Customer Loyalty? Customer Advocacy? Net Promoter? All relevant approaches that are directly linked to improving the customer experience. How does an organization drive these results in the burgeoning age of mobile communications and the reality of the “persistent conversation” – when always-on consumers demand unprecedented options as they gravitate toward a dizzying array of new communications methods, devices, and interaction channels?
As the “omni-channel customer experience” becomes the new gold standard, customers expect to receive service when, where, and how they want it. They e-mail, they text, they Tweet, and (yes, they still do) call the contact center. And in each of these channels they expect timely, informed, and empowered responses, and aren’t afraid to air their grievances in the most public of forums.
If you think about it, virtually every aspect of our lives – the way we work, shop, communicate, seek information, spend our free time, etc. – is evolving and becoming omni-channel. Omni-channel is more than being multi-channel. It means being able to interact with your consumers and their data seamlessly and consistently across every channel and every touch point – the result: a superior customer experience that drives customer advocacy and repeat business.
How do you make the omni-channel customer experiences real? Here are a few steps that every organization should consider:
- Provide as many multi-channel options as possible. Mobile communications are changing consumer behavior and preference and today’s consumers expect to engage via whatever channel suits them. Understanding your customer’s contact preferences and providing the multi-choice contact options they demand goes a long way towards building enduring customer relationships.
- Deliver consistent experiences across multiple channels. We all fundamentally know that happy customers are good customers. The key to keeping them happy? Consistency. As customers engage brands across an ever-expanding spectrum of channels, touch points and networks, studies show that the organizations that deliver consistent, informed, and integrated service experiences will earn their loyalty.
- Enable customers to use multiple channels during a single interaction.
Customers expect consistent, seamless and informed interactions across all channels. They also expect to be able to start an interaction using one type of channel and complete it using another without having to restart the conversation. Customer Service Representatives have to have a full view and context of prior customer interactions across all supported communication channels, to be able to personalize a response in the most efficient way.
Many customer service frustrations arise from customers having to repeat themselves multiple times to multiple people. It’s just not enough to offer multiple channels for customer service interactions. Today’s consumers are demanding a consistent customer experience across any channel and any engagement with seamless transition of those interactions. Customers are demanding an omni-channel experience. Are you ready to deliver?
