To thrive in a digital-first customer service world, an omnichannel customer experience strategy is a must. The blog discusses the top 8 omnichannel best practices that enterprises across industries need to deliver exceptional customer experiences across touchpoints.
Why is an omnichannel customer experience (CX) strategy so important?
An omnichannel customer experience (CX) connects multiple channels customers use to interact with brands. With omnichannel customer support, a customer using an in-app chat option can seamlessly switch to a phone call with an agent without repeating the information.
In an omnichannel CX, all channels are integrated and work as a unified unit that preserves customers’ data across channels and creates consistent experiences.
An omnichannel CX strategy benefits enterprises on multiple levels. Here are some of the top advantages.
1. Consistent CX
An omnichannel CX helps create consistent experiences across multiple channels with ease for customers to transition from one channel to another seamlessly.
2. Bolsters agent efficiency
An omnichannel CX allows customers to use multiple channels for customer support services. This reduces the support tickets with agents and helps them focus on complex problems effectively.
3. Reduces support costs
Companies with a solid omnichannel CX strategy see a 7.5 year-over-year decrease in cost per contact. This is because, with integrated channels, customers’ dependence on agent-assisted channels, especially on phone support, reduces.
They can use alternative channels for support which reduces inbound call traffic at contact centers and maximizes customer satisfaction.
Deliver top-notch CX with these 8 omnichannel best practices
1. Select the right channels
- Delivering a truly omnichannel customer experience begins with knowing which channels customers prefer most. An omnichannel CX does not necessarily mean involving all the multiple channels; instead, it involves robust integrations amongst the channels applicable to different businesses at different times.
- It is more helpful to have a few integrated and connected channels than several unconnected ones. Therefore, an omnichannel customer service best practice is to identify the right channels and deliver consistent and uniform information across all of them.
2. Eliminate data silos
- Scattered data is a primary challenge that comes in the way of delivering consistent experiences across all customer touchpoints. Customers on different touch-points get different responses when information is scattered in disparate files and formats.
- Organizations need to eliminate data silos and organize all information under a unified platform to create an omnichannel CX. It is also essential to ensure the findability and accessibility of data across multiple channels.
- An AI-backed Knowledge Management platform like Knowmax provides a single source of truth to store all product and process-related information. The semantic search function understands the context and intent of the users’ search to deliver relevant information instantly from a pool of data stored in the Knowledge base. Whether a customer uses phone call support, email, or live chat, agents deliver the same information with the help of a unified content repository.
3. Learn from customers’ behaviors on different channels
- To maintain consistency of experiences across channels, evaluating customers’ journeys is essential. This will help identify the root causes and solutions for customers’ challenges in various phases of their journey.
- Once all the problems customers face across channels have been identified, it is time to document their solutions structurally and systematically. An omnichannel Knowledge Management platform like Knowmax can document information in various content modules like articles, FAQs, guided workflows, and visual how-to guides. These content modules can be interlinked for faster resolution times at contact centers.
4. Equip support reps with the right customer service tools
- To create superior experiences for customers across all relevant touchpoints, it is highly critical for support agents to have all the information and technological support at their fingertips.
- Agents across channels like phone chat support, live chat, or email should have the adequate means to deliver relevant responses faster and accurately. As a Knowledge Management solution for the modern contact centers, Knowmax empowers agents with next-gen customer service technology to meet the diverse customer needs across channels.
- An agent on a phone call can help customers resolve issues faster with automated workflows which work equally well on other support channels. A centralized Knowledge repository with diverse content modules allows agents to perform consistently on all the channels.
5. Personalize customer experiences
- More than 80% of the customers say being treated like a person, not a number, is very important to winning their business. While businesses realize the importance of customizing customer experiences, offering personalized customer service at scale remains challenging for all companies.
- Offering personalized customer experiences is a crucial omnichannel best practice businesses need to retain new-age customers. With a Knowledge Management solution like Knowmax, guided workflows can auto-traverse customer information by integrating with CRM platforms. Any step of the workflow can be linked with APIs to fetch customer data from CRM, creating personalized and faster resolutions across touchpoints.
6. Use AI to boost agent efficiency
- AI chatbots can answer multiple queries simultaneously and help customers reach their goals faster. To create an omnichannel customer service, it is essential to integrate AI chatbots with the agent-assisted channels, so customers can switch channels smoothly when they need.
- After integrating multiple channels, AI chatbots can be deployed to customers’ preferred communication channels to offer instant and personalized solutions. This will also help boost agents’ efficiency in focussing on complex queries across channels.
7. Provide self-service options
As more customers are adapting to digital channels and becoming more tech-savvy, they prefer self-help options. Equipping customers to find answers to their queries from a well-built centralized knowledge base can enhance the user experience. Putting self-help FAQs on websites and making them easily accessible is a crucial omnichannel customer experience best practice businesses should prioritize.
8. Use the right technology to manage information flow across channels
An omnichannel CX strategy needs the backing of an intelligent Knowledge Management solution to manage the consistent flow of information across channels. Knowledge Management systems that harness the power of AI are crucial to implementing an omnichannel CX strategy.
With an omnichannel best practices, content can be created, organized, and disseminated across multiple departments and channels from a unified dashboard. This helps maintain the uniformity and consistency of information across customer touch-points.
Conclusion
Every business is different, making it crucial to assess unique business dynamics while creating an omnichannel CX strategy. However, organizations across industries struggle to manage their knowledge adequately, making it essential to identify omnichannel best practices and ensure an optimal Knowledge Management practice to achieve consistently superior CX across touchpoints.
