Text Messaging Featured Article

Contact centers have to think about omnichannel support not as a luxury but as a necessity, according to an article by Business News Daily.

As more people adopt devices outside of the traditional phone system, it’s important for customer service centers to support more than one type of contact method, whether it’s phone calls, social media, email or even text message.

“Customers are living in a real-time context," Kirstin Ogilvie, vice president of corporate marketing for Thunderhead.com, told Business News Daily. "They expect real-time responses and answers [with their] interactions and personal applications. When they deal with brands, they don't expect anything different."

Smaller companies don’t have the same resources that big companies do, but it is possible for them to provide good service across multiple channels.

One way to improve customer service is to make a lot of it self-service by having a comprehensive “FAQ” on a company’s website that answers common questions without tying up call center representatives.

Multichannel should also really mean “multichannel.” When customers do have questions, they shouldn’t all be directed to simply call, but should be able to get in touch with an agent on any platform.

“If they wanted to talk to you on the phone, they would have called you," said John Huehn, CEO of social media sales and customer service company In the Chat.

Consistency is the key to good multi-channel customer service. For example, if some emails a problem and then moves to a phone conversation, it’s frustrating if the customer has to start over because the agent has no knowledge of previous conversations. Companies should keep detailed records on customers to make this easier.

With many people preferring to type on their phones rather than talk, customer service professionals should make text-based channels on par with their traditional voice calls.