What You Can Do to Create a Smooth Customer Experience in an Omnichannel Network

Offering good customer support is a massive boost to the customer experience. And as digital technology continues to evolve, omnichannel engagement has become the standard for many top brands.

The reason for this is simple. Clients who engage with a brand across omnichannel platforms are generally more likely to convert and stay with that brand. 

However, creating a smooth omni-channel communication experience is a bit of an art. Like all art forms, there are key things you need to master to do it right. So, what are these crucial things you can do to master the art of the omnichannel user experience? 

Omnichannel Experience and Retail Strategy 

An omnichannel customer experience is when the client can relate to the brand smoothly across several channels. A smooth customer experience in this regard subsumes many things. 

These include everything from omnichannel contact center service to marketing and sales. The result is that the client can move quickly between omnichannel platforms and complete their purchases. 

Now, all of this calls for management, and this is where a retail strategy comes in. An omnichannel retail strategy helps a brand reach out to clients at every stage of the buying process. By doing so, a brand can ensure a great customer experience. We will now look at some of the things that should be part of your retail plan for your omnichannel platforms. 

How to Create a Smooth Omnichannel Client Experience 

As your client's needs keep changing, your omnichannel approach must adapt. If you want them to have a great experience across your omnichannel platforms, here are some things you can do. 

1. Personalize Dialogues 

A lot of customer support concerns can be handled by digital tools these days. However, by tailoring the process, you can always let your clients know you value them as people. It is necessary to look into the customer service aspect as early as the company formation stage. This will ensure that you can offer a good customer service experience and handle a growing customer base.

Research shows that many clients consider respect for their time a strong factor in the best customer support they’ve had. Of course, clients also want this kind of service 24/7, making it a daunting task. What to do? It’s omnichannel solution to the rescue!

A 2016 study by IBM has shown that brands could pull together data on clients by using these solutions. The brands then used this data to create a holistic approach to each client. They could then engage with these clients on a more personal level, with great results for sales and retention.

This is the kind of personal treatment all clients have come to expect, and it should be a strong focus for you. And if you find the task too much to handle in-house, you can always outsource customer service it to an expert team.

2. Focus More on Existing Clients 

According to market experts, repeat customers spend 67% more than new ones. This fact has not been lost on many brands, as they now focus on growing and keeping the clients they already have. 

This approach has also been due to many other factors, such as the high cost of getting new clients and the pressure from global market competition. But in any case, this is a great tactic you can apply to your brand.

Instead of spending more time getting new clients, you should focus on those already with you. Try to build a closer connection with these, and you will find that it sets you apart from many other brands in your niche. 

Of course, it does not mean you should not try for new clients—far from it. Rather, it just means you should spend more resources across your omnichannel platforms on the ones you already have. 

3. Let Everyone Contribute to Customer Service 

The number and variety of channels for omnichannel communication have steadily increased. As such, the number and types of working units needed to provide a great omnichannel experience are also growing. 

It’s common to find stakeholders involved in customer services, such as the CEO, CFO, and IT leadership. This means brands that offer top-notch omnichannel experiences do not work centrally. Instead, customer support efforts are now a company-wide affair.

So, if you want to boost such metrics as total manpower and response speed, you might want to get all hands on deck.

4. Make Your Contact Center Omnichannel

Due to popular demand from clients, omnichannel contact center support is now on the rise. An Aberdeen Group study found that, on average, brands with great omnichannel customer dialogue kept 89% of their clients. 

Brands with no such customer dialogue retained only 32%. A brand’s customer service quality can determine whether it succeeds or fails.

Further survey findings also show how brands are responding to client demands. Social media and other non-voice channels make up 16% of all support channels and are becoming more widespread. 

Along with email and chat, social media accounts for 47% of all channels used. Further, brands only offer normal phone support on 22% of their channels. This shows that offering a good omnichannel experience is no longer just an option. It is now crucial for brands that must remain in the game.

5. Go for the Right Tech

If you want a seamless user experience for your clients, you can’t slack off on the tech. Support staff should be able to reach clients via any preferred means, whether live chat, social media, or email. 

But to provide a true omnichannel customer experience, you must bring all of this data into a single customer view. 

This way, regardless of the channel a customer visits, your team will have all the data needed to keep working with ease from where they left off. With the right technology, you can even use informed suggestions to push sales. You can interest your clients in new products that you have on sale.

6. Listen to the Feedback 

If you want to know what makes your clients tick and how to do it right, you need to listen to their feedback. You must make sure your network has a robust and working feedback system. And once that’s in place, you can use the feedback you get to decide how to work with your clients.

Now, while most brands tend to treat their clients as a large group, you can set yourself apart by being more holistic here as well. Take note of each client’s demands and handle them individually where possible.

Final Thoughts

Omni-channel solutions are the way to go if you want to give your clients the great experience they demand. And as we’ve seen, you must do quite a bit to get the most out of your omni channel platforms. However, while you do all these things, you must keep a few other things in mind.

First, you must choose your channels wisely. You will get the most out of your resources if you use the best channels possible. You must also be fairly consistent in your approach. There is always room to try new tactics when needed.

However, if you make too many changes in too short a time, you risk frightening your customers. Finally, lots of market research never hurt anyone. You should try as much as you can to find out more about the wider market by running studies and surveys.