer technologies. But what matters is what the customers consider to be the best, and then the next best, and so on. The service journey with seamless channel switches must be defined as per customer preferences and business objectives. Integration of physical, digital and mobile channels can happen at this stage. Control, and not variety, is the key to omnichannel success. Put simply, this stage is about upgrading the IT architecture (front end and back end) to provide a seamless experience. This results in improved customer loyalty and enhanced business profitability. Customers want answers to their questions in a jiffy through channels that are convenient to them – even if it means self-service. According to a study, by 2020, chatbots will power 85% of all customer service interactions.
“Customers want answers to their questions in a jiffy through channels that are convenient to them – even if it means self-service.”
Training the Personnel
Agent behavior influences the overall customer experience to a great extent. The omnichannel transition is a step in that direction. It brings all the agents on the same page, irrespective of the channels/tools they have been working on. Agents will be able to leverage the data on multiple channels to deliver an exceptional experience. Aside from regular training, quality monitoring is also key in improving and sustaining the standard of customer interactions in an omnichannel environment. What’s more, omnichannel is not just about agent-customer interactions. It calls for the concerted effort of multiple departments in an organization – IT, training, sales, etc. The result is an amalgamation of people, processes and technology. In a telco survey, 52%2 of respondents indicated that they preferred to speak to a live agent when faced with a crisis. This reveals the fact that the human touch will continue to be relevant even if automated technologies take over most of the interactions.
Measuring Performance
Today’s customers expect speed, flexibility, reliability and transparency in service delivery. Achieving all this may seem like a titanic task. But contact centers with an omnichannel strategy have a definitive advantage here. It’s easier for them to consolidate disparate data into a single view of the customer and glean smarter insights to deliver better experiences across all touch points. The convergence of customer, product and service data is essential for offering a uniform experience. Consolidation of multiple reports on channel performance helps present a complete picture to stakeholders easily. When it comes to performance measurement, a single source of truth (a master data set) is necessary to achieve consistency. This not only helps save time but also simplifies the associated processes to optimize service delivery. As a result, the quality of interaction/service meets or even exceeds the expectations of customers.
The convergence of customer, product and service data is essential for offering a uniform experience. Consolidation of multiple reports on channel performance helps present a complete picture to stakeholders easily.
References:
https://www.inc.com/rebecca-hinds/by-2020-youre-more-likely-to-have-a-conversation-with-this-than-with-your-spouse.html
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/how-to-capture-what-the-customer-wants
