Omnichannel Customer Service integrates text, social, email, and instant messaging to deliver a cooperative brand experience so that customers can switch between multiple channels and still experience the quality of service.
Omni-channel customer support enables you to serve your clients in a variety of ways that are not only convenient and effective but improve your brand’s image and credibility.
Omnichannel experience leverages a multichannel strategy to combine marketing, retail, and customer experience. This means, no matter where your customers are, you will be able to deliver them with an outstanding customer experience. The Omnichannel Customer Experience aims to create a seamless and integrated buying journey with your brand.
For example, if a customer visits your retail store and is not able to find that one product which he is looking for. He’ll search with a sales representative about the availability of the product.
More than a decade ago, there were only two ways to contact a company – by phone or by fax. But today, you can take your pick through phone, email, live chat, SMS, and social media. The list appears endless. The challenge for many companies is not only to be accessible in these channels, which is essential but for those channels to provide consistent and integrated service quality.
According to Aberdeen Group, companies that provide a consistent service quality across multiple channels retain 89% of their customers, whereas companies that do not provide a consistent quality are only able to retain 33%.
A consistent service quality across multiple channels will significantly impact company revenue. And this is why more companies are investing in omnichannel customer service.
How To Create A Consistent Omnichannel Customer Experience:
Here are some tips to create a consistent omnichannel customer experience:
- Create A Seamless Experience On Mobile:
The first step in moving towards an omnichannel experience is creating a mobile experience. Make your site mobile friendly, with large visuals and simplified navigation to help mobile users instantly find what they are looking for. 45% of consumers choose a combination of online, mobile, and in-store shopping (digital marketing).
But if you are strictly online, it’s an absolute necessity to optimize for mobile. As of last year, more than half of all American adults own a smartphone, and more and more consumers are starting to shop online either through a mobile or tablet
2. Focus on The Customer Experience First:
The main focus of your strategy should be the consumer. Personalize the experience at every step possible. Operate a social login tool to collect insights and create a complete customer profile. 40% of consumers buy more from retailers who personalize the shopping experience across channels.
3. Manage User Data:
Ensure you have the right infrastructure in place to store vast amounts of data and the potential to access it rapidly as well. Formalize all information gathered from a variety of social networks to maximize the full potential of personalization.
Organized data makes it easier to scale marketing efforts and target the right customers, at the right time. 54% of marketers revealed that the biggest inhibitor in establishing a consistent omnichannel customer experience is not having a single view of customers across channels.
4. Engage With Customers Across All Channels:
Once the channels are in place, easily engage with users on each channel. Run social contests within social apps or onsite. Interact with users onsite with ratings and reviews.
Actively engage with users to foster user-generated content, boost SEO, increase referrals, time spent on site, and ultimately conversions.
Why Is An Omnichannel Customer Experience Important:
If you’re wondering how important creating an omnichannel customer experience is, then take a look at some statistics from a recent survey into the traits of omnichannel campaigns:
• 20% of consumers have used their phone to find or redeem coupons and/or look up product information while in a physical store.
• 52% of retailers are monitoring social media. 42% are adding SKUs, 36% are enhancing ecommerce sites, or are currently carrying out these initiatives.
So, providing your customers with an omnichannel experience is important as it enhances their interaction with your business and brand, which in itself increases sales.