Today we’re going to talk about the omnichannel experience and customer service. There is a term in the customer service world that is often misused or misunderstood, and that term is omnichannel.
We’ve had many conversations with clients about the omnichannel experience, and we’ve even shared it well in our previous blogs, and it’s time to bring it back with what may be the perfect example.
First, let’s talk about the basic definition; it all started with a concept known as multi-channel. This was about the different ways customers could communicate with you.
Omnichannel experience: The new way to approach the customers
For example, they could use the phone or email, two channels today. There are many other channels, including texting, social media apps, and many more.
It doesn’t matter how many channels you have. Once you get past one, you’re in the world of multi-channel. The problem is that while multi-channel gives you the option to choose your favorite method of communication if you switch from one channel to the next, you typically have to start the conversation over.
Then the phrase “omnichannel” came around, which meant that you could cross from one channel to the next and have seamless conversations. That’s where people get confused about what this really means.
Example of Omnichannel customer experience
Here’s our perfect example to describe the omnichannel experience, which, by the way, is what you want to provide for your customers now. You bought a good quality electronic trimmer whenever you wanted to groom yourself. You’ll be excited to see your trimmer wrapped, and the moment you unwrap it will be great. You felt good, and that was until you tried to turn it on.
Because when we did, nothing happened. Maybe the battery wasn’t charged. So what would you do now? Even when connected to the charger and letting it sit for a few hours, you came back and turned it on, and again, nothing happened. You will immediately visit the company’s official website and open up the frequently asked questions page, but if you still haven’t found my answer, a pop-up window asks if you need help.
So you started to interact via chat; it could have been an AI-infused chatbot or a human typing back; it didn’t matter. The result was a request to send a video of the problem or have a video chat like FaceTime with them, so they could see if you were properly charging and turning on the unit.
So you shot a quick video of me connecting the charger and showing them that the on-off light wasn’t coming on. You sent it to them within a few minutes. You received an email confirming something was wrong with my unit, and they would send me a new one right away, which was two hours later.
You received an email notifying me that a new massager was on its way two days later. In that scenario, you used the website’s frequently asked questions, live chat video, and email. The conversation crossed seamlessly and flawlessly from one communication channel to the next, a perfectly executed omnichannel experience.
So now omnichannel makes sense? We hope it does well. We hope you enjoyed this short illustration explaining the omnichannel experience.
Here’s another fantastic example of the omnichannel experience; meet Emmy, a corporate manager who is tech-savvy, social, and loves all things digital. She effortlessly balances her professional and personal lives. Emmy decides to surprise Bob with a smartwatch for their 10th wedding anniversary.
Unfortunately, the transaction failed when she called customer service after being placed on hold for a while. She finally connected to an agent who could neither identify Emmy nor offer a solution. Being a prime customer, Emmy was expecting a better customer experience. Emmy hangs up and decides to buy Bob’s gift from a different store; disappointed, Emmy rants about it.
According to analysts, such a negative customer experience can increase a company’s market share by 20% over two years. 67% of customers mention bad experiences as the main reason for switching loyalty. That’s why customer-centric enterprises choose platform servants to deliver an omnichannel customer experience.
Let’s see how Emmy’s customer experience would have been powered by serving it. Emmy buys a smartwatch, but her transaction fails. But even before she calls customer service, she gets a call from Cena, the servant. Its unified dashboard, Cena, is a 360-degree view of Emmy’s journey. It can analyze why her transaction failed based on the serve.
Intuit’s next best action engine Cena extends a personalized anniversary discount offer to Emmy and can analyze Emmy’s sentiments, customer lifetime value, and satisfaction level. Emmy is delighted with the service; you can understand customers like never before.
You can predict their intent based on behavioral transactional and distorted data. You can also identify essential phases in customer journeys, recommend subsequent best actions to reduce customer efforts, and create a proactive, positive, personal omnichannel customer experience. Put it to use today; your customers will thank you for it.
