Customer Experience
Article written by Mathew Maniyamkott
Regular contributor to various magazines. Passionate about entrepreneurship, startups, marketing, and productivity.
16 min read
31 May 2024
Have you ever found yourself hopping from a brand’s social media to their website, then maybe shooting them an email, all in search of that perfect product or a solution to your query? Now, have you noticed how some brands just seem to nail it, providing consistent and hassle-free interactions every step of the way? Well, that’s the magic of omnichannel customer experience in action!
In this blog, we’ll go through the importance, benefits and tips to achieve exceptional omnichannel CX.
Let’s start with the basics.
Imagine this: You’re scrolling through your favorite social media platform, checking emails, maybe even chatting with a friend on IM. Now, what if every interaction you had with a brand – be it text, social media, or email – felt like a seamless journey, offering consistent service and an experience that truly resonates? That’s the beauty of ‘customer experience+omnichannel’ – it’s not just about aligning platforms, but creating a unified stage where every customer interaction shines.
Customer’s biggest grouse with the brands they use is that most of them do not care to give proper resolution to their problems. In fact, some of the e-commerce sites are known to not even provide their email addresses for people to raise an issue. Having an omnichannel customer service is the first step towards reducing the frustrations of the average customer. If you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, here is your cue to do so.
Read More: 15 Simple Ways to Improve Customer Satisfaction in 2023
Let’s understand omnichannel customer experience through this scenario.
Imagine you’re on a quest for the perfect Bluetooth speaker. First stop? Online reviews and YouTube videos, of course. Maybe you tap into Facebook groups and forums to get real people’s experiences.
Now, let’s fast forward. You’ve narrowed down your options and are itching to find the best deal, whether online or at a local store. Here’s where the magic unfolds: your online searches for that Bluetooth speaker left a digital trail. Suddenly, you’re bombarded with ads and recommendations all over – YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, you name it.
But the story doesn’t end there. You might even get a gentle nudge from the online store reminding you about that speaker in your cart. A tempting discount might land in your inbox or a friendly call could let you know about an even better deal. It’s like the Bluetooth speaker is following you everywhere, right?
And before you know it, you’re clicking that ‘Buy’ button without a second thought. This is the essence of omnichannel customer experience. Your digital habits were tracked, creating a smooth and engaging journey that led you straight to that purchase.
As you explore options, the website tailors recommendations based on your preferences and past searches. This personalization carries over to your Amazon app, where you receive notifications about the laptop, along with related accessories and deals. Even if you switch to a different device, such as a tablet or smartphone, the experience remains consistent, showcasing the prowess of omni-channel customer experience.
Now, here’s the thing: customer journeys aren’t like predictable romance novels. Everyone’s got their unique twists and turns. That’s where the magic of a clear cut strategy comes into play.
Omnichannel CX connects your customers with individual customer interaction touchpoints over a myriad of channels thus making them think and experience a taste of the product repeatedly. This helps to bring the customer closer to the end of the sales cycle. Here are some of the benefits of creating an omnichannel customer service strategy for your business:
Omnichannel leave a trace of the customer and the conversations they have had with your business on different platforms like forums, Facebook page, chatbot, live chat and more. This is extremely helpful information that can help you change your messaging to serve the customers better if you can use it wisely.
With omnichannel service, you might think that you are spending a lot of money, but you are indirectly helping your customers get the best resolution for their issues. When they get immediate resolutions, they are more likely to stick to your brand as well as rave about you to their friends and family- thereby increasing the bottom-line.
Using omnichannel customer experience solutions mean that you will be able to create workflows that make it easy for service executives as well as customers to get a solution. Automated workflows ensure that customer service executives don’t have to do a whole lot of searching for the right resolution- thus saving time and money.
The data that is captured in omnichannel solutions are validated and there are extremely low chances of inaccuracy. The up-to-date data is integrated and collated from a variety of channels that adds to the efficiency of the business and assists in serving the customers better.
You know what’s the best part?
Incorporating a tool like SurveySparrow into your omnichannel customer service strategy can further amplify these advantages. With SurveySparrow, you can gather targeted insights through automated surveys, optimizing your messaging and support process.
Here’s a sample customer experience survey made using SurveySparrow
Customer Experience Survey
Use This TemplateBy seamlessly integrating SurveySparrow, you can truly maximize the benefits of your omnichannel approach, delivering a superior customer experience.
Here are 12 action plans that can help you create an omnichannel-customer experience:
Social media can be one of your best tools to engage and connect with your customers. But it is also a double-edged sword since customers want your attention immediately. Customers want you to solve their problem as soon as they ping on your chatbot or engage with your Twitter account.
It can be difficult, especially if you are a small business and you cannot afford to hire reps to provide 24*7 service. But you could always build a system that allows you to provide a solution to your customers immediately.
How? You can create a list of FAQs and share them to the customer if they contacted you at a time when none of your reps are available. Check out this stat: 42 percent of complaining consumers want a business to respond within 60 minutes of their contact. Difficult? Yes. Is it possible? Absolutely.
The last thing your customer wants to do is to wait in a queue to get on a call with your customer service executive. People want instant results and as a service provider, it is your responsibility to provide them with solutions to problems of any kinds that may happen when using your product.
You might think that customers might not like wading through a lot of information on your website to find a solution for their issue. You couldn’t be more wrong.
Customers want to find answers and are more than happy to do it at their end unless something complex arises. The onus is on the business to organize the information in such a way that it is easy to find. Not only does it solve your customer’s problem, but you also save time and effort of your service rep.
