How many internet-enabled devices can you recollect right now within 20 seconds. I’m sure that at any time of the day, this number would vary from one to five devices.
As technology evolves, the multi-device capability gets embedded in our day to day life. For instance, 6 years ago, you wouldn’t ever imagine taking shopping decisions from your smartphone.
The era of customer service has also taken a U-turn in the given circumstances. Today, it has become imperative to invest in an omni-channel customer service and experience.
Now, let’s first define the meaning of omni-channel customer service?
Omni-channel customer service is a kind of multi-channel approach, which enables seamless customer experience across multiple platforms.
In fact, there is a range of different ways to interact with a brand today, be it email, social media, smartphone app, live chat, or talking to a call center agent on the phone. Customers like to choose how they want to connect with the organizations, and their choices have expanded from talking over phones to quick live chats.
Understanding the customer’s perspective
Let’s think from a customer’s perspective.
Say, you ordered a pizza on your laptop. Afterwards, you get real-time updates (e.g. the order has been placed, the pizza is on the way) through text on your smartphone, and finally, you call the delivery person to direct him to your home.
Do you have any idea how many channels you may have used to order a pizza?
Now, it’s become pretty obvious that using more than one channel to get a complete customer experience is necessary. When you consider the consistently increasing customer expectations, an omni-channel strategy is always a better option for your business.
According to various studies –
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Companies with the strong omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89% of their customer, as compared to 33% for companies with weak omni-channel strategies. [Source: Aberdeen Group Inc.]
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87% of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing a consistent customer experience. [Source: Kampyle]
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By 2020 the demand for an omni-channel customer experience will be amplified by the need for near perfect execution. [Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers]
Nowadays, the customer expects everything to be available at his or her convenience in a reliable manner. Yes, reliability is also important to them. 64% of customers expect to receive real-time assistance regardless of the customer service channel they choose [Source: Zendesk].
So, from all these facts and statistics, we can easily figure out two major customer expectations – multiplicity of communication channels and reliability of information. Both of these demands could be accomplished only with a perfectly executed omni-channel strategy.
Does multi channel integration support personalization?
Personalization is the latest trend, exercising marketing and customer service leaders. Most of the recent personalization debates focus on optimizing the online customer experience and omni-channel customer experience is one of them.
Application program interface (API) allows you to integrate multiple channels with your service CRM software; so that your customers can reach you through whatever way they want.
For an example – some people, especially young students, would always like to use social media as the mode of communication; contrariwise, some would prefer only mails or phone calls.
Your CRM system enables you to access social channels, like Facebook and Twitter, directly from the CRM application itself. Besides, you can integrate Gmail, Outlook and other systems with your customer service software. It leverages your prompt response to customer inquiries and feedback. So, without using any other application, you can still connect with your customers through their own preferred channels.
How to seal the gaps in Omnichannel support?
Now, it’s important to understand the difference between a multi-channel and an omni-channel customer experience. If you’ve got a compact social strategy, a high converting website, and a seamless mobile experience, you are delivering multi-channel customer experience. Yet, if they aren’t working together in perfect synchronization, you won’t be able to deliver an omni-channel experience.
Omni-channel isn’t only about availability in several channels—it also means having a reliable brand image,irrespective of the modes of interaction.
Basically, what you need is to create a suitable platform, where you can store all the information collected from different channels. You can simply showcase your data on the CRM dashboard, from where you can get constructive insights on customers’ experience.
Having a cohesive workstation for your business is preferable for omni-channel services, as it simplifies and organizes the workflow. With all the information available on your CRM dashboard, you can deliver a better experience to your customers.
Conclusion
Your internal team should be on the same page to work for an omni-channel strategy. While aiming to deliver a seamless experience to the customers, each of the department needs to be working towards the same direction. Therefore, communication will become more free-flowing and internal barriers will break down.
Are you looking for CRM software that can help to execute omni-channel marketing strategies?
Visit Kapture CRM to know more about us. You can ask for a CRM demo or try our 30 days free CRM trial to have an understanding about Kapture features and advantages. Call us at +91 7899887755 or send your inquiry at sales@kapturecrm.com.
Reference: http://www.kapturecrm.com/blog/