Omni-Channel Customer Engagement Article

When it comes to sales and customer service, words have the power to make or break a deal. It doesn’t matter how great your product or service may be, how well you package it, or even how well you market and sell it. If someone on your team says the wrong thing to a customer or prospect, the game might be over before it even begins.

The age of omni-channel customer service adds many more dimensions to this theory, since companies are now communicating with clients and prospects in a variety of ways. So now customer service reps need to be mindful of what they are saying verbally as well as their written words. And the written word can vary wildly and carry different weight and importance in an email versus a text message or social media interaction.

What can companies do to ensure their words aren’t jeopardizing business or potential business? A recent article in Forbes discusses why language is so powerful within the customer service system, and why employees need to be coached on how to communicate – and what NOT to say, in a large number of business interactions and scenarios.

Omni-channel customer service takes this a step further, and now employees need to be aware of how they are representing their companies and brands through verbal and written words, in a variety of forums. Those who may excel at dealing with customers in the call center may struggle when it comes to communicating clearly and cohesively (and with proper sentence structure) via email. And texting and social media have their own etiquette standards and rules, which don’t apply in more traditional forms of customer service.

Using an omni-channel approach to customer service has its advantages though, and your employees can play to their strengths. Some may be best at front-line, face-to-face and phone service while others may best be utilized for their writing skills. Others may excel on all fronts, which will put them in an ideal position in the omni-channel, customer-centric service world that is rapidly becoming the standard. However your employees ultimately end up engaging with customers and prospects, they should always be mindful of the weight of their words.