Omnichannel Customer Engagement revolves around the ability to deliver a consistent experience across all of a company’s channels. Whether a customer uses live chat, a call center, or speaks directly with a representative face-to-face, customers expect the quality of the interaction to be seamless regardless of the channel.
A company’s strategy for OCE is important. The Aberdeen Group found that companies with the best omnichannel strategies retained 89% of their customers, as opposed to only 33% of customers for those companies with incomplete omnichannel strategies.
Today’s consumers are utilizing a variety of touchpoints when doing business with a company. Fifteen years ago, the average consumer used only two touchpoints and 7% used more than four. Now, it’s up to an average of six touchpoints and nearly 50% of consumers regularly use more than four. The number of customers who are seeking an omnichannel customer experience is higher than ever.
So, what are the benefits of having an Omnichannel Customer Engagement strategy, and what platform can deliver the optimal omnichannel experience?
Clear, Consistent Voice
A strong OCE strategy makes sure that representatives maintain a consistent voice that represents the vision and mission of the company. As many customers will switch from one channel to the next when doing business with you (i.e. going to your business’ app when they’re on the run vs. a website at the office), it’s important to ensure the quality of services is consistent across all channels.
However, an Aspect study found that 43% of customers thought that service is inconsistent regardless of the channel they use. Using Glia’s Omniguide feature, businesses ensure that customer interactions are consistent and predictable.
Moreso, switching channels can be a burden that can hurt the customer experience. Aspect found that 61% of consumers find switching channels within a company burdensome. Glia’s simple and unobtrusive engagement button offers an easy way to communicate with company agents through video, audio, or chat.
Personalized, Individualized Customer Experiences
By giving customers options as to how they interact with your company, you are giving them the freedom to create their own customer journey. To simply call a customer service number to reach a company is quickly coming the least preferred method of communication, and businesses are taking note. Not surprisingly, phone calls were the lowest rated customer touch point, whereas live chat ranked among the highest.
Glia has worked hard to create a level of omnichannel engagement that can interact with any consumer channel preference. In addition to Live Chat, Glia offers CoBrowsing, which enables your company agents and customers to be on the same page – literally. With CoBrowsing, agents can guide customers through complex forms or to hard-to-find resources on your site. This hands-on approach made possible through CoBrowsing drives higher conversion rates and produces more satisfied customers.
This strong personalization allows for customers to interact with CX representatives in the manner they feel most comfortable and is an integral part of the OCE strategy.
Seamless Customer Journey
89% of customers are easily annoyed when they have to continuously repeat their issues to a number of different customer service representatives. A company with a strong OCE strategy is able to store customer information and transfer it among agents so the customer doesn’t have to repeat their story more than once.
Glia can help identify high-value customers, and even has the ability to identify the best agent to work with that particular company. This greatly minimizes repetition and finds the ideal agent who has established a relationship with the customer to work with them.
Glia’s Live Observation and CoBrowsing features allow businesses to get on the same page as customers in seconds. We’ve found this reduces call time by at least 25% as well as significant conversation increases (100%+).
ROI
Having a strong OCE strategy can yield lucrative results. The Aberdeen Group found that companies who have strong Omnichannel Customer Engagements see a 9.5% year-over-year increase in annual revenue (compared to 3.4% for weak omnichannel companies). Similarly, strong omnichannel companies see a 7.5% year-over-year decrease in cost per contact, compared to a 0.2% year-over-year decrease for weak companies.
The increased ROI is likely due to the fact that many pleased customers then become ‘brand ambassadors’ or advocates for your company. Positive word of mouth is the strongest form of marketing and according to Nielsen, 84% of customers either mostly or completely trust recommendations from close family and friends, making it the most trustworthy of marketing efforts.
Glia is the elite platform in omnichannel customer engagement, even having a dedicated in-house Blueprint Team of customer engagement experts that works with you to create engagement tactics to maximize business results.
In Conclusion
Today, a quality omnichannel experience is becoming synonymous with company success. That requires a pointed and uniform strategy across the company, and a OCE platform that is both functional and easy to use. Glia is proud to be a leader and innovator in this OCE charge.
