Omnichannel Is No Longer Optional Connecting the Contact Center Customer Experience
What s Inside Introduction...3 The Channel Explosion...4 Meet Your Customers Where They Are...5 Creating the Omnichannel Experience...6 Case Study: Omnichannel in Action...8 Letter to Reader Dear Reader, Today s hyper-connected consumers expect an unprecedented contact center experience one that is brand-consistent, seamless, and easily navigable. They want to engage with your brand on their terms, regardless of channel, and they expect their experience to be smooth, engaging, and productive. It s not too much to ask. In return for a superior experience, consumers are willing to offer you insights into their traditional and digital preferences, and they re more likely to become vocal brand advocates. It s a win-win for both you and your consumer when you create a seamless, customer-centric, omnichannel experience. And it doesn t matter what size operation you run today s cloud technology enables all contact centers to embrace the omnichannel approach. Read on to see why Omnichannel is no longer optional, and learn why that s actually great news for your customers and your business. Cheers, Jeff Platon Chief Marketing Officer 2 Omnichannel Is No Longer Optional
Introduction Customer Service in an Ultra-Connected Era Just 7% of customers are extremely satisfied that brands provide a seamless, integrated, and consistent customer service experience across all channels, and 87% think brands need to work harder to create a seamless experience for customers. ~ OmniChannel Customer Service Survey, 2013, ZenDesk in August 2013 Consumer behavior is rapidly changing in today s always-on digital world. The proliferation of smart phones, social media, email, and high-tech availability means your customer is likely interacting with your brand on a number of different devices via a vast array of channels. But what your customers seek is a seamless brand experience across all channels so their questions get answered and issues get resolved quickly and with unprecedented ease. The key is eliminating internal silos so all customer interactions are routed through a single engine. For customer contact centers, an omnichannel experience is one that stores records of calls, emails, web interactions, social media information and all the rich data and notes associated with them into a single system so customer concerns can be addressed faster and more consistently, regardless of preferred channel of engagement. By creating real-time visibility into all interaction types including digital and phone call center agents and supervisors can create customer experiences that are streamlined, simple, fully informed, and effective. They can ensure customers are recognized regardless of their initial contact channel, they can anticipate that customers may begin in one channel and move to another as they progress to a resolution, and they can deploy technologies to make the transition between channels as convenient and enjoyable as possible. Omnichannel Engagement NEARLY TRIPLES Customer Retention VS. 33%of customers retained by companies with weak Omnichannel customer engagement 89% of customers retained by companies with extremely strong Omnichannel customer engagement *Source: Aberdeen Group 3 Omnichannel Is No Longer Optional
Less than one third of small and midsized contact centers have the capability to integrate across channels or business functions. ~ Frost & Sullivan, Enterprise Priorities in North America, 2014 The Channel Explosion Small to mid-sized contact centers often find it challenging to meet customers rising expectations for consistent and effective cross-channel service. With digital, voice, and online channels available to consumers 24/7, it s critical for contact center customer service providers to master omnichannel service in order to create a seamless, informed experience no matter how the customer chooses to interact with you. If businesses offer customers multiple ways to get in touch with them but don t have those channels seamlessly connected, customers often walk away disappointed by a fragmented and confusing brand experience. And disappointed customers result in big potential losses for businesses that struggle to navigate the new omnichannel world. When asked whether they had ever stopped using a brand s products or services because of a poor customer experience, 65% said yes. ~ Parature from Microsoft 2014 State of Multichannel Customer Service Survey 43% of customer service requests currently come through social media. 54% of customer service requests will come through mobile smart apps in 2016. 70% of customer service requests will come through web chat in 2016. Source: Dimension Data s 2015 Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report 4 Omnichannel Is No Longer Optional
Meet Your Customers Where They Are Although today s customers interact with your brand through a variety of channels, they want one thing from you: a consistent experience. Savvy customers expect that you will meet them where they are, when they need you, and with the highest quality, informed service. So how do you make that happen? By providing your contact center agents and supervisors with omnichannel customer information including interaction history so the service delivered is contextual and consistent. Centrally-stored and accessible omnichannel data lets your team: 1. Deliver personalized service based on interaction history 2. Encourage customers to use their channel of choice or convenience 3. Easily adapt to customers ever-changing channel preferences 4. Enable faster response times 5. Create a seamless transition between channels and avoid the negative experience of customers having to repeat information 5 Omnichannel Is No Longer Optional
It s no longer enough to provide isolated channels; consumers want an omnichannel experience, that is, to use different media to complete what may be a single inquiry. These interactions need to be frictionless. ~ Dimension Data 2015 Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report 6 Creating the Omnichannel Experience Leading customer engagement solutions in the contact center industry allow you to seamlessly blend all customer communications channel data including voice and digital using consistent routing rules, unified reporting, and real-time visibility into omnichannel performance. By integrating these solutions with your CRM system, you can enable truly personalized cross-channel interactions driven by informed service representatives. In most cases, a single platform solution also reduces your overall technology investment and helps eliminate the confusion of siloed customer information. Creating a seamless omnichannel customer experience requires these three essential steps: 1. Map your customer s cross-channel journey 2. Provide agents and supervisors full visibility into prior cross-channel interactions 3. Define channel-specific business goals, including success measurement and desired outcomes Omnichannel The Best Cloud is No Architecture Longer Optional for Your Contact Center
CUSTOMERS DEMAND SOCIAL MEDIA SUPPORT Customers Expect More From Digital Support Channels Young adults, wealthier users, and the digitally connected make the greatest use of social networks for customer service... and a sizable share prefer social network interactions over phone or face-to-face. Use social network for customer service Active social network users are categorized by age and annual income. Prefer social network to phone or in-person customer service Percent of social network users who agree with this statement. 13-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 < $25K $25-48K $50-64K $75-99K $100-149K $150-200K >$200K 38% 48% 50% 44% 37% 33% 41% 44% 42% 46% 48% 56% 57% 21% 21% 27% 22% 19% 17% 21% 23% 22% 21% 25% 29% 48% Source: Social @ McKinsey 2014 7 Omnichannel Is No Longer Optional
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