unified experience through omni-channel customer support · 2019-04-08 · unified experience...
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Increasing Customer Satisfaction by offering support when and where it is needed
Unified Experience Through Omni-Channel Customer Support
www.iopex.com Unified Experience Through Omni-Channel Customer Support | WHITEPAPER
Overview
Maurice prefers DIY when it comes to fixing minor niggles on his newly installed software, and
Dave prefers searching on open technical forums or using self-service app for help; both of them
least prefer calling the technical support. What we are seeing here is the emergence of multiple
channels of communication preferences, especially with the new-age young adults. A recent survey
has this interesting finding:
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The question here is – does a technical support system need to provide these varieties of
personally preferable support channels, or do they just need to focus on the still widely used
traditional voice and email support, or, just to sound in-tune with the latest, maybe put a mediocre
omni-channel support system in place? In the current changing context of communication
preferences the question is whether omni-channel support system is a must or can your existing
channels deliver the goods?
Current Generation lists phone as the 4th channel choice
Email/SMS
42.3%
Social Media
36.4%
Smart Phone
31.9%
Phone
29.4%
Source: Dimension Data-GCC Benchmarking
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Tech-savvy users leading the way:
Competition and cost effectiveness:
Traditional ineffective systems:
Need-based access:
Today, we are talking to a generation of customers who grew
up into young adults using all the modern gadgets, which makes them invariably use technology for
everything, including how best to look for and get technical support. This single reason alone makes
it mandatory for customer support businesses to provide omni-channel customer support which
offers a communication-sync with the current crop of customers.
With cut throat competition companies are vying to deliver
unmatched customer experience to stay ahead of its competition and customer support is a key
feature in achieving this. With omni-channel support system companies can optimize technology
and resources thus saving on costs and improving efficiency.
Other key reason is the increasing reluctance and annoyance
that traditional phone-based technical support creates. Most calls are now routed through
frustrating IVR systems that make the caller feel that support systems are designed sans a real
person to talk to. Add to this the call queues and other on-hold time overheads, voice-based
support in many cases has turned into customer irritating processes rather than a support process.
The ideal situation is - if a customer wants to get instant help, he should have
access to a system where he is instantly connected to an agent, like in a resourceful live web chat,
and if he just needs to raise an issue and is okay with a delayed response he can then send an email
or raise a ticket.
The Need for a Unified Communication Strategy
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Benefits of Omni-Channel Support
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Unified support platform, providing various technical support communication options, makes life
easier for your customers and will etch you apart of your competition
Improved cross-team coordination and workforce optimization
Give the feel of a big company with multiple and efficient support channels
Increase in customer satisfaction
Easy to mold services according to customers' needs as you can be more in touch with them
through various channels
Greater adaptability to evolving technologies due to constant lookout for improving effectiveness
and efficiency of every communication channel
Directly appeal to the new breed of tech-savvy users
Multiple cross-selling and up-selling options
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As per Dimension Data's GCC (Global Contact Center) Benchmarking report 2013-14 here is the
list of channels maintained by contact centers and their focus of expansion for the next 24 months.
It clearly suggests that businesses are keen on expanding omni-channel support systems:
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Businesses Planning To Implement Omni-Channel Support
Exploring New Support Channels
Telephone
Internet
IVR (touchtone) self service
SMS (text messaging)
Social media - Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Web chat
Smartphoe application services
Speech self service
95.4
87.8
67.7
53.6
40.1
34.4
29.1
19.5
17.0 10.7 9.3
18.1 16.8
21.5 13.7
14.7 13.2
11.3 7.0
8.0 5.2
9.1 3.8
4.3 1.4
1.1 0.9
Now
Available within next 12 months
Planned for 24 months
PHONE AND EMAIL still form the bulk of the support infrastructure
and resources deployed by organizations. But as discussed above, they
both have certain limitations. For certain products, phone might still be the
medium of popular choice for support; but the new generation is
demanding more options and technologies that can help solve their
challenges faster.
Web chat has become the top channel priority for 50.6% of contact centers, and the number of
deployments that are planned has gone up 27.2% over the past 12 months.
(Dimension Data's GCC Benchmarking Report-2013-'14)
LIVE WEB CHAT especially favors technical support where the customer
may take time in responding to the agent, as he will be simultaneously
executing instructions from the agent to fix the problem. This mode also
helps support companies reduce cost in comparison to a phone-based
support setup.
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SOCIAL MEDIA or many-to-many platforms simply demand
attention of a business offering technical support due to its
capacity to engage scores of customers. These customers tend to
engage in active forums and technical discussion platforms to look
for and also give solutions to almost every issue. This makes it
important for the technical support system to have an official
presence in these social and technical platforms and deliver
authentic and quick support.
Organizations aim to shift 32.6% of contacts typically handled by agents to self-service channels.
(Dimension Data's GCC Benchmarking Report-2013-'14)
SELF-SERVICE or self-help is a self-initiated approach to look for answers.
Most active customers tend to get to solutions themselves through self-help
instructions. The success depends on how much self-help material is created
and is made available to them. This includes DIY videos, articles, easily
browse-able FAQs, manuals, active discussion forums, expert advice, best
recommendations, service and product mix advices, etc.
MOBILE APPS which regularly send available updates on the service
or product is another key channel which would not only help your
customers get the latest information but will also help them avoid
making unnecessary support calls or requests. Mobile apps can also be
used to quickly raise a support ticket without the need for logging into
the support system. This can also in a way completely avoid
interactions between the customer and the support agents.
