Are you ready to deliver next generation customer experience through an Omnichannel Contact Centre?

It is safe to say that it’s now well past the time to call ‘omnichannel’ just a buzzword.

I just attended the CCW 2017 Conference (https://www.ccweurope.com/) and the main theme:  NextGen Customer Contact: Delivering a connected customer journey through digital and omnichannel, seems to confirm this notion.  Consumers expect more flexible and fulfilling experiences with brands in every sector. But I think that many businesses are still walking past the opportunity to differentiate and build the loyalty that these expectations offer.

So WHY is omnichannel so important when it comes to customer experience? Unlike multichannel, omnichannel is channel agnostic. This means that customers can receive the same level of support through whichever medium they prefer, without the need to repeat the same information to multiple agents on different channels. This is because those agents will already have access to the relevant information.  So if you want to deliver a great customer experience, it’s important to identify ALL the touchpoints between the customer and the brand, and create a 360 degree view of their interactions throughout the customer journey.

Are we there yet and are we ready for it?

2017 is thought to be the year that will see digital channels overtaking phone channels. I’m not quite sure we are there yet. But I’m certain many businesses are not ready for the change. The 2016 Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report found that, while over half (51%) of UK consumers are comfortable crossing back and forth between multiple channels, even within a single interaction, businesses are still unable to deliver true omnichannel service through their contact centres. In fact, just 36% of businesses said they could track a customer journey across multiples channels. This fundamental gap between consumer expectations and contact centre capability could really impact business performance.

To help focus your omnichannel efforts I have put together four important tips.

1. Don’t be tempted to bolt on extra applications to try and achieve omnichannel capability
2. Don’t send a customer away unhappy because you can’t see the whole picture
3. Don’t rely on satisfaction scores that only measure at certain touchpoints
4. Don’t guess what the customer journey looks like Most organisations only analyse a small proportion of customer interactions – typically less than 3% which makes it impossible to identify the complete customer journey, pick up on trends or identify possible problems or opportunities. Capturing and analysing 100% of your customer interactions not only provides the ability to monitor the whole journey but also enables a company to improve regulatory compliance and if needed, prove adherence. It enables agents to upsell and cross-sell. It also helps managers to identify opportunities for coaching and training.

I hope my tips inspire you to put omnichannel on your to do list for. If you’d like more information on the topic, you might find this White Paper helpful.

Or if you’d like to discuss the merits of omnichannel why not get a conversation going by commenting on this blog.

Understanding Omnichannel Customer Experience Omnichannel – it’s not just a buzzword. It’s the future of customer service and support. And it’s a future that is rapidly approaching. Consumers are coming to expect increasingly flexible, comprehensive experiences with brands in every sector, and soon businesses will have not only the opportunity to improve their engagement with their customers, but will in fact feel compelled to reach this level of performance to keep pace with their industry rivals.

To that end, contact centers are going to need to move beyond interaction analytics. While interaction analytics have proven invaluable in a multichannel environment, as omnichannel gains prominence this approach will no longer be sufficient. Instead, firms will need to understand and embrace Customer Journey Analytics, also referred to as Customer Engagement Analytics.