Omni-Channel Customer Engagement Article

How much time have you invested in planning your customer service experiences for the year 2020? If yours is like most companies, you put your overarching strategy together, you measure for performance and then you make adjustments to ensure you are always improving. In doing so, you should be well-positioned for the customer by the time we reach 2020, right?

In a world where consumer expectations are changing very quickly, new innovations are consistently emerging on the market and the omni-channel customer engagement experience is just the baseline for interactions, expectations will be much higher than you think. And, according to a recent Aspect (News - Alert) blog, there are going to be drastic changes in the ways companies interact with consumers by 2020 – will you be ready?

The blog cites a recent study conducted by NelsonHall that suggests dramatic changes will emerge in the mix of agent-based customer communication channels by 2020. For those companies that aren’t responding to consumers according to their expectations, the competitive advantage will go away. By 2020, it’s predicted that chat usage will double, social media will triple and video chat will increase by a factor of 10. Voice and email usage are expected to decline by 25 percent, painting a very different picture for the operation of the contact center by 2020.

The primary drivers for these changes, according to NelsonHall, are customer preferences and cost reduction. Consumers want speed in the actions they expect from the contact center. The omni-channel customer engagement experience is important as not all consumers will want to use the same channels, but they all want similar things. While speed is certainly a common desire, there is also the demand for accuracy, control and information. They want personalization and customization that encompasses more than just knowing their name and what they’ve purchased in the past.

As the omni-channel customer engagement experience continues to be developed, the texting channel is another one that will continue to evolve. Aspect Software conducted its own survey and discovered that 72 percent of those interviewed preferred to use texting rather than to pick up the phone for a live call with customer service. This channel is one that allows for an ongoing conversation and consumers don’t necessarily expect an immediate response, but it does need to be accurate and quick. As the channel gains in popularity, companies will need a strong model to support the demand to ensure consumer shave the experience they expect.

To get the full picture of what to expect both now and in 2020 for the omni-channel customer engagement experience, Aspect Software offers ACE – the Aspect Customer Experience, a gathering of industry experts, visionaries and decision makers seeking to collaborate, learn and share. This year’s event is slated for Vegas in April – check more details here.