Clear and easy communication with businesses and brands is one of the predominant demands of today’s consumers. It is therefore unsurprising that most organisations have adopted omnichannel strategies within their contact centres. By helping businesses to interconnect existing communication channels, resellers and MSPs can deliver enhanced and personalised customer experience.
The promise of omnichannel is clear to see and, as such, businesses have rightly bought into its potential and invested heavily. Yet, there are still gaps that need to be plugged before its true power can be reached.
The elusive pinnacle
The days of consumers solely prioritising quick responses is over. Countless sources of data have shown that customers want to feel a connection with a brand, and for that company to show that they know what customers like, what they don’t like and to empathise with them.
Customers feel that too many businesses send them irrelevant, impersonal communications, as shown by a SmarterHQ study, where 70 per cent of millennials were frustrated with emails being sent that had no link to their preferences.
Making your service more personable is a challenge that organisations are desperate to fix. Attempts have been made, by the likes of Amazon giving you product suggestions through the power of machine learning and artificial intelligence, and retailers providing customers with tailored offers following purchases or interactions.
But the real personalisation that customers want is the same kind of service they would receive when visiting their local grocer or butchers. They want familiarity.
This local service in a global environment is one where artificial intelligence is plays a vital role by learning from customer sentiment and behaviour. But it takes time to do so.
Technology overload
It’s also important to remember that an over-reliance on technology can have adverse effects on customer service.
If, for example, a customer contacts you with a complex query, and their only option is to communicate through a chatbot that does not have the scope to empathise or relate to the person, you’re left with a frustrated customer.
Or, if you were to call a retailer about their opening times, you are likely to hear an automated assistant give you the information – which is fine. But what if you have a secondary query, and the automated system doesn’t give you a route to speak to an agent? That is simply bad service, and bad technological implementation.
The idea behind omnichannel is simple. A customer should be able to reach you through any channel they choose and receive the same level of service as any other with fluid continuity. To do this, businesses need to deploy technology in the right areas, and give the customer the option to communicate in whichever way best suits them.
Bridging the gap
True omnichannel and personalisation requires a blend of technology and agents to properly service customers and fill the gap between expectations and reality.
Unlike AI, contact centre agents interact naturally with customers and will demonstrate emotional responses to the person on the other end of the line. But what happens if that customer has spoken to two agents already, and the latest individual has no idea of those past conversations?
This is where omnichannel comes into its own. By having a history of the ongoing and past interactions with a customer, you are empowering your agents with information and intelligence to handle that customer’s query more effectively.
True omnichannel
Without technology, your contact centre agents are stranded without the toolkit they need to properly handle queries. But if technology is used in isolation, you leave customers frustrated without any sense of personal service being offered.
Only with the right balance can personalised customer experience be achieved. Remind yourself that while customers want answers and solutions, they also want to feel a connection to your business and a level of service that they would receive in other walks of life.
Choice remains critical, providing your customers with the option to interact with you in the way that they want is vital. Next comes agility, a customer should be able to elevate their query to a human or change their communication channel during an interaction.
If you can achieve the hybrid mix between the power of technology, and the emotional intelligence of your agents, you’ll be able to successfully deliver for customers on a more consistent basis.
This opinion piece appeared in our February 2023 print issue. You can read the magazine in full here.