After years of faithful marriage to phone based interactions, consumers have finally crossed the line, preferring to communicate with brands via tablets, smartphones and other digital gadgets over multiple channels. Consumers have become impatient and weary of the time that they are willing to wait to get answers or have their problems solved. More mobile, autonomous and tech savvy, customers’ service expectations can have them falling out of love with a brand in two clicks.
And from a recent workshop with some of the biggest brands in the UK it’s clear: Some brands still struggle to understand their customers’ journey, investing in multiple channels without understanding whether individual channels are fit for purpose, how they relate to one another or without a coherent and integrated set of metrics.
The customer journey map has many touch points, but the C’X’ that marks the spot is ‘first contact resolution’, which is why contact centres should shift their focus from average call handling times to develop strong online customer service strategies across multiple channels.
You say bye … no you say bye …
Recent statistics by eMarketer state that 2015 will be the year when UK adults spend more time each day (2 hours 26 minutes) on their mobile devices rather than traditional desktop or laptop computers (2 hours 13 minutes)
Customers around the world have fallen in love with online customer service. Always on, mobile, social and web self-service – getting answers being delivered in real time plucks at customers’ heart strings. Being competitive is no longer enough, brands also have to be relevant, delivering great customer service experience in a 24/7 access to information, anywhere on any device world.
And this is where it gets interesting, self-service is not just being driven by younger, supposedly more tech-savvy consumers anymore. Forrester notes that consumers aged between 59-69, and the over 70s were the two groups showing the highest growth in usage.
And this is where businesses miss the ‘magic’ behind having a strong multi-channel customer service strategy. Sometimes starting over – with technology that is fully integrated and in line with business goals – makes more sense than bolting another technology to a legacy product, that hasn’t adapted as customer behaviour changed.
Cloud-based, automatically updated technology that can adapt to incorporating new and emerging channels has been the key for many leading organisations to not only enhance their online customer service offering, but more importantly, to resolve the majority of customer enquiries quickly and efficiently.
Keen about improving your online customer service strategy?
There are many businesses who promise the moon and stars when it comes to providing online customer service. However, before you end up heartbroken, it is important to ask the right questions. Understanding the challenges involved in delivering effective online service, tools available to meet those challenges, implementation and if there are any hidden costs.
Why not join us at this free event focussed on multi-channel customer service – ACE in Online Customer Experience on 24 June 2015. More details or registration via this link.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: It’s Over – It’s Not You, It’s Me … Multi-Channel Customer Service
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