No, it’s not as bad as you are thinking. It stands for “Omni-channel Consistency Disorder,” and your customers cannot comprehend why you suffer from it. With ubiquitous access to the Internet via a mobile device, a consumer can seamlessly shift between all your brand’s touchpoints – from retail store website-consuming online product reviews, getting recommendations via social channels, and into your contact centre for help and assistance. They expect a consistent quality of experience across all of their interaction points in their purchase journey.
Omni-channel consistency is not a switch that your company can turn on overnight. It takes significant executive buy-in, technology investment, organisational change and frontline training. Most organisations feel overwhelmed when considering where to start transforming their business. Fortunately, the same demographic and technology trends pushing your company towards omni-channel can be harnessed to help you unlock which initial steps are the most important to your customers.
Today’s consumer has an insatiable appetite for immediate gratification and with that comes the expectation that they can provide feedback to your business in real time about their customer experience, particularly in the event that something goes wrong. According to a recent research study by eDigitalResearch, 75 percent of consumers stated that they now expect to be able to provide feedback on their experiences ‘in-the-moment’ beyond email and via both digital and analog channels such as social media, feedback surveys and live chat or telephone support.
By listening to the voice of the customer (VOC) at key transactional points in each interaction channel, you will learn what experiences are most critical for you to change first in your omni-channel implementation path. This is called an Omni-channel Listening Strategy and it gives you a strategic roadmap for where you should apply your investment to make the highest returns. Your customers are desperately seeking ways to tell you the hot points that are causing them the most frustration.
But how is this done practically?
Leading telecoms use short SMS surveys triggered in real time to subscribers immediately after activating a plan (online, in-store), inquiring about user friendliness of their online customer portal or the quality of support delivered by the field or contact center. Customer feedback is gathered in real time and immediately routed to the frontline to take corrective action. Dashboards also conclusively highlight key pain points.
Within Financial Services, banks are using VOC listening to identify process changes to in-branch service and online banking, and to reduce frustration from account opening and loan application processes. There is no guesswork in this process since the customers are specifically highlighting the areas for immediate improvement in the omni-channel customer experience.
So what are the downsides to getting started? Today’s consumers are hungry to give you feedback, and it is easier than ever for them to do so efficiently through their mobile device. However, your company must be operationally ready to absorb and process tremendous volumes of inbound data, garner actionable insight and then disseminate it to the frontline where they are empowered to take corrective action with the affected customer. With today’s socially connected consumer, the backlash is significant from being perceived as paying lip service to customer feedback. Avoid this risk by partnering with a reputable CEM platform provider with deep experience set in your industry.
So, if your company suffers from ‘Omni-channel Consistency Disorder’ and you are feeling a bit overwhelmed at the enormity of getting started, the solution lies with your customers. Open up a two-way dialogue with them through a Voice of the Customer Program. Use the mobile device to gather feedback instantly after their channel interaction while it is fresh in their mind. And lastly, take definitive action by putting the insight directly into the hands of the frontline so they can take quick and corrective action.
Peter Oxley
Vice President, Marketing
Peter is responsible for global marketing strategy that drives awareness and growth from ResponseTek’s undisputed leadership position in Customer Experience Management.
In a career spanning more than two decades as an entrepreneur, platform provider, and strategic consultant, he has helped dozens of Fortune-class companies in telecom, financial services, hospitality, retail, travel, and packaged goods to implement changes that harness the maximum lifetime value from their customer relationships.
Peter started his career with Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm, and worked on international consulting engagements in Canada, United States, Australia and Hong Kong. It was at Bain that Peter discovered his passion for best practices in customer retention and loyalty marketing.
More recently, Peter co-founded and served as CEO of RewardStream, an award-winning loyalty & referral marketing solution deployed in over 39 countries by some of the world’s leading brands such as, AT&T, Cisco Systems, Sprint, T-Mobile, TD BankNorth, Royal Bank, and Nestle.
Peter holds a degree in Economics from University of Western Ontario and an Honours Business Administration (HBA) degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business.