Every year it seems like there’s a new way for customers to connect with your business. Mail, email, websites, mobile website, forms, phone, text, chat, social media … the list goes on.
Sure, it would be easier to just choose a couple of these and stick with them. But customer expectations are that you need to be available everywhere. Otherwise, you risk disrupting the customer experience.
That’s why omnichannel customer service is crucial to any successful business. Not only does it help your brand meet customer expectations so that you can drive satisfaction and improve customer retention, it ensures you remain competitive.
In this blog, we discuss omnichannel customer experience and what that means for your business.
What is the omnichannel customer experience?
An omnichannel customer experience is providing a consistent and seamless experience across different channels and devices. This means that your customer can access products, offers and support on all channels and devices and when they do, they can expect the same overall great customer experience from your brand.
By opting for an omnichannel approach, you can ensure a consistently great experience for your customers – no matter how they interact with you.
What an omnichannel experience is not
Oftentimes, omnichannel experiences are confused for multi-channel experiences. But the two are not the same. A multi-channel experience lets users connect with you through multiple channels and devices but the experience isn’t always connected.
The omnichannel experience takes it a step further by allowing customers to reach out through multiple channels while ensuring the channels work together to provide a seamless experience.
Benefits of a successful omnichannel customer experience
There are many benefits to implementing an omnichannel customer experience.
- Increased reach
By reaching out to customers on all available channels and devices, your brand is going where your customers live. This means that they don’t have to go looking for you. It also means that you aren’t excluding any audiences who may have a preference for a specific channel or device. For example, older generations are more likely to search for you on desktop while younger generations are using mobile.
- Improved customer satisfaction
There’s nothing more detrimental to the customer experience than forcing a customer to go to a desktop to make a purchase or telling them that they can only reach out on Twitter for customer support. If your customers can reach you on their preferred channel or purchase your product on their preferred device, your business will be seen as convenient and easy to use. This will improve customer satisfaction and the overall customer experience.
- Greater loyalty
When you let customers connect with your business the way they want to, it demonstrates that your brand is customer-centric. This helps your customers feel valued. Combine this with seamless customer support, and you can be sure to increase customer loyalty.
- Higher profits
If you make it easy for your customer to interact with your business by allowing them to buy on any channel or device and receive support, you increase the likelihood of converting your customers. It also increases repeat purchases, both of which lead to greater profits.
Omnichannel customer service
Customer service is just one of many elements in the omnichannel experience, which also includes sales, marketing and other departments. Omnichannel customer service is providing support and advice across all channels and platforms, while allowing customers to move between them seamlessly without issue.
This can help personalize the customer service approach and create a seamless experience that leaves the customer feeling good about their interactions with your brand.
Are you interested in learning more about how omnichannel customer service can dramatically improve your customer experience? Get in touch with Advantage Communications today. Our team of contact center specialists and customer support experts would love to answer you questions.