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:

2

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


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

3

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


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

Email

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.

www.iopex.com Unified Experience Through Omni-Channel Customer Support | WHITEPAPER 5

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%.


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)


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


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

9

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.

Unified Experience Through Omni-Channel Customer Support · 2019-04-08 · Unified Experience...

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