5 Ways to Improve Omnichannel Customer Experience

5 Ways to Improve Omnichannel Customer Experience

It was not a long time ago that the channels available to customers that needed to take ap an issue with a retailer were few: telephone, fax, maybe letters, or a drop-in visit to a physical shop.

In other words, reaching out to a company to make a question, a complaint, or a claim, required time, energy and money. Then, the vast majority of the shoppers would use those channels - understandably enough- whenever they had a serious case to take up. In their turn, businesses had good control over handling a limited case of inquiries.

Nowadays, the situation is quite different. As products and services are available online in different channels and platforms, their providers need to be reachable for potential and existing customers where those are using to acquire info or do purchases: phone, email, chat boxes integrated on web pages or apps, social media like Facebook or Instagram, just to name some few of them.

Thus, they had to switch to a so-called ‘’Omni-channel customer service’’.According to superoffice.com, this one integrates text, social, email and instant messaging to assist the customer in the best possible and fastest way.

Moengage.com is informing us that as many as 86% of shoppers actually reach out to a company’s customer service through at least two of the available channels. That’s mainly because shoppers use nowadays more and more online shops on different platforms instead of physical shops.

The retailers respond accordingly since 87% of them seem to recognize how important it is to have an effective omnichannel marketing strategy to reach out to their customers fast, keep them satisfied and then build up and maintain a solid brand name. This requires that they are available in all the channels provided to the shoppers, ready to answer inquiries and solve issues whenever those occur.

However, many brands forget that providing the shopper a big variety of contact channels is nothing but a good first step. They also need to follow up those inquiries fast enough in a manner that keeps the customer satisfied and can convert this satisfaction to increased sales. In this context, there are always small details that can make a big difference to be taken into account. Let’s have a closer look at some of these:

1. Companies need to focus more on mobile services. It seems that businesses haven’t stayed in tune with the vast developments in mobile technology in recent years. While most of the customers prefer nowadays shopping on their mobile devices, most of the customer service solutions still focus on the web. The consequence is that 90% of customers find their customer service experience on mobile was negative. That included both unfunctional ‘’Contact’’ buttons and very late response times. The solution to this would be investing more in well-functioning mobile apps and CS representatives.

2. Improve your social media response times. Inquiries sent to companies through their social media channels, like on Facebook and Instagram, are also being neglected. Whenever a customer cannot find a ‘’Chat’’ button on their web page or app, or an email address at a visible place, searching the company on social media is their preferred way to reach out to them. According to monegage.com, the response time to messages on social media for leading businesses is 157 minutes. That means there is a lot of space for improvements in this area too, as more and more shoppers use the companies’ social media pages as their first stop to make a question or a complaint.

3.Prioritize seamless integration across channels. Customers expect a consistent experience regardless of the channel they use to contact a company. Ensuring seamless integration across all channels, including phone, email, chat, and social media, is essential for providing a unified and efficient customer service experience.

4.Invest in AI-powered solutions. Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) can significantly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of omnichannel customer service. AI-powered chatbots can handle routine inquiries, provide instant responses, and escalate complex issues to human agents when necessary, thereby improving response times and overall customer satisfaction.

5.Implement proactive communication strategies. Instead of waiting for customers to reach out with inquiries or issues, proactively communicate with them through personalized messages, notifications, and alerts. By anticipating customer needs and addressing potential concerns before they arise, companies can demonstrate proactive customer service and foster stronger relationships with their clientele.