09 May Omnichannel Revolution
Remember the days when you needed something done, and all you had to get some level of assistance was a phone call? You had to dial a 1–800 number and had to wait on the line until someone came up to assist you. There were a lot of call transfers, being placed on hold, and the worst thing that could’ve happened was the call “accidentally” got dropped!
That meant you having to do that process all over again, with the fervent hope that this time you get the assistance that you deserve. What a different time!
There’s a drastic change in the way we get assistance today, and that’s through the advent of the omnichannel.
The goal: customer success
With the pace of our lives getting incrementally faster the more we develop technologically, the more we’re getting used to the idea of instant gratification. It shows in the way we consume our content, i.e. Tiktok and their 60 second videos, the increasing popularity and adaptation of shorter pieces of entertainment (YouTube Shorts), and similar other platforms. We do not take lightly to slow service anymore.
In terms of customer service, this means that when we need help, we want it right away. And we don’t just rely on the old but trustworthy telephone anymore. The most used customer service channels right now are the following:
- live chat
- social media
- SMS
The immediate nature of these channels require specific training and a whole different skill set, which then created a whole subset of workers to fit these needs. According to this statistic from 2022,
60% of millennials expect a consistent experience from every channel. That percentage will increase in the coming years.”
This is relatively difficult, as having different teams handle pretty much the same inquiries while using separate platforms can lead to unnecessary training and licensing costs.
So to achieve the goal of customer success, we require a system that allows for a quick resolution from as many channels as possible.
What we need to do
With the changes in the tools we use to communicate, we also need a new approach to achieving our goal of customer success. This is made difficult when inquiries are coming from different channels. So how do we remedy that?
What we need is to create a clear customer journey, one that can be identified from the very beginning.
Say, when a customer calls in for the first time we need a record of that. As the saying goes,
understanding our past and history is invaluable. It may prevent us from making repeated mistakes, and helps us build on our futures.
This applies just as well to the context of customer service.
The Omnichannel Solution
What is an omnichannel? An omnichannel is an approach to unifying all customer service channels in one place. This allows your team to compile all the necessary conversations to make one cohesive story. The benefits of this also goes beyond simplifying customer interactions for your team, but also for helping build a better and clearer customer journey.
As customer service has gone beyond simply being about assisting, the omnichannel is perfect for all other goals a company might have as well.
Most omnichannel solutions like Zendesk (the most popular tool being used in the market right now) offer effective sales, social media management, and marketing automation tools to boot.
Looking to the future
What is the market feeling right now? There’s a clear upwards trajectory for the need of a unified/omnichannel communications solution. With the constant changes in how businesses operate, and with a clear reliance on cloud-based tools, the time to adapt is now.
Gone are the days of one-dimensional channels that are limited, expensive, and ineffective. Have all your conversations in one place and optimize your chances of achieving customer success now.
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