The rise of social media and messaging apps have profoundly changed the ways people interact. Still, many businesses aren’t up to scratch with this new reality. An omnichannel approach can help you meet these challenging demands. These are five reasons why omnichannel customer service is vital for customer (and agent) happiness.
In the race for customer excellence, offering outstanding service is a significant asset. And in our day-to-day lives, we’ve all experienced this. One excellent support interaction can transform a one-time customer into a lifelong brand advocate. And similarly, poor quality service can damage long-term relationships in a heartbeat.
For many companies, however, creating valuable customer experiences is easier said than done. Especially considering today’s rapidly evolving technology landscape. Following the advance in communication means we’ve witnessed the last few years, customer expectations have shifted significantly. Our answer to that challenge? Omnichannel customer experience.
Meeting customer expectations in a world of change
The rules of the game have changed. In this brave new world, customers want to reach out to your company on their terms. They expect a response ASAP – often within just minutes. Moreover, they don’t think about channels but look for the easiest way to connect. Whether that’s WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or email: they just want to get the message across.
An omnichannel approach to customer service fully embraces this new reality. By integrating different communication channels into a single platform, customers can easily switch between channels, while agents never lose track of the conversation. And that’s precisely the reason why omnichannel is all the buzz today.
Omnichannel customer service benefits for customers and agents
By fully supporting different channels in one ecosystem, omnichannel CX equals happy customers and agents.
1. Serve your customers where they are
In an omnichannel reality, customers can contact your company via the channel they prefer. Furthermore, the support agent they talk to has an overview of all relevant information and past conversations, making for a better support experience for the customer.
2. Offer a real-time support experience
Customers are becoming more demanding every day, and support teams have to put in the effort to keep up. Customers want and expect you to meet their needs now. Most omnichannel platforms allow you to engage with your customers in real-time via chats or video and even through screen sharing.
3. Deburden your agents with centralized data
Adopting an omnichannel strategy is beneficial for agents as well. When you integrate every channel in the same support platform, agents follow up on customer requests without switching channels themselves.
4. Create a context with the conversation
More notably, an omnichannel approach can lead to a significant boost in efficiency for your agents. Consider all the time they are wasting by having to scrape together information before answering customer requests. By centralizing client data, omnichannel saves them time and – consequently – money.
5. Get to know your customer better
Centralized data also allows greater customization of communications and promotions made with each client. By fostering a data-driven approach, you can personalize your messaging so customers feel that you know them and care about them.
See omnichannel in action: join our webinar
Giving customers reasons to stick with your brand is integral to building a thriving enterprise. As we’ve laid out, omnichannel can make that happen.
Ready to put the theory to practice? In our joint Omnichannel Webinar with Aircall, we’ll share the common mistakes businesses make when switching to omnichannel CX, and how to avoid them. Join the session and experience how leading companies are revolutionizing the way they communicate with customers using a seamless technology ecosystem.
