As business moves online, engagement between companies and their customers online becomes a major component of the customer experience. While data about customers is useful, data about their engagement with a company adds a whole new layer. So, how can companies begin to capture, store, and leverage customer engagement data? By incorporating a “System of Engagement”.
Salesforce has done an amazing job creating what many call “the System of Record” – a platform that contains all customer data. This single source of truth has gone a long way towards allowing businesses to better understand their prospects and customers. But for all the data that the System of Record contains, one area that seems lacking is data on customer engagement.
What is a System of Engagement
We define a System of Engagement as a platform that manages all assisted digital engagements including: CoBrowsing, Web Chat, Messaging (Facebook, Whatsapp, SMS, etc.), Chatbots, and Video Chat. A System of Engagement can also include Phone Calls, as more than 50% (as of this writing) of inbound calls originate from customers on Websites/Apps. Furthermore, a System of Engagement is designed to grow and incorporate additional Customer Engagement channels with ease.
At Glia, we believe that a System of Engagement is just as important as a system of record – with both complementing the other. Only when a company has both systems in place, can they truly have a 360 degree view of their customers.
The core of a true System of Engagement is an omnichannel customer engagement platform. By integrating all of your engagement channels (both digital and phone), companies are able to provide a more seamless customer experience that minimizes customer effort (a critical component of customer loyalty). Additionally, with these channels contained in a single platform, companies are better able to capture, report, and export engagement data. This creates a single source of truth for engagement data and maintains a more stable and efficient technical stack.
From Contact Center to Engagement Center
Companies who have yet to leverage a System of Engagement are at a disadvantage compared to those who have. For one, a lack of a System of Engagement prevents companies from moving beyond a traditional contact center. Without the rich context afforded by a System of Engagement, these companies are handcuffed with regards to the experience they’re able to offer their customers – typically being reactive to customer support or sales queries. While they may know that past engagements with a customer have happened, important information about the engagements themselves are missing.
Digital-first Companies who’ve made the leap to a System of Engagement find themselves able to be proactive. They’re better equipped to engage their customers with added context that aids in better support and faster resolution times. These companies are able to transform their contact centers, which were designed with a phone-first mentality, into an Engagement Center.
Engagement Centers leverage visual engagement using CoBrowsing or Video Chat, as well as Web Chat, Messaging, and supervising Chatbots to provide an more personalized customer experience.
Keeping a Man (or Woman) in the Middle
While the shift from contact center to engagement center is just now taking place for many companies, the common thread between the two is the human agent. Like it or not, humans are still the key to delivering a best-in-class customer experience. To truly be customer-centric, companies must leverage technology to empower their agents – not replace them. By placing an agent in front of both a System of Record and System of Engagement, companies are able to arm their frontline in ways that have never been possible and customers are finally able to receive the experience they expect.
