Customer service is on-the-go now more than ever. Especially due to the pandemic, more and more customers are relying on their web browsers, smartphones, and tablets to keep up with their busy, remote lifestyles. Contact centers are doing the same, shifting to more mobile experiences for customers to keep up with the rise in new, disruptive digital channels. Many companies are looking to omnichannel solutions to help support the customer experience. But what is an omnichannel customer experience and how can it help companies adapt to a continually evolving digital landscape?
Communications on Any Channel
Customers are connecting with the companies they love through more communication channels now than ever before. Providing customer service once meant only through the phone and maybe email. Nowadays, customers want to connect with businesses through channels like voice, SMS, text messaging, messaging apps, video, and more.
An integral part of providing an “omnichannel” customer experience is giving customers the flexibility to connect with any digital channel they choose. An omnichannel contact center platform should support any currently existing channel and be able to add any emerging channels in the future to support flexible customer communications.
Seamless Conversations Across Channels
Another important part of providing an “omnichannel” customer experience is allowing customers to switch between channels seamlessly, making it seem as though the conversation is a “unified” journey rather than a disjointed experience that has lots of breaks and pauses.
An example of a seamless journey through your contact center can start with a web chat on your company’s website. A customer, after interacting with the chat bot that is on your website, will ask the chat bot to call your contact center. A voice call is placed through your contact center and the customer connects through the voice channel. In the middle of the conversation, the agent should be able to start the conversation on another channel, like texting, video, or messaging apps. The context of the conversation with the customer is still there, allowing the agent that’s helping the customer to continue helping the customer without needing to start from the beginning.
Seamlessly switching between channels is another aspect that ensures that customers can have a single, unified journey with your contact center.
Tracking the Customer Journey from Beginning to End
One final, important part of the omnichannel customer experience is being able to track the customer journey comprehensively. When customers connect with your company, being able to save the context of their interactions and carry this context between different channels is crucial to providing an omnichannel experience. This information can also be used when a customer calls in in the future, allowing agents to see what their previous issues were and instantly help the customer. If a conversation disconnects, agents can pick up where they left off with the customer when the customer connects back in once again.
Being able to track the customer journey means using a built-in or integrated case management system. Whether it’s using a major CRM provider or a built-in case management system that the platform provides, having a case management system within your contact center platform is a major aspect of facilitating omnichannel communications by giving your agents access to customer information quickly.
With Bright Pattern’s cloud-based omnichannel platform, your company will be able to connect with customers on any digital channel, switch between digital channels seamlessly, and track the customer journey from beginning to end. Bright Pattern supports comprehensive CRM integration with any record management system, and supports all emerging digital channels like voice, texting, SMS, messaging apps, email, video, and more.
For more info on Bright Pattern’s omnichannel capabilities, check out our webpage.
Or check out our software in action by requesting a demo today.
