Redefining and Humanizing the Customer experience for the digitally conscious customer

When it comes to Digital Transformation the customer is key. Technology has transformed consumer behavior and habits.

Channels such as smartphones social media, smart TVs, wearable gadgets, and Apps, Machine Learning, Automation,

and much more now allow the customers to get what they want almost exactly at the moment they want it, this has caused a shift in customer expectations, resulting in a new kind of modern customer.

Because of the opportunities that arise from using modern technology consumers demand a unified, holistic, omnichannel experience with the brands they trust and often rate organizations on their digital customer experience first.

Now companies are forced to change or relook their business models.

In this article, we’ll go over how we can improve the CX for the modern customer through the use of omnichannel experiences to create more profitable service strategies.

What is the difference between an Omni-Channel and a Multi- Channel Experience?

Omni-channel customer experience:

The omnichannel approach makes your business seamlessly available to your customers, in their preferred manner, whenever and wherever they need it by connecting customer interactions from multiple channels into a single unified customer journey, enabling customers to experience your brand across multiple channels.

The user interfaces on multiple devices or across all channels need to be integrated well to ensure the customer does not feel disconnected when interacting.

Multi-channel customer experience:

In a multi-channel customer service approach, the channels function as stand-alone entities where every channel and interaction is separate and independent from one another, each with its strategy and goals. There’s no real continuity or uniformity from one channel to the next, which creates a disjointed integration and creates confusion or impersonal experiences for customers.

Four steps to a successful omnichannel transformation.

Define strategy and design principles:

To apply an omnichannel strategy to the service journey, companies need to better understand their customer’s digital behavior and offer the right channels that best align with their interests. These principles will help design service journeys that strike the right balance of speed, transparency, and interaction within each channel

Map service journeys:

The overall goal of mapping the omnichannel customer journey is to create a seamless experience for your customers, no matter what combination of devices they are using. Developing a customer journey strategy begins with mapping the steps the consumer takes. This process can be complex as customers engage with touchpoints across multiple channels due to the increase in the usage of mobile and social channels.

Invest in foundational enablers:

Employers and managers need to design and implement an effective omnichannel strategy that embraces a culture that is customer orientated across the organization. This commitment helps to guide the development of three foundational enablers:

Creating an agile process redesign that empowers customer-care managers and agents to work more effciently to meet business objectives
Ensuring that the workforce has the right service skill sets and a shift in mindset, from one focused on execution to continuous improvement and problem- solving.
For the two above foundations to be successful, they all need to be supported by well-designed and effcient foundational capabilities like an automated work environment that enables performance management and using tools that harness customer data to drive advanced analytics.

Build out IT architecture:

The principles, service journeys, and functional enablers must be supported by an integrated software architecture that can help to deliver a seamless experience either by outsourcing a managed service provider or by ensuring IT internal teams are well equipped. This IT architecture will consist of the following elements:

Omnichannel desktop:

Creating an omnichannel requires an agent’s command center with integrated chats, co-browsing, automated email functionality via applications. Routing and analysis of complex customer requests must be effciently directed to skilled agents, with chat and callback offered via digital channels using javascript applications.

Omnichannel platform:

Using platforms that coordinate all channels used by representatives and manages all incoming requests to ensure representatives gain quick access to a self-service portal and can direct the process for customers. This type of integration platform brings together a customer’s entire contact history and coordinates with the back end.

Back-end interfaces:

A self-service portal uses back-end interfaces to handle all requests, synchronizing communication. Data from these interactions are saved in data storage, where it is quickly accessible.

Advanced analytics and new technologies:

Artificial intelligence algorithms based on natural language processing allow companies to promote behaviors to their agents to potentially influence customer satisfaction such as predicting issues before the customer explains the reason for the call or adding a system that can coach an agent to talk slower, or to add

Bringing AI and customer experience together

Conclusion and Recommendations

Having an omnichannel strategy for your business will ensure that you have consistent messaging across your digital platforms. This increases brand awareness as your message remains the same and doesn’t change. In turn, this will improve the customer’s journey as they are getting the same experience wherever they go.

Digital transformation is more than just improving IT. A powerful digital transformation plan must take into account the organization’s digital strategy, customer experience, IT platforms, and operational execution.

Businesses must invest in new technologies and processes to more effectively engage customers, partners, and employees by implementing integrated digital tools to work in a transformative way that will ensure that data and insight connect people with the right information and processes that ultimately lead to a better experience for customers.