To deliver customer service excellence you need to develop a clear strategy supported by the best multi-channel customer interactions solutions. All channels, regardless of how many there are, should be treated as a single, unified way with the same high level of service and knowledge. Otherwise, beleaguered contact centre managers are simply juggling service levels across many different channels.
Customers are more demanding than ever and want to be unique, social and served anytime, anywhere, anyhow – on their terms. Companies need to create a customer interaction fabric that can flex around the customer and provide the right service, at the right time, in the right way.
In a recent survey carried out by Enghouse Interactive, email was the preferred method of business engagement overall, with nearly half of respondents (53%) referencing it.
Read our latest Consumer Research to learn more.
It’s clear that organisations today need to provide a multi-channel approach and a broad range of different communications and interaction options to meet the preferences of all kinds of customers – from self-service to traditional voice calls.
To take full advantage of this, organisations also need to be able to track customers across all interaction channels,enabling them to achieve a singular holistic view of each customer –an omni-channel view – and deliver a seamless customer experience.
Research has shown that staff attrition is eased by multi-media blending, as agents find that their work is more varied and interesting. Yet many organisations are concerned they do not have the skills and experience to support non-voice channels. Although each media requires a different approach, there are plenty of tools available, including templated responses, skills-based routing, workforce management and in-call data, to ensure agents respond knowledgeably.
In many organisations each channel has been added and managed separately resulting in silos of interactions and data that cannot be accessed by the rest of the contact centre. At the heart of a successful multichannel contact centre solution is the universal queue, which is able to receive, analyse, queue and route interactions to the correct agent or group. This is complemented by a single knowledge base which incorporates customer data including any past interactions that they may have had with the business, regardless of channel. This 360 degree view of the customer enables cross channel analytics for continuing service improvements.
Recognising that satisfying the demands of today’s highly connected consumers requires a strong commitment to the omni-channel — enabling customers to interact with their brands anytime, anywhere, and from any device. Download the latest report from Call Centre IQ, sponsored by Enghouse Interactive, to understand the omni-channel market place and learn more about the omni-channel customer.
Download reportEnghouse Interactive multi-channel contact centre capabilities – from voice, email, webchat, social media, video and SMS – are seamlessly connecting businesses of all sizes to their customers.
Enghouse Interactive multichannel contact centre capabilities from voice, email, webchat, social media, video, SMS are seamlessly connecting businesses of all sizes to their customers.
Many customers prefer to communicate by email. It offers the advantage of a clear audit trail, with time/date stamp evidence. Now you can give emails the attention they deserve with intelligent email queuing, predefined reply templates, skills-based routing and more.
Faxing is still alive and well in many industries. Fax queuing improves the access, control and security of fax communications, plus there’s no need for paper archiving – all faxes are converted into images for easy storage.
Online customers can request a text chat with the individual or department who’s best-equipped to help. Alternatively, they can simply click on an icon to request a callback from an agent.
Online customers can also simply click on an icon to request a callback from an agent, reducing customer frustration by making the process effortless for the customer.
Text messages are handy for appointment reminders, competitions, promotions and surveys. Your contact centre can be optimised to send and receive SMS communications efficiently.
The technology is available for you to communicate with your customers face to face. Video chat allows companies to re-create the in-store or personalised experience in a way that’s convenient for the customer.