A dedicated forum for your customers might be another solution that you might want to implement. Sure, growing a community might be a big task, but the benefits are multi-fold, in terms of service as well as for branding.
When a potential customer chance upon your website and is intrigued by your products but still has a few nagging questions before buying from you, the most effective resolution at this juncture is a live chat customer service executive who can answer questions immediately.
The fact that the live chat tool is usually available on the right bottom of the screen makes people click on it to get their questions answered. This is an extremely important point to note because all other means of communicating with the customer care takes more than a few clicks. This could turn off customers who are only partly interested in your product.
On the other hand, a live chat immediately gives an opportunity for the brand to connect with the customer and even close the sale.
You can easily create your own automated no-code chatbot that’s exclusive to your website.
Email marketing is one of the most powerful methods to drive traffic to your website and as a customer service tool, it tops every other tool out there. It is highly preferred by customers since everyone uses email these days and the communication is recorded (read official) and is effective.
Email also gives the brand an opportunity to add other messages and provide helpful links that could solve the customer’s problem immediately or direct them to an upsell or a cross-sell.
Email also has the same catch that most other customer service tools have to deal with- customers expect immediate resolving of their issue.
Customers are highly demanding these days and rightly so- because there are a lot of businesses they can choose from. When you don’t answer their questions in real-time, you are potentially driving them out to your competitors. Engaging with your customers in real-time helps you gauge their emotions and the chances of converting a sale is extremely high. Live chats, chatbots and phone calls help you provide real-time answers for your customers.
Motivating your employees to work better is as important as devising strategies to make your customers stay with you. Giving them the right impetus with any kind of reward will only boost their sense of accomplishment and self-worth, thus helping them to serve customers better.
You can do this by creating a system where there is a clear guideline as to what is expected from them, issue milestones and even tell them about how they would be rewarded.
Make sure that all customer interactions are recorded so that they can be tracked and reviewed at intervals. Please do remember that the reward doesn’t necessarily have to be monetary. It can include a variety of other things like coupons, dinner outings, travel vouchers and so on
The valuable insights that you get from observing your customer interactions is priceless. It not only helps you improve your service but also understand the areas that you need to improve. Getting feedback from your clients is one of the most effective ways to run your business. Companies that always have their ears on the ground to get inputs from its customers will be the only ones thriving in this ultra-competitive time.
There are multiple avenues through which your customers can reach out to you. Make sure that if you get a complaint in one forum, it is discussed and resolved there itself without any hiccups. It makes no business sense to find the same issue for your customer being mentioned in another forum. It adds to the chaos and the customer is already frustrated by then.
Understanding and acknowledging that an issue faced by your customer is a big deal to them is the first step towards providing proper customer service. Empathizing with the travails of your customer will go a long way in keeping them happy and loyal. A rude word or an irate response can bring down your company’s reputation and revenue. No one wants that.
Sure, a script to talk to your customers is necessary to resolve problems quickly but the foundation of empathy and understanding cannot be taught. The business needs to create such a culture to facilitate meaningful conversations with your customers.
Do not dole out senseless replies that are devoid of any emotion. Ask your customer service executives to talk to your customers in a way they feel heard and acknowledged.
While it is extremely smart to provide your customers with various tools to contact you, the average person wants to solve their problem from their end itself. A Zendesk report says that more than 50% of customers would like to solve issues themselves. This is where you need to create a lot of documentation which has hordes of advice on how to navigate when a situation arises.
These customers are happy reading documents instead of engaging with your customer service team. What would that mean? Lesser time spent for your executives. You could have a series of content in the form of videos, FAQ section with clear cut instructions or PDFs with information that can get their issue resolved.
Your customers know that the businesses are run by humans. They know that it is normal to make mistakes. Expect this level of empathy from your customers when the business is transparent and apprises of any hiccups from your side.
Research says that customers are even all right with longer wait times, the only catch is that they expect to be provided with updates. When the customers are well informed, they feel acknowledged.
Not all businesses are the same, and therefore, most customers are different although you can bracket them into personas which makes it easy for targeting. Understanding where you can find most of your customers helps you to chart relevant strategies. Add more manpower to areas where you think your customers have the highest attendance.
Omnichannel service is not only about being available to your customers in one or two avenues but in multiple forums to provide the best of customer experiences. First, figure out the best channel for customers to reach out to you. Then eventually, the process to solve your customer’s issues will become much more efficient.
There are very few decisions that are as bad as a terrible hiring process, in a business. A single employee can pull down the entire spirit of a company. All those individuals that are the part of a business should be able to work together with other individuals, share insights with them and behave amicably with everyone.
When you hire a team member, make sure that they understand the company’s goals. They must have a clear understanding of the values, mission and the future that has been envisioned. Spelling out the above points will attract the right candidates.
Allow your potential employees to take a walk around the office, let them interact with your employees and see if they would like to work with the team. The interactions between them will help and give more clarity to the potential hire.
Your business might have run some of the best social media campaigns, have a highly optimized website, consistently creates a kick-ass content calendar. It might even boasts of a marketing team that is the best at what it does. But if all of these don’t work in tandem, you are missing out on leveraging the power of omnichannel customer experience.
Train your employees well to give the best experience possible for the customers who come to you with an issue. Be honest and transparent in all the dealings with your customers and they will reward you with loyalty and referrals.
Before you go, give SurveySparrow a try. It might be exactly what you’re looking for your business. You’ll never know until you give it a spin. And, it’s absolutely free!
Thousands of brands trust SurveySparrow to turn feedback into growth. Try it free today!
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