Brands are working harder than ever to enhance Customer Experience as people increasingly demand a streamlined and immediate service from the companies they interact with.
Research from Dimension Data shows that 58 percent of consumers would be willing to spend more money with those businesses that provide excellent customer service.
But while companies currently offer an average of 11 channels through which customers can make contact – from webchat and apps to email and phone communication – the challenge is that these systems, and the processes behind them, are rarely connected. Insights gathered from each interaction are often fed into individual silos for each channel. The Dimension Data research found that only eight per cent of companies believe that all of their points of contact with the customer are integrated, with a third unable to track customer journeys at all.
To put it simply, these businesses lack a ‘single view of the customer’ that can help overcome the barrier of disjointed CX by providing agents with all the information they need about a customer on one platform. By adopting this approach, brands can avoid the common problem of consumers quickly becoming frustrated if they must explain their problem multiple times to more than one representative, or discuss historical issues and interactions each time they make contact.
A 360° view customer platform
The wealth of data companies have available to them can help them transform how they engage with their customers. Retailers, for example, can harness information relating to buying history, delivery, and returns, and even personal details such as product preferences and customer tastes, to provide a joined-up and bespoke, tailored experience.
The solution is to create one automated platform, underpinned by artificial intelligence (AI), that collates data for each customer at every possible touch point. By providing this information to customer service agents in a dashboard format, they have all of the up-to-date, relevant information they need to answer a query. For automated systems, such as chatbots, the data can be continually fed into the system’s software.
By using AI, the platform can also generate recommendations for agents to follow, based on data covering customers’ past purchases, browsing behaviour and previous interactions with the brand. Along with helping representatives to have positive and productive dialogue to improve loyalty, it can also be applied to outbound campaigns to boost sales by identifying the right time and right channel to contact a customer.
Integration in practice
Before implementing a 360-degree platform, companies must first audit all of the existing channels available to their customers. The process allows brands to identify any areas that are not currently integrated, and pinpoint areas for improvement and optimisation.
Once the audit is complete, data can then be automatically consolidated and integrated into one easily accessible platform. Automation plays a key role here, continually collating and feeding information from multiple databases into one customer relationship management (CRM) system that can be updated in real time.
Agent augmentation
But technology is only half the story. New digital tools can enhance the role of advisors by empowering them to interact with customers in the most efficient and knowledgeable way. They also provide an opportunity for businesses to upskill their employees, equipping them with top quality communications skills to enable them to field the most complex queries and handle high-value requests, such as those requiring negotiation or emotional sensitivity.
Investment in staff is an effective way of boosting service quality, helping them to build and maintain relationships that cannot be handled by technology alone, ultimately serving to boost the bottom line.
Data presents an opportunity for businesses to create a holistic view of each of their customers, which they must capitalise on in order to deliver the outstanding service expected of them. This approach will allow them to benefit from the highest levels of customer satisfaction, helping to boost customer loyalty for the long-term and – crucially – drive sales.