Omni-Channel Customer Engagement Article

According to Forbes, 86 percent of consumers will pay more for a better customer experience, but only 1 percent feel that brands consistently meet their expectations, highlighting the opportunity for brands to create a lasting competitive advantage.

These stats highlight the importance of providing a true omni-channel customer experience, and how doing so can differentiate an organization in profound ways.

A multichannel customer experience presupposes various “customer touchpoints” with the aim of providing end users with a choice in how to communicate with a company. So, things like social media, video chat, online, email and good old-fashioned phone calls all play a role in customer service. But an omni-channel experience goes a step further, providing all of those avenues with a consistent and high—quality customer experience, with the goal of seamless communication that follows the customer regardless of how he or she contacts the company.

“To put it simply: Customers view their experiences with a brand, not with discrete channels,” explained Neldi Rautenbach, marketing manager for Synthetix, in a recent blog. “Creating experiences that are consistently applause-worthy remains a difficult challenge, as customers want interactions with a brand to be seamless, integrated and consistent regardless of the contact channel.”

One key to creating a compelling customer experience is realizing that not all multi-channel technologies are created equal. For instance, in many cases companies provide inconsistent information across different contact channels. So, an online contact page may not have the right links for a customer’s needs, or may only provide a phone number.

Rautenbach suggests using a centralized and shared knowledge management solution will ensure that the same information is given to customers across all contact channels, helping to improve satisfaction rates.

“Clearly sign-posted on a home and contact page, a knowledge management solution will enable customers to find answers to their own questions,” she said. “But having an extended knowledge-base into your contact center will ensure that agents give customers consistent, accurate and timely answers to their questions regardless of channel, and that customers receive the same accurate answers whether they’re provided via self-service search, a phone call with an agent, automated email responses, web forms, live chat, SMS, or social media.”

Aside from (hopefully) boosting customer satisfaction such an approach is also a boon for reducing agent-training times and increasing conversions.

These are some of the conversations that will be on the docket for Aspect (News - Alert) Software’s upcoming CX Bootcamp. It will consist of five super-focused 10 minute webcasts, featuring Forrester (News - Alert) Research analyst Kate Leggett, and Aspect thought leaders Tony Lama, Tobias Goebel and Joe Gagnon.

Topics will include how new consumer expectations are driving the need to put the “self” back in customer self-service; understanding experience continuity and why it’s a necessity for every modern-day contact center; why context cookies are a compelling way to connect channels and transfer from self- to live service seamlessly; strategies to improve the customer experience while lowering costs; and identifying ways to retain agents as their role is elevated as a by-product of the rise in self-service; the role of mobility; and how IVRs can be taken to the next level by leveraging the capabilities of the smartphone.