VIDEO CHAT is also coming up as a medium of choice for
ecommerce websites to offer assisted sales. During this, agents
can handhold the customers while they are browsing for
products, offer options, show discounts, cross-sell, and influence
sales. Assisted sale through video chat is increasing website
conversions by up to 30%.
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Though acknowledging the growing demand for omni-channel support, most companies are not
geared up for implementing it. A survey, by Econsultancy.com clearly unearths the barriers for a
smooth implementation of omni-channel support.
Implementing Omni-Channel Support Strategy
Let's now look at what primarily needs to be done:
Redesigning existing system:
Channel development:
Manpower and training:
The first major step is to overhaul the entire system so that it
seamlessly transforms into an omni-channel support structure.
Every channel must have separate teams which would constantly look at
sprucing-up the channel and develop it into a world-class support delivering mechanism. This would
require channel experts and support resources to constantly be in touch with customers,
competition, and technology to enable faster and smarter channel development.
Resources who can handle multiple support channels with ease and are
good team players will make a huge difference in delivering omni-channel support successfully. With
omni-channel support regular training on newer technologies on every channel is essential for
maximizing support success rate.
Almost one-third (31.8%) of contact center advisers are now handling transactions across a
variety of emerging channels. (Dimension Data's GCC Benchmarking Report)
What are the three greatest barriers preventing your organisationfrom improving the multichannel customer experience?
Organisational structure 41%
38%
34%
33%
31%
30%
24%
15%
12%
6%
6%
4%
Complexity of customer experience
Difficulty unifying different sources of customer data
Lack of resources
Lack of budget
Lack of overall strategy
Focus on short-term profit
Lack of buy-in at the top of the organisation
Lack of business case fro improvement
Poor staff training
Difficulty finding right staff
Other (please specify)
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CRM: Having an effective and efficient CRM solution is vital when it comes to omni-channel
support as customer data, support history, support channel coordination, maximum technology
leverage, etc., gain precedence. Businesses have to carefully choose a CRM based on their current
and future needs so that resources can perform optimally at all times.
Just 47% companies have a single view – one system – for tracking their customer data.
(Dimension Data's GCC Benchmarking Report)
Effective knowledge management: The effectiveness of the system depends on the amount of
knowledge that the system has, so that every channel delivers support at peak efficiency.
Conducting inter-departmental interactions and logging key customer data into a centralized
knowledge management system are very important.
Analytics:
Cloud:
Maximizing the use of customer analytics to decipher various useful details of your
customers and their support preferences will help you to put greater focus on the most popular
channels.
Using cloud-based systems like SaaS and cloud storage will also drastically reduce the cost
of maintaining the whole system and make the entire information available across your support
locations.
Cloud may be the game changer contact centers have been waiting for: 77.6% of users agree
it's helped reduce cost. (Dimension Data's GCC Benchmarking Report)
Key Differentiator for Omni Channel Customer Experience Management
Source: Aberdeen Group
Best-in-class
All others
90%
70%
50%
30%
85%
66%
77%
48%
77%
41%
Regular training of agents
Customer contactdata across omnichannels
Cost/Benefitanalysis of omnichannel programs
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Customer satisfaction index:
Capital:
Omni-channel convergence:
A constant look at customer satisfaction index through feedback,
direct response mechanisms, cross-sales or up-sales ratio, customer pulse through social platforms,
etc., will help you understand whether the customer is satisfied or is left wanting. Based on this
index you can make the necessary changes to the system or processes.
Implementing omni-channel support gives a structure to the system, makes it more
effective, and leads to greater customer satisfaction. The investment required is far less than the
benefits generated. Businesses can also look to outsource omni-channel support to the best-in-class
service providers to save on capital investment.
Convergence of omni-channel systems to deliver seamless and
useful technical support is what gives the whole system the competitive edge. When a customer
calls for support on one channel and then later shifts to another, the effort should be to keep track
of all the support conversations that he has had on any channel, this would avoid the customers
repeating the whole problem whenever he switches support channels.
www.iopex.com
Conclusion
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Founded in 2009, iOPEX is a next generation Technology Operations Optimization company
focused on delivering application and infrastructure optimization solutions. iOPEX has saved over
USD 50M for its customers through its specialized services. The company is headquartered in San
Jose, California with Global Delivery Centers at four locations in North America and Asia.
For further information, please visit
About iOPEX technologies
www.iopex.com.
Though the obvious conclusion leads to recommending implementation of omni-channel support
systems to sustain the current and future markets, the urgency to act may not be felt by traditional
support systems, as they are under the constant impression that support is still delivered through
them. But as a matter of fact, the quality and the availability of service-at-convenience are clearly
taking a backseat in traditional systems. The below chart clearly shows how businesses sans omni-
channel support are suffering:
Phase-wise transformation
If businesses feel that implementing it all at once has got its own set of barriers then they can plan
for a phase-wise implementation, focusing on most popular and manageable contact channels and
slowly move into omni-channel support. Businesses can also look at outsourcing their technical
support to omni-channel service providers to save on cost and gauge effectiveness of the support
without incurring much cost.
Unified Experience Through Omni-Channel Customer Support | WHITEPAPER
8%
4%
2%
0%
6.5%
3.4%
6.1%
1.0%
3.4%
-0.7%Cutomer retention Average profit margin
per customerCustomer lifetime
value
6%
-2%
Year
ove
r Ye
ar P
erce
ntag
e C
han
ge
Source: Aberdeen Group
Companies withOmni Channel Customerexperience managementprogram
All others
This clearly mandates the need for a clear and focused move towards embracing omni-channel
support system.