The omnichannel approach to customer service has become an essential strategy for companies wishing to offer a fluid and consistent customer experience, whatever the communication channel used. An overview of best practice.
According to a study by Aberdeen Group, companies that have adopted an omnichannel approach have seen a 9.5% improvement in customer satisfaction and an 8.4% increase in customer loyalty [1].
The omnichannel approach involves integrating and coordinating all communication channels (telephone, email, chat, social networks, etc.) to offer a unified, seamless customer experience.
This approach allows customers to move seamlessly from one channel to another, without having to repeat their request or provide additional information. It allows the agent to work with the customer on several channels at the same time (for example, sending an email to the caller during a telephone conversation), and makes it easier for the manager to consolidate contact centre activity statistics.
There are many advantages to an omnichannel approach to customer service. First of all, it enables us to meet customers’ expectations in terms of flexibility and speed. Customers want to be able to contact companies in the way that suits them best, and get a fast, relevant response. By offering a range of communication channels and coordinating exchanges, companies can meet these expectations and improve customer satisfaction.
The omnichannel approach also provides a better understanding of customer needs and behaviour.
By centralising exchanges across all channels, companies can collect valuable data on their customers’ preferences and habits.This information can be used to personalise exchanges and propose appropriate offers, helping to strengthen customer loyalty.Finally, the omnichannel approach significantly improves the efficiency and productivity of customer service teams.By offering a range of communication channels, customer services can distribute requests more evenly and avoid overloading any one channel.What’s more, by centralising exchanges, companies can facilitate collaboration and the sharing of information between different members of the team, helping to improve the quality and speed of responses.
Implementing an omnichannel approach to customer service requires careful planning and coordination.
Here are a few tips on how to make this transition a success:
- Assess customer needs and expectations: it is important to understand customer preferences and communication habits before proposing new channels. This can be done by conducting surveys, analysing website browsing data or gathering customer opinions on social networks or in conversations within the contact centre (‘What a shame we can’t reach you by chat!’).This latter analysis requires Voice of the Customer software such as Akio Insights.
- Choosing the right communication channels: it is vital to offer a range of communication channels that are adapted to customers’ needs and expectations, but also to the company’s resources and skills. There’s no point in offering a communication channel if the company can’t manage it effectively.
- Centralise exchanges across all channels using a customer relationship management solution or an omnichannel customer service platform, such as that offered by AKIO.
- Train and support teams: implementing an omnichannel approach to customer service requires specific skills and knowledge, which means training and supporting teams as they learn the new tools and practices.
- Measure and continuously improve: guaranteeing the success of the approach requires regular assessment of customer satisfaction with omnichannel services.
Numerous companies have reported an improvement in their customer service thanks to an omnichannel approach.
Drawer has implemented the Akio Unified omnichannel customer service platform to respond to customer enquiries across a wide range of communication channels. The result: more contacts managed over a given period of time. What’s more, the number of interactions is down, because the responses are more relevant and faster, which means fewer follow-ups. The Drawer customer service team now responds in less than 8 hours on average, compared with 17 to 24 hours previously.
[1] https://www.aberdeen.com/research/10102/rr-omni-channel-customer-care/content.aspx