The ringing of the telephone is a constant reminder in the call center that customers need to interact with someone to find information, resolve a problem or make a purchase. While the sound signals job security for the agents on hand, it can also point to the potential to offer multiple channels for customers seeking resolution for a problem they could truly solve on their own.
A recent 8x8 (News - Alert) blog post highlighted the importance of working multichannel magic into the call center. While it’s true that the majority of consumers still prefer the live agent, not all consumers prefer the live agent. It is for this reason that contact center software adoption continues in an effort to extend additional channels for customer interaction.
But it’s not just about satisfying different personality types among the customer base who prefer one channel over another. The consensus during the Call Center Week trade show was that customers feel satisfied with their experience if they have access to many different channels, including chat, email, phone and more.
In very simple methods, multichannel customer support is enabled through assistance to customers via preferred channels. Taking it to the next level, contact center software should enable customers to easily shift channels whenever they wish. Those centers with robust capabilities not only extend this flexibility; they ensure the customer’s information transfers with them each time.
This kind of integration is not an easy task to accomplish, yet it’s one that customers expect. In the eyes of the customer, according to Aberdeen (News - Alert) Research, it’s only multichannel customer support if the company delivers a seamless experience across all channels. When this is in place, the seamless experience with multiple channels can help boost new sales, drive repeat businesses and improve satisfaction levels of the customer base.
When that heightened level of satisfaction occurs, the call center starts to experience a new benefit from the happy customer. That customer starts to advocate for the company, evangelizing to friends and followers on social media networks, referring more sales and positively impacting the company’s bottom line and allowing for the creation of new advocates who will continue to spread the word.
As consumer expectations continue to change, it’s important to take a proactive approach and stay on top of new trends. One trend is the contact center software necessary to support a seamless multichannel environment. To truly meet customer expectations, however, the center must be able to leverage all customer data; determine first, second and third customer preferences for contacting support; integrate preferred channels so agents have access to cross-channel visibility; and monitor the customer experience with Key Performance Indicators and third party audits.
The best method for delivering excellence in the call center environment is to understand the needs of the customer and respond to those needs with new innovations. This is an important focus in the development of an efficient multichannel environment.
Edited by Rachel Ramsey