5 Ways to Improve Omnichannel Customer Experience
Want to expand your business, retain customers and create brand loyalty? Then this blog is the perfect one for you!
What omnichannel customer experience is and why it’s important to retain customers
Picture this:
you’re planning on going on vacation and you have an option of two locations to traverse to.
One location being: a town where all the leisure activities are dispersed in separate locations; the hotel being a long distance away from the beaches. The cafes’, restaurants’ and bars’ being in diametrical locations from one another. Making it an arduous venture to get from A to B.
The other location being: a resort or an all inclusive cruise where everything is amalgamated; meaning all activities and amenities are within a small vicinity to one another.
A high percentage of individuals would select the latter, instead of the former. As a lot of individuals don’t want to think about what they are doing, they want to relax and let companies such as the ones who run cruises and resorts to do the work for them.
Why is this relevant, you ask?
In a metaphorical sense, a multi-channel is the town mentioned above; whereas an Omnichannel is the resort/cruise. This is due to the fact that a multi-channel is separated — whereas omnichannel marketing is interconnected.
What is Omnichannel and how does it differ from multichannel?
Omnichannel customer experience is where channels such as–social media, SMS, email and customer support are interconnected. Operating in a seamless fashion; contrary to multi-channel.
This means you can respond to customers from a myriad of different channels ubiquitously; making their omnichannel customer experience a more convenient, free-flowing, and consistent one.
On survey conducted to customers of companies; 88% stated that customer experience is just as pivotal as the products/services a company sells. This should underline the value of having exceptional Omnichannel customer experience. Not only to your customers — but to your company as a whole.
Remember: customers’ are the most important part to any business. without customers, there is no business.
With that in mind. The focal point of Omnichannel customer experience is to ensure that customers come away feeling satisfied after interacting with your company — by virtue of it being Streamlined, easy to communicate, and congruent throughout all the interconnected channels.
Do you have experience trampolining?
Why you ask? Because we’re about to jump right into how you can enhance the Omnichannel experience that your customers have!
Here’s 5 enhancements you can make to your omnichannel customer experience so you can start making adjustments immediately after reading this article!
5 ways you can improve omnichannel customer experience
1. Decrease response times on all channels
We’ve all been customers in the past — and will continue to be in the future. We’ve all stood in a long queue that’s slow; with an understaffed, slow service desk/checkout. Very Frustrating is isn’t it?
Is this any different online? Of course not. Waiting around in a queue, twiddling you thumbs — whether it be a physical or virtual que — creates agitation among customers.
An agitated customer can become an agitated person very quickly. Point being. They lose that precious customer tag; as they are no longer one. This is why it’s so important to be as responsive as possible, across all channels. Key point being: customer retention!
So whether it’s: emails, social media messaging, SMS, phone calls, or any other channel on the Omnichannel. Responses through such channels should be as quick as Usain Bolt after consuming 4 Red Bulls, while being chased by an actual bull. Okay, maybe not that quick, but you get the picture. Be quick, quick — and you guessed it, quick!
Here’s some response time averages that you should take note of:
On average
● 80% of received calls are picked up in 20 seconds or less
● 95% of emails are responded to in 4 hours or less
● 95% of letters are responded to in 3 days or less
● 80% of customers social media queries are responded to in 20 mins or less
Now, let me put emphasis on the word ‘average’.
These are the average response times; you should be striving to provide customers with exceptional response times. Ensuring a better more fluid omnichannel customer experience.
2. Evaluate the content you produce
Content is a vital part of a customers perception of your company. Whether it be informational, advisory, sales content etc. You should ensure that the content you produce is accurate, high-quality and grabs customers attention.
With informational content make sure it’s accurate and up to date. Ensuring that customers are being provided with info that they require to make purchases, make complaints, contact your company, to find out about your company’s background, can view all product/services on offer and history etc.
Most importantly, make sure content produced to attract patronage is attention-grabbing! Make it interesting. Make customers want to know more about your company. Get them lost in a content-induced trance that they have to Figuratively slap themselves out of!
The evaluation should encompass the auditing of links, phone numbers, and live chats — to ensure they are fully-functioning and efficient.
This enhances the overall omnichannel experience your customers will be provided with. Making their journey through your channels a free-flowing; supportive, educational and engaging one!
3. Gather opinions from customers
Opinions can fuel ideas, new omnichannel strategies; and general strategies for your business. It is therefore indispensable that you gather opinions from your customers. for the betterment of omnichannel customer experience and your company as a whole.
Gathering opinions also shows customers that you care — in turn increasing the possibility of customer retention and loyalty.
Simply taking in feedback just for the sake of it is pointless. Use the feedback to upgrade your systems. If there is any commonalities — negative or positive — that you notice in the gathering of feedback, this may suggest you should take action.
This will make customers feel important, listened to and feel like a stakeholder — which they are. Making their omnichannel experience, a better, more interactive one!
4. Make it easy for customers to engage
Customers don’t want to feel like they are conversing with a wall. Create a symmetrical environment for your customer — make them feel like their voice is heard
A study conducted in 2019, showed that omnichannel engagement rates were at 18.96% — compared to 5.4% for single channels. This should show you the importance of making it simple and convenient for customers to engage on the omnichannel.
Again, remember to make the omnichannel experience a free-flowing one. Have a clear layout; make live chat wait times low; clearly layout how customers can interact using all the different channels.
If the omnichannel customer experience is clunky and complicated, customers will be less likely to part their cash with you in the future. Resulting in a possible decrease in your revenues — something that I’m sure you want to avoid.
5. Upgrade your systems
As we’ve discussed — customers don’t like being stuck in ques, or have the notion stuck in the past for that matter. Upgrade your systems accordingly. Use AI customer service tools like chatbots. meaning customers can communicate 24/7 if they have any issues that need resolving.
Chatbots can also be used for social media purposes. This allows customers to make inquires effortlessly. And can be a huge incentive for them to want to continue being a patron of your company.
Chatbots equal quicker response times; making the overall systems more efficient. Giving your business the aura of professionality and proficiency to customers on the omnichannel. For those of you who love to save the odd pound note here and there; using AI on all your channels will lower expenditure.
If, after reading that last paragraph, you think ‘yay’, I don’t have to hire any staff,’ let me just take the dollar signs away from your eyes for a second. There is a still a need for high-quality support staff that you should have on-hand — just not as many as you would have needed without the use of AI. So I can maybe give you one dollar sign back.
Summary
In summation, omnichannel customer experience is vital in many aspects of running a modern business. If you decide to go with this type of marketing channel; it’s super important you do whatever you can to keep improving and innovating omnichannel for your customers. Increasing the possibility of expanding your business!
Studies conducted showed that marketers who utilise over three channels can see a 287% increase in their purchase rates. This should show you have beneficial omnichannel can be to your business.
highlighting the importance of constantly improving on your omnichannel strategies — the glue that can make customers stick with your companies products and services! Pun most certainly intended.
References
https://www.superoffice.com/blog/omni-channel-customer-service/ (2023)
https://trengo.com/blog/omnichannel-customer-service-statistics (2023)
https://www.camillevogl.com/response-time-customer-experience-omnichannel/ (2023)
https://www.callcentrehelper.com/omnichannel-acceptable-waiting-time-140566.htm#:~:text=Email%20%E2%80%93%2095%25%20of%20emails%20answered,chats%20answered%20within%2040%20seconds (2019, last updated 2023)
https://leadgenera.com/knowledge-hub/marketing/5-ways-to-improve-omnichannel-customer-experience/ (2023)
https://agilitycms.com/resources/posts/building-customer-loyalty-through-omnichannel-experiences (2022)
