What if I tell you that there hasn’t been a time in the history where consumers service expect more from brands, products and service providers?
Sure you know that already, so we can agree that is not news for you. However, in terms of customer service, is your brand, product or service up to the challenge of more demanding consumers?
So let me reveal you 3 steps to increase the quality of your customer service experience (and why not your sales experience too).
1. Enable OmniChannel communications for your customers experience
A survey by Deloitte Global revealed that organizations are expecting to interact with consumers in whole different way by 2019.
It was interesting to observe how companies are expecting to interact with their customers way more over web chats, social media (posts, tweets, etc), SMS and video calls rather than the traditional phone.
Particularly web live chats interactions were expected to grow by 166% and SMS texts about 200%; so that’s a clear signal that customer brand interactions are far beyond voice.
Let me give you an example: I personally have had the chance to consult with organizations in the recreation industry and that serve our nation public parks.
When a customer arrives to the park they just make questions over the park’s Facebook page or send a tweet if they need to ask for help.
In a consumer society that lives online it makes sense to enable alternative communication channels.
2. Deploy OmniChannel Technologies in Your Organization
It’s seems obvious but it’s not. If you want to enable omnichannel communications for your customers you have to deploy omnichannel technologies within your organization.
Depending on the size of your organization you may want to do it on the cloud or on premise.
What’s important here is that you consider an unique solution that enables you with interactions through Video, Chat, SMS, Fax, Email and opens the door to social channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc. and whatever they make in the near future.
Also, always remember MultiChannel is not the same as OmniChannel; you want to go omni-channel and not multichannel. MultiChannel refers to the possibility of enabling other communication channels such as Chat, SMS, etc., but not necessarily using the same platform.
If you don’t want to stress out with the hassle of dealing with different platforms you have to unify your infrastructure; we live in the Unified Communications era. So an Omni-Channel solution will provide all you need within one unified solution or platform.
3. Integrate your OmniChannel Communications with Your Business Applications
The right OmniChannel deployment should offer integration with the business critical tools you already use everyday.
What is the point of starting a conversation via chat with a consumer if you can’t see its customer journey? or what is this customer purchase preferences? or what tickets or cases are open?
The best practice is to offer your customer representatives all the pertinent information in regards to a customer before or just at the moment they are engaging in a conversation.
Say you have a CRM or ERP Suite or even a Help Desk platform or Ticketing System; you do want to cross connect the information of a record stored in your database with your omni-channel platform to ensure a better service experience.
Conclusion
So, regardless if you are a call center, an insurance agency or the take-out restaurant at the corner, it’s highly recommended that you consider these steps to enhance your customer service experience. I guarantee you that by doing this you will be granted with more happy, satisfied and loyal customers.
Fore more information on omni-channel technologies you may contact us at info@linkedip.com.
