What is Omnichannel Customer Service?

Today’s customers now expect to connect with brands from anywhere, anytime, on any device. To keep up and provide this level of customer experience, brands need to give their customers choice and convenience. In practical terms, this means adopting a range of digital support channels, including live chat, SMS, social media, and email. 

To offer this experience to customers successfully and efficiently, organizations are adopting omnichannel customer service platforms. The benefits of omnichannel for companies are well documented thanks to a study by the Aberdeen Group that compared top performing omnichannel companies against those weak with omnichannel offerings. The top omnichannel performers: 

• Increased annual revenue by 9.5% year-over-year, compared to 3.4% for weak omnichannel performers
• Decreased cost per customer contact by 7.5%, compared to 0.2% for weak omnichannel performers 
• Retained 89% of customers, compared to 33% for weak omnichannel performers. 

The benefits of omnichannel are clear, but before we dig more into this, let’s first answer the question “what is omnichannel customer service?” 

What is omnichannel customer service? 

Omnichannel customer service is a technology that connects every digital customer service channel together into one platform. Every inquiry sent by a customer is funnelled into a unified agent console where the agent can then respond appropriately. Better still, because every channel is connected, information from within these channels is too. This provides agents with a complete picture of the customer and their history with the organization so they are empowered to provide more helpful, efficient and personal support.  

The most popular channels for omnichannel support include: 

• Live chat: Live chat allows customers to connect with agents through a familiar chat interface on the web or integrated within a mobile app. 73% of customers prefer live chat to connect with companies over other channels. 
• Chatbots: Organizations can integrate a chatbot with an omnichannel platform to automate as much as 80% of frontline customer support across all channels. Thanks to their 24/7 availability, chatbots are also regularly introduced to provide cost-effective around-the-clock support. 
• SMS: With SMS connected to omnichannel, customers can easily receive support via text message while on the go. This channel has great potential for growth, as 64% of people believe that businesses should send them text messages more often. 
• Social media: Customers want to connect with companies through the most convenient channel. As social media expands, that means platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp are increasingly the channel that customers are choosing to reach out. In 2020, 67% of consumers used social media for service-related needs. 
• Email: While other channels continue to gain momentum, email remains consistently popular across age demographics for customer support. 48% of Gen Z consumers prefer email for contacting customer support. 
• Knowledge base: With a knowledge base connected to omnichannel, agents can easily select and share answers to common problems to speed up support and improve the quality of responses. 

With the question “what is omnichannel customer service?” answered, next we’ll look at some of the key benefits of omnichannel. 

Key benefits of omnichannel customer service 

1. Channel choice 

Because omnichannel platforms support every key support channel, customers are given the choice to connect with an organization how they want. This is critical to providing today’s consumers with the quality of CX that they now expect, as well as helping organizations to increase engagement. Also, if a customer switches from channel to channel, all their information is passed across so agents can seamlessly follow the conversation without losing information or requiring the customer to repeat themselves.  

2. Customized support 

Omnichannel allows organizations to better meet the needs of today’s digitally demanding customers. 66% of customers now expect companies to understand their unique needs. With every channel connected together, there are no data siloes. Agents have a 360 degree of every customer they speak to, allowing them to offer more customized and personal support every time. By connecting a CRM like Salesforce, you can extend this personalization even further, giving your agents even more knowledge and information. 

3. Speed and efficiency 

Nearly 80% of American consumers rate speed among the most important parts of a positive customer experience, along with convenience and knowledgeable help. Omnichannel customer support empowers speed of support by putting a wealth of information at the agents’ fingertips, empowering them to deliver quick support that remains highly accurate and helpful. With intelligent routing, organizations can also automatically route inquiries to specific departments or agents so the customer receives the help they need more quickly. 

Introducing Comm100 Omnichannel 

Comm100 is an award-winning digital omnichannel customer service platform for education, government, and commercial organizations of all sizes. With Comm100, organizations can provide excellent digital customer experiences through configurable, value-driven live chat, secure messaging, AI powered bots and automation within one integrated console. 

For conversations that require a follow-up later, Comm100 offers Ticketing & Messaging. This feature allows organizations to manage inquiries received through email, social media, and SMS using a robust ticketing system.  

What separates Comm100 from other omnichannel providers is a focus on uncompromising security and privacy, in-house AI chatbots, and zero downtime. With cloud and on-premise installations, Comm100 is designed to meet high standards for convenience and IT policy. Comm100 customers can start with the full omnichannel suite or choose just one channel. The platform is designed to expand with customers as they grow.  

 Here’s what customers are saying about Comm100’s omnichannel customer service platform: 

“Everybody has their preferred way of communicating. Some people want to reach out via live chat, some social media, and others via email. The beauty of Comm100 is that every channel can be connected into one platform so we can connect with and support more students, more efficiently.”

– Lachlan Todd, Communications & Systems Coordinator, Thompson Rivers University 

To learn more about Comm100 Omnichannel and how you can give maximal customer service with minimal customer effort, contact Comm100 today for a personalized demo